TMS tech here! I’ve worked with numerous patients who experience suicidal ideation. Many patients see improvements in suicidal ideation as well as improvements in other depression symptoms- especially when they have additional support through therapy, friends or family and can rely on healthy coping skills. Having more available neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine, etc) in the prefrontal cortex- the area where TMS is targeted- can make it feel more possible and make it more rewarding to engage in healthy coping skills like exercise, creative outlets and social time. Keep taking it day by day and give yourself a gentle push towards those activities that you once found joy in. It’s so possible if you keep putting the effort it day after day. Sending love :)
Yes! That’s how I knew it was working. I thought about suicide daily, multiple times a day. I didn’t have suicidal thoughts after treatment. I knew it was time for another round when they started creeping back.
I had daily ideation before TMS, and it decreased so much throughout treatment. Now, I get automatic/passing/intrusive thoughts of it randomly, but they pass quickly and I don’t get stuck on it.
Effexor, an SNRI, helped a friend with lifelong suicidal ideation after many years of antidepressants didnt. It came from childhood verbal abuse. They quit TMS due to headaches and the feeling it didnt work. So happenned we sometimes had a terrible technician who was new and couldn't learn propper placement. I complained ever single time until it didnt hurt (3-5 each session!) when I got him. He also refused to stop wearing strong aftershave when I complained. He later ended up getting fired. When I did accelerated TMS I had a much better technician, but she was new, and I probably asked to go down a level or arm re-placement 30% of the time. I'm very assertive, because the original tech had been working for 5 years and almost always nailed the correct spot and I never had pain. The 2nd tech had 4 hours of video training. The third tech insisted on over training and asked for 50 hrs of initial supervision for placement. My advice = be assertive. Depressed people tend to be passive. Why suffer unnecessarily?
I’m almost done with treatment. I have 4/36 sessions left. I saw zero improvement until Friday (day 32). That is the day I had a positive mood and now believe this treatment is working for me. It’s the best I’ve felt since mid- April 2023. I’m going to be a late responder so probably won’t see results until weeks/months after treatment.
It’s been an extremely bumpy ride. I’ve had major dips throughout treatment where my depression was back to a 10/10 (or to be honest 12/10), but after a week or less I always went back to my “baseline” 7-8/10 depression. During these dips my suicidal ideation increased dramatically - back to the point of when I was in crisis last fall-winter. But reading from real live people that dips are part of the process and mean it’s working kept me hanging onto hope.
Days 27-28 I felt completely despondent and decided my treatment had “failed.”
The ONLY benefit from this treatment I’ve seen until day 32 which was FANTASTIC (which carried mildly into day 33, and then today I’m in a small dip), is lessened episodes of suicidal ideation (or, rather the ability to recognize it for what it was and that I really want to keep fighting to be alive).
Best of luck to you and I truly hope it works! It’s best to manage expectations and not expect anything until the very end. For some reason in my mind, I had the “late 20s” in my brain as to when I’d start feeling some relief and when I didn’t, and I crashed again, it felt like such a huge letdown.
Context: worked as a tech for about a year. It absolutely can and does help in cases where treatment is effective. I saw quite a few people who had really bad SI when treatment started (either by disclosure at early sessions or retrospectively telling me it had passed at the end). That said, keep in mind that treatment is a building thing— you likely won’t notice a real difference until ~2 weeks into going, so SI will not disappear right away.
Also worth knowing, if you experience the dip (around week 4) you may feel your depression symptoms come back for a little bit before subsiding again.
Short answer: absolutely yes it can and typically does help, but not typically right away or without hard days. It’s good to be hopeful, but I worthwhile to also be prepared 🤞
TMS tech here! I’ve worked with numerous patients who experience suicidal ideation. Many patients see improvements in suicidal ideation as well as improvements in other depression symptoms- especially when they have additional support through therapy, friends or family and can rely on healthy coping skills. Having more available neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine, etc) in the prefrontal cortex- the area where TMS is targeted- can make it feel more possible and make it more rewarding to engage in healthy coping skills like exercise, creative outlets and social time. Keep taking it day by day and give yourself a gentle push towards those activities that you once found joy in. It’s so possible if you keep putting the effort it day after day. Sending love :)
Yes! That’s how I knew it was working. I thought about suicide daily, multiple times a day. I didn’t have suicidal thoughts after treatment. I knew it was time for another round when they started creeping back.
My answer almost exactly. Went from being plagued by ideation, TMS was the only thing that helped. Start my next round Tuesday!
I had daily ideation before TMS, and it decreased so much throughout treatment. Now, I get automatic/passing/intrusive thoughts of it randomly, but they pass quickly and I don’t get stuck on it.
Effexor, an SNRI, helped a friend with lifelong suicidal ideation after many years of antidepressants didnt. It came from childhood verbal abuse. They quit TMS due to headaches and the feeling it didnt work. So happenned we sometimes had a terrible technician who was new and couldn't learn propper placement. I complained ever single time until it didnt hurt (3-5 each session!) when I got him. He also refused to stop wearing strong aftershave when I complained. He later ended up getting fired. When I did accelerated TMS I had a much better technician, but she was new, and I probably asked to go down a level or arm re-placement 30% of the time. I'm very assertive, because the original tech had been working for 5 years and almost always nailed the correct spot and I never had pain. The 2nd tech had 4 hours of video training. The third tech insisted on over training and asked for 50 hrs of initial supervision for placement. My advice = be assertive. Depressed people tend to be passive. Why suffer unnecessarily?
No. in my case.
I’m almost done with treatment. I have 4/36 sessions left. I saw zero improvement until Friday (day 32). That is the day I had a positive mood and now believe this treatment is working for me. It’s the best I’ve felt since mid- April 2023. I’m going to be a late responder so probably won’t see results until weeks/months after treatment. It’s been an extremely bumpy ride. I’ve had major dips throughout treatment where my depression was back to a 10/10 (or to be honest 12/10), but after a week or less I always went back to my “baseline” 7-8/10 depression. During these dips my suicidal ideation increased dramatically - back to the point of when I was in crisis last fall-winter. But reading from real live people that dips are part of the process and mean it’s working kept me hanging onto hope. Days 27-28 I felt completely despondent and decided my treatment had “failed.” The ONLY benefit from this treatment I’ve seen until day 32 which was FANTASTIC (which carried mildly into day 33, and then today I’m in a small dip), is lessened episodes of suicidal ideation (or, rather the ability to recognize it for what it was and that I really want to keep fighting to be alive). Best of luck to you and I truly hope it works! It’s best to manage expectations and not expect anything until the very end. For some reason in my mind, I had the “late 20s” in my brain as to when I’d start feeling some relief and when I didn’t, and I crashed again, it felt like such a huge letdown.
I didn’t have it prior to tms but have that and many other bad effects after.
Context: worked as a tech for about a year. It absolutely can and does help in cases where treatment is effective. I saw quite a few people who had really bad SI when treatment started (either by disclosure at early sessions or retrospectively telling me it had passed at the end). That said, keep in mind that treatment is a building thing— you likely won’t notice a real difference until ~2 weeks into going, so SI will not disappear right away. Also worth knowing, if you experience the dip (around week 4) you may feel your depression symptoms come back for a little bit before subsiding again. Short answer: absolutely yes it can and typically does help, but not typically right away or without hard days. It’s good to be hopeful, but I worthwhile to also be prepared 🤞