Posted by Pfinstegg on May 2, 2006, at 23:01:53
In reply to rtms, posted by Larry C on April 24, 2006, at 5:47:10
I have read here that Mind Centers does fast TMS on the left side, and slow on the right- not for everyone, but for some people with a lot of anxiety. Generally, it's given only to the left frontal area in the US, and at a fast frequency (10 Herz or more).
There is very encouraging news about it here in the US. Neuronetics (the company making the TMS machines) has just submitted an approval request to the FDA. It is most likely to get approved here by December of this year. As one of the people who has had it here "off-label", so to speak, the doctor who gave it to me told me that the new machine which they have developed causes less pain. It will have a device which fits tightly over your head, and under your chin, and will also have industrial-quality ear-protectors. With the earlier machine, it was hard not to move your head slightly because it HURT- and the sound was ear-splitting- worse than a rock concert!
But it worked so beautifully for me- and in general for about 50% of the people who tried it. If you can find a good anti-depressant to combine with it, the remission rates climb to about 70-75%. For most people, though, it isn't a permanent fix- you do have to have "boosters". Some people need them weekly, some twice a year. I need one or two every few months.
I think it's going to be a great treatment for thousands of treatment-resistant folks. It does so many good things for depressed brains - decreasing the HPA stress cascade, improving blood flow in the left hemisphere, increasing BDNF and the growth of new CA3 neurons in the hippocampus- and, although I know there aren't any free lunches in the world, I haven't found anything negative about the treatments, other than the pain and loudness. You leave after 20 minutes alert and happy!
poster:Pfinstegg
thread:636721
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060429/msgs/639486.html