TMS

hello
i read an article about TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation).this is a treatment for mood disorders such as resistant depression.
i have a question about this treatment.
is there anyone who has experienced this treatment?
thank you so much
lina

[lj340]

I have read up on this also. I do not have any experience with it, but I would also love to hear from anybody who has went through this treatment.

[ILADVOCATE]

No but I considered it years ago for what was then treatment refractory schizophrenia (but since then entered another medication study and have recovered) but that was before it was FDA approved. Right now once it becomes approved for usage for my physical disability which it it is being researched on I'd consider it. Its safety profile is more favorable than ECT. I believe they are researching efficacy but since its FDA approved trans cranial magnetic stimulation has shown results that are conclusive for treatment refractory depression. This article might be of help:
http://www.nami.org/Content/ContentGroups/Helpline1/Transcranial_Magnetic_Stimulation_(rTMS).htm.
Since its new you might not find anyone who has used it yet but that may because psychiatrists take a longer time to incorporate new treatments as they become FDA approved and familiarize themselves with it.

[lina123]

thank you so much for your response.

[Hensley258]

I already talked to my Psychiatrist about it. He said, "you can forget about TMS."
He said that TMS is and never will be mass marketed. The odds of you even finding a place (even in a major city) that does TMS is like winning the Lottery.

Even if you could find a place that does it then the cost is thru the roof. Insurance companies will never cover it because they always look for any reason not to cover everything they can.

If you are wealthy then I would say your odds of getting the treatment would be good. You would have to spend much time in one of the few select places in the country that do TMS. It requires 30 to 45 seperate treatments and even then one must go once a month for maintenence treatments.

I find it a shame that there is a very good treatment for depression like TMS, but is only for people of means. It all about money and the insurance companies have turned their back on TMS which in turn means no money for the company that developed TMS which is why they can not mass market.

You can always leave it to health insurance companies to screw patients out of needed treatment. It's what they do best.

[lj340]

Insurance is riduculous!!! I am going to ask my psych about the TMS also. My psych is also a neurologist. I have VNS that he adjusts and he would likely give TMS treatments. Money is the problem!

[lina123]

thank you so much for your response.
i amnot wealthy.but in my opinion if this treatment is good for resistant depression,so money isn't a problem.maybe my opinion isn't logical!
i want to ask people about this treatment.
have you asked people about this treament?
if yes,what are people's opinions about this treatment?

[Hensley258]

I have never found a person to talk with that had TMS. The company that makes the new device claims better results than ECT, without the memory loss and need for hospitalization.

Then again that is the study results that the maker of the TMS device has released. Those results could be skewed in their favor to be better than they really are.

I don't know if you have seen the actual machine that does the TMS. It looks like a dentist chair that has a device is lowered over your head. This device must be perfectly alligned to target a specific area of the brain.

The machine looks VERY expensive. My guess would be 1 million dollors or more. It can be done in the office of any Psychiatrist that is trained on how to used the TMS machine. Problem is that the P-doc's must purchase the machine and most docs don't want to do that because without insurance coverage the pay back on the machine is nothing.

If insurance covered it then doctors would be jumping to buy a TMS device.
The maker of TMS machine (neurostar) is trying to lobby the insurance companies to provide coverage, but the insurance companies are saying that it is "experimental" never mind that it was approved by the FDA in October 2008.

The insurance companies argument is that it's benifit is not proven. (in  otherwords they are saying it doesn't work, which is another key way for insurance companies to avoid paying)

Just as insurance companies will not cover VNS for depression. In a way I can understand that because I have talked to so many people with the VNS implant that said it did nothing to help their depression.

[lina123]

thank you so much for all the information about TMS.

[lamahuy]

My doctor just recommended I talk to a dr that performs the TMS. I have to make an appt with him. I am very scared....hoping to talk with someone who has had it.