TMS therapy?

Has anyone had or heard of anyone doing TMS therapy for their ocd/anxiety? My psychiatrist recommended this for me and I’ve never really heard of it. Thanks!

AnonymousOCD'r

Date posted: 3d

Yeah, I haven't started it yet. It seems promising.

Eeeeva

Date posted: 2d

I did TMS for treatment resistant depression 1.5 years ago, and I’m honestly not sure how effective it was. About two weeks into TMS, I seemed to be improving, then a few days after I finished, I got much worse. A month later, I was desperate and got back on anti-depressants, made big life changes a few months later (moved, went back to school), and am now starting ERP for OCD. Things are on the up! Hard to know what to attribute to TMS though. There are different TMS protocols, one for depression, a different one for OCD. I haven’t done the OCD one, but I’d say if the cost isn’t too crazy, why not give it a try? Different things work for different people. It is quite the commitment, I will say. You have to do something like 5 sessions/week until you hit 30 sessions. But at the time, the routine of it helped me to have something regular to get me out of bed. Best of luck and hope it helps!

Anonymous

Date posted: 14h

@Eeeeva Thank you! I’m going to see how this new added medication goes first! My psychiatrist just added buspar on. I’m taking trintellix too

a.lea

Date posted: 9h

@Eeeeva i haven't started yet, but my psych warned me that some people have worsening symptoms at first and then often get better after that. i didn't know there are different regimens for treating ocd vs depression, do you know what the difference is? (also from what i've read, tms is recommended for treatment in adddition to antidepressants/therapy rather than instead of it)

Eeeeva

Date posted: 9h

@Anonymous That sounds like a great plan :) I think utilizing multiple approaches like you are has the best chance for success! I am glad I did TMS! Just difficult to know which change is most responsible for my improvement. But the main point is, I improved from a place where improvement felt impossible! You got this ❤️

Eeeeva

Date posted: 9h

@a.lea I’m pretty sure the different protocols target a slightly different place in your brain! I forgot to say - they added the anxiety protocol for me partway through my treatment. The depression and anxiety protocols differ in the “tapping” patterns you feel when TMS is administered and they each triggered a slightly different twitch response on different parts of my face (I know that sounds weird, but you’ll see what I mean when you try it!)

vanoojac

Date posted: 3d

Can I offer a suggestion? Have you tried ERP therapy yet? If not, since you’ve made it this far and downloaded NOCD, are you willing to try ERP therapy with a specialist on here? I have very limited knowledge of TMS therapy, but I do know that OCD isn’t a quick fix. Working on the core fears in ERP therapy is pretty crucial to successfully living with OCD in my opinion.

Anonymous

Date posted: 3d

@vanoojac Hi, thank you! Yes I’ve been doing ERP since September 2024. Definitely made some strides but a couple of setbacks, too. I’ve been on several medications over the years, as well. Currently on trintellix and my psychiatrist just prescribed buspar, too. Going to see how that goes too and obviously continue therapy. Thanks so much for your input :)

vanoojac

Date posted: 3d

@Anonymous That’s good! From what I’ve seen online, it seems like TMS alone isn’t the answer, so maybe it would work well for you in conjunction with ERP? I’m also on buspar. I’m thinking of getting off of it so I can see if I can do my ERP work without taking anything to dull my anxiety. Not sure how it will go, but I’ve been curious. I like buspar because it has minimal side effects though! What do you think caused the setbacks? Are the setbacks causing you to not fully commit to the ERP therapy?

Anonymous

Date posted: 3d

@vanoojac That’s good to know. Good luck to you! I’ll definitely keep doing therapy and medications for sure.

a.lea

Date posted: 3d

i'm trying to get approved for it right now on recommendation from my psychiatrist. i've been in therapy for many years and been on a bunch of different medications and since i'm still struggling significantly, im going to try it and see if it helps

Anonymous

Date posted: 3d

@a.lea Good luck!! Hang in there

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