Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Is TMS right for you?
TMS is a unique treatment for people with mild to moderate treatment resistance and/or medication intolerance, providing an intervention that may prevent the development of more severe treatment resistance.
Although numerous antidepressant medications and other treatments are available, many patients suffer multiple depressive episodes that are not well controlled with existing therapies. Approximately one out of three patients treated with conventional antidepressants do not find relief from depression symptoms. Many patients suffer intolerable side effects to commonly used antidepressants, such as nausea, diarrhea, insomnia, sedation, lack of emotion, and sexual problems.
TMS was approved by the FDA in 2008 to treat major depressive disorder, specifically for patients who have failed to respond to one previous, “adequate” trial of an antidepressant medication. “Adequate” means taking a medication at a sufficient dose and for a sufficient period of time. Many patients also have difficulty tolerating multiple medication trials. These are the patients who have been shown to respond best to TMS. Other patients with a more severe history of resistant depression may also respond to TMS, although patients with many medication failures may find greater improvement from other brain stimulation techniques such as ECT and VNS.
