Some patients undergoing EMT therapy report headache, fatigue, scalp pain, or dizziness. However, these side effects tend to go away during the first week of treatment. Sleep disturbance is a serious symptom of depression. Depression, especially when accompanied by sleep problems, can decrease the patient's quality of life and, at the same time, increase the risk of suicide.
As with depression, finding the right medication to improve sleep quality can be difficult. Antidepressant medications have the potential to cause drastic side effects, often causing patients to stop treatment. These side effects include trouble falling asleep, sleeping too much, or extreme fatigue during the day. EMT is a treatment option that allows patients to avoid these side effects.
The fatigue you experience is also quite common, especially at the beginning of treatment. It's like your brain is doing an “exercise”. It can usually take about a week to see that this improves as they acclimatize to their treatments. After trying so many different things, after so many empty failures, it is impossible to avoid a deep sense of hopelessness.
There's something spiritually exhausting about seeing that all your treatment options come and go with no results. Unlike ECT, RTMS does not require sedation or general anesthesia, so patients are fully awake and aware during treatment. There is no “recovery time”, so patients can drive home afterwards and return to their usual activities. TMS technicians monitor each patient's side effects and report these issues to the treatment provider.
Talk to your TMS treater and provider about what you are experiencing and they can make some possible changes or recommendations to help you better tolerate treatments. Side effects of EMT usually manifest as headaches in about half of patients treated with EMT therapy. So what side effects might you experience if you opt for EMT therapy? What are the short and long term risks associated with TMS? Although TMS is not necessarily “side-effect free,” its non-invasive approach makes EMT safe with minimal side effects that sometimes include mild headache, lightheadedness, and scalp discomfort during stimulation. Because TMS is still relatively new to medicine, not many people know about it, but that doesn't mean they're trying it.
Because EMTR uses magnetic pulses, patients are asked to remove any objects sensitive to magnetism (such as jewelry or credit cards) before starting treatment. Just keep in mind that different insurances have certain criteria regarding previous medication attempts that determine TMS coverage. I wanted to share this with you and others because, in my case, TMS has improved dramatically in the four years or so, when I had my first EMT treatment. Patients who have not achieved an adequate response to antidepressants, or who are unable to tolerate medications, may consider EMTR therapy.
Various degrees of magnetism can be applied through the TMS machine, but regardless of frequency, EMT is always non-invasive and without the need for anesthesia or numbness of any kind. As TMS increases in popularity as a treatment for depression, more opportunities arise for researchers to examine its other benefits as well. In reality, it is not uncommon for patients to report some fatigue perhaps a few hours after treatment; think of TMS as an “exercise for the brain”. TMS is not systemic, which means that any side effects are contained in the treatment area and do not spread throughout the body.
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