Most patients who complete treatment with tms experience relief from symptoms of depression for six months to a year. Your results could also last more than a year. Antidepressant medications and psychotherapy have helped relieve symptoms of depression in millions of people. But these methods do not bring relief for everyone.
Some people experience intolerable side effects from medications, and for others, they don't work at all.
Transcranial magnetic
stimulation (TMS) is a drug-free, non-invasive alternative treatment for major depressive disorder. Studies have shown that up to 60% of people with treatment-resistant depression experience improvement in their symptoms with EMT therapy. And for about a third of them, TMS completely eliminates their symptoms.The results don't last forever, but even a few months of relief can make a significant difference to a person's quality of life. When wondering how long the effects of TMS treatment last, it's important to know that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to depression. Because of the various factors mentioned above that influence major depression, each patient will have their own unique response to EMT treatment. In many cases, a treatment regimen of 4 to 6 weeks will provide a remission that lasts about six months or more.
Occasional EMT maintenance sessions are sometimes needed to prolong remission. Some patients may be placed on a post-TMS schedule of one session per month for a specified period of time. The answer is that the duration of TMS varies from patient to patient. Many of my patients are still in remission one year after treatment, but others require intermittent maintenance treatments before that date.
These maintenance treatments are covered by insurance. If a patient feels that his symptoms of depression recur after undergoing EMT, he should contact his psychiatrist. When it comes to treating depression, there is no one-size-fits-all solution: the condition is complex. Because different factors affect the presentation of major depression in patients, each person responds uniquely to EMT therapy.
In most situations, treatment sessions over a period of 4 to 6 weeks will provide results that last up to six months or longer. Regular TMS maintenance sessions may be required to expand results. Some patients may need to schedule one EMT session per month after the initial session for a certain period of time. Approximately 50% to 60% of people with depression who have tried and have not received the benefit of medications experience a clinically significant response to TMS.
About a third of these people experience complete remission, which means that their symptoms disappear completely. It is important to recognize that these results, while encouraging, are not permanent. Like most other treatments for mood disorders, there is a high rate of recurrence. However, most patients with TMS feel better for many months after discontinuation of treatment, and the average duration of response is just over a year.
Some will choose to return for the next rounds of treatment. For people who don't respond to TMS, ECT may still be effective and is often worth considering. EMT treatments are one of the safest because electrical current is converted into an electromagnetic pulse rather than sent directly to the brain (as in ECT). If you are considering TMS, you understandably wanted to know how long the effects of TMS treatment last.
EMT is a form of therapy called neurostimulation, which works by applying magnetic pulses to areas of the brain where there has been little or no activity. The most common side effect, reported in about half of patients treated with EMR, is headaches. In the United States, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized EMT to treat major depressive disorders. TMS belongs to a category of therapeutic interventions called neurostimulation or stimulation of brain cells.
RTMS (repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation) has been shown to cause changes in neuronal activity in regions of the brain involved in mood regulation, such as the prefrontal cortex. While they are promising avenues for research, TMS for these conditions is not yet approved and would be considered off-label. However, it is important to note that the best way to ensure optimal benefits is to complete the entire treatment process as prescribed by the EMT doctor.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
(TMS) is a new therapy for treatment-resistant depression that has received a lot of attention recently.. .
