TMS

TMS is absolutely different from shock or ECT therapy. ECT is more invasive procedure, administered in a hospital under anesthesia. While ECT may have a significant recovery time and affects cognition and memory, TMS is an office based procedure that requires no hospital stay or recovery time, and patients report few to no side effects.

TMS therapy is covered by all major insurances besides Medicaid (if primary/sole coverage). Prior starting the treatment, we determine any remaining deductible, copays, or coinsurance that you may owe. If you are pursuing off-label treatments (TMS for anxiety, PTSD, etc. ) that are not covered by insurance, we offer a sliding scale based upon your household income. PTSD, anxiety, and other psychiatric conditions often co-exist with Depression. When using insurance for depression treatment, we waive any fees associated with an off-label treatment targeting other symptoms.

Anxiety, PTSD, and OCD are often treated with TMS. There is evidence that TMS may be helpful to treat schizophrenia, fibromyalgia, along with Migraine Headaches, Bipolar Disorder, Parkinson disease, Multiple Sclerosis etc.

While TMS is highly effective as monotherapy for depression, in clinical practice, some patients will continue taking their antidepressant medications while receiving TMS. Medications are also utilised as a maintenance strategy after completion of TMS course. According to the consensus of Clinical TMS Society, “TMS can be administered with or without the concomitant medications” and “there is no evidence of an increased risk of adverse events by combining medications with TMS” (Perera et al. 2016, p. 344).

Success rates and individual results will vary, as might be expected based on the unique neuronal properties and inter-individual variability in baseline neurophysiology. Yet TMS is successful in more than 70% of people, meaning that most patients who undergo TMS treatment experience relief in their symptoms. About 50 to 60% of patients go into full remission, meaning they become asymptomatic after one full course of TMS. Maintenance TMS therapy sessions may be performed in the future, if necessary.

The most common side effect to TMS include application site discomfort which is mostly tolerable and subside in intensity during the treatment course. Treatment parameters and the position of coil can always be adjusted to enhance patient comfort. The seizure risk, according to the most recent data, is less than 0.1% over an entire treatment course. Each patient is carefully assessed prior TMS, eliminating the risk factors that can increase seizure potential.