Posted by SLS on July 10, 2015, at 6:37:00
In reply to Rose, posted by Meltingpot on July 10, 2015, at 4:09:03
> one private one did tell me that I would probably have to take medication for the rest of my life. There have just been two who have had a totally difference stance and I have hated their attitude to this day (and them too :-))!
What is the downside of continuing to take medication?
What is the downside of not taking medication?Taking medication now might turn out to be a temporary bridge to the development of other types of treatments. For me, I am looking at brain stimulation techniques.
ECT = electroconvulsive therapy
rTMS = repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation
dTMS = deep transcranial magnetic stimulation
sTMS = synchronized transcranial magnetic stimulation
tDCS = trancranial direct current stmulation
DBS = deep brain stimulation
VNS = vagus nerve stimulation
MST = magnetic seizure therapyI wish sTMS were available. I also like the initial results of tDCS. Unfortunately, these treatments are not ready for prime time.
The best US FDA approved non-invasive treatment might be dTMS. One study reported Its efficacy to lie closer to ECT than to rTMS. The FDA approved dTMS rather quickly, and surprised the manufacturer (Brainsway). Brainsway was not ready to ship more than 100 devices to the US.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3280107/
The problem that emerged in this study was that the dTMS treatment was reported to be less tolerable than rTMS, although dTMS works better. dTMS is also reported to work faster than ECT at 2 weeks. However, dTMS was less effective after 4 weeks. These results need to be verified with additional studies. Perhaps, with time, the settings of the dTMS device can be optimized to address tolerability issues.
It is important to understand that whether it be drug therapy, ECT or TMS, TRD patients usually need maintenance treatment to prevent relapse. One person on Psycho-Babble who did not respond to medication alone went on to respond to rTMS. She undergoes maintenance treatments every 6 months.
- ScottSome see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1079384
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20150629/msgs/1080412.html