1st week to 3rd week of TMS

Sorry I didn't post here for so long. After the first week, I was dealing with headaches, my Mom being sick, and 2 graduate online classes starting.

I dodged the headaches for 6 days but then on Sunday I had a killer all-day headache that brought me to tears. I had to call a massage therapist I used to use a year ago to fit me in since I was in so much pain. Nothing touched this headache, not ibuprofen, Ultram or Skelaxin which are the meds I am allowed in the TMS study. But after a tearful hour massage, I was ok by the end of day so I slept ok.

My Mom was getting really sick at this point, but when she needed to go to the ER on Monday, I had the dreaded headache again and had to take meds and lay down for a few hours before I could join my Mom in the hospital. Grad school had started at this point, and the stress was big and I had eye strain from reading online and the textbooks.

The doctor changed my meds to act as a prophylactic and ward off the pain. I started on 800 mg Ibuprofen 3 times a day and that is working like a charm.

To the researchers, the headaches are a good sign but I haven't asked why yet. It shows some kind of memory of the TMS and means it is working, I guess.

The treatment is uncomfortable- more for my back and right arm and neck than for the treatment site or the pain of the treatment itself. But WHO CARES? It is working!

My sleep cycle is normal for the first time in YEARS - can't even remember how long it has been since I rose on my own before 8 am and got sleepy and fell asleep without help before midnight.

2nd week revealed a pattern - The first of the 75 trains of treatment was mild- like a 5/10 on pain, then the 2nd and 3rd would be the strongest - 8/10, then they would play music on Pandora Radio and I would settle into the next 72 jolts at a steady 3-5 out of 10 in pain. As the pain goes up on my back and neck from being restrained, my pain goes down on the treatment site on the left side of my head.

The strength I am getting is 125% at 10Hz, so 10 jolts a second for 4 seconds followed by 26 seconds of rest (there is NO pain or anything during that rest time). At the end of this week, I will have completed 3 weeks of TMS treatment and that concludes the data for their study. Today I have an appointment with the psychiatrist of the study to assess my progress, and if he approves, they will offer me 3 more weeks of treatment for my sake (no payment is involved wtih this study so I think of it as my payback).

You have no idea, I could never tell you how wonderful it is to feel myself so normal right now. Albeit very emotional, angry, crying at the littlest thing, but so awake and feel able to do things and want to do social things. :-)