Would you have tried rTMS if it was free? [Poll]

Oh, we're talking past each other.

You and me both would have accepted treatment at a location of choice, I guess. So the other members, I am curious to know what the other members think. If they are yea-sayers or nay-sayers. So I am not discussing the feasibility of getting any of these.

• rTMS at the right VLPFC

• rTMS at the TPJ

• rTMS at the angular gyrus

What I am asking is leaving money aside, given what we know of rTMS and DPDR today, would you or wouldn't you want to get such rTMS treatment. So think of it as a hypothetical question, like «Would you go to the World Cup if you got a free ticket».

The rTMS equipment used for free in Denmark for refractory depression do not have neuronavigation so they can find locations that works for depersonalisation like the right VLPFC, TPJ or angular gyrus. The trials done at these locations are also very small and not replicated in large sizes so there is no approval as a treatment.

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I added bolds to the crux of the matter. The trials are small, the trials are non-replicated, but they are promising indeed. I see pros and cons of getting such treatment, and now I wonder what the general opinion of the forum is. What they think about it, leaving costs aside.

Mayer-Gross said:

Well, you can compere it with lamotrigin combination trails. There are publications on the subject that are very small but there are indications that 50% might have some benefit from it. 50% ought to have some reduction in symptoms on that combination. Yet, very few have given it a try and with a try i mean doses of lamotrigine that is known to be productive in DP like 200-300.mg or as high as 500.mg with a antidepressant or two that works. To give that trial alone a "fair" chance might take 6-8.months to try. Most have not tried it. with rTMS it could be the same.

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Good points! I'll make a poll on lamotrigin later! There are similarities, and there are differences. One big difference is the time aspect.

Time. We have 6 to 8 months on a drug, versus getting in a chair and getting treated with a fancy magnet for half an hour. Like they write, after one session, 5 out of 7 patients showed a 'partial response'. So it can be pretty quick, finding out if it works!

Side effects. Drugs usually have side effects, and such magnet treatment usually has less side effects.

Potential. With lamotrigin we could take a higher dose and make it a more lengthy treatment, but that's pretty much it. I doubt it can be curative for most. But with rTMS, we could, like you've pointed out get like 44 % improvement with the magnet treatment pointed towards the part of the frontal lobe, and then proceed to other parts of the brain.

Theory and practice fits. Sometime we find out a drug works by chance, and have no idea why! But with the magnet treatment theory and practice fits perfectly well. The part of the frontal lobe they've treated with magnets is indeed highly involved in processing emotions (you know a heck of a lot more about this than me, but I am writing to everyone here). Gee, looking at that link I posted, there was some aspect of social exclusion when I first got ill. Could very well be that my right VLPFC shut down emotions.

Mayer-Gross said:

It is my impression that there is very little interest on the subject. One have two months ago posted some videos on youtube about his rTMS trial on the right VLPFC and its effects on his emotional numbing.It worked on that aspect of the disorder on him. I have reposted his videos here. Very few have seen them. Prior to my posting his video had been shown 200.times and it is still very low. It might be to complicated and techical for most to relate to.

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I'll see if I can find that later. My health is poor and I've only got energy to visit the forums occasionally. I think I remember something about a YouTube channel and something about a person not getting properly neuronavigated rTMS. Yeah, I guess it's too technical for most. But the way I see it, it's the most promising field we have!