Posted by twinleaf on March 18, 2008, at 17:08:15
In reply to Can anyone share experiences w/ VNS? I may get it, posted by PhoenixGirl on March 18, 2008, at 15:58:44
Are you anywhere near Chicago or Atlanta? It's non-invasive, and about half of the people who try it get very good results. Everyone who responds to it needs to go on a follow-up maintenance program, so you need to be reasonably near the doctors who are treating you.(Dr.Best in Chicago and Dr.Hutto in Atlanta)
I haven't tried as many drugs as you, nor have I had had MDD as long as you have, but I have tried all the different classes of drugs, and never found anything nearly as helpful as the TMS. I had an initial three week course of 21 treatments, and now return every few months for 4 treatments (two a day). I am completely in remission once again after 1-2 treatments, but have two more for insurance. If it is approved, I would use it as a prevemtive measure on a regular basis. It does good things to your brain: increases the blood flow in the left side of the cortex, lowers the circulating levels of stress hormones such as cortisol and epinephrine. increases levels of BDNF, and restores normal architecture to the CA3 cells of the hippocampus. It's not a permanent fix, but, if it works for you, it's almost a perfect treatment- you aren't depressed, and you feel like your old healthy self- not dull, anhedonic, overweight or asexual. This is true of VNS, too, but it is a little more invasive and tricky.
TMS is presently being studied in Iraq as a frontline treatment for war-related PTSD. Because it can damp down the stress hormones so well, they are trying it to see if they can prevent PTSD from developing in combat veterans.
poster:twinleaf
thread:818669
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080316/msgs/818679.html