One year after treatment... There is light at the end of the tunnel!

I completed 7 weeks of TMS 13 months ago. I've had depression on and off for 25 years, but that was easily the darkest period of my life. The TMS "dip" was brutal... my depression scores increased every week of treatment until my very last assessment, when they finally started to improve.

From the time treatment ended, I've been on a slow but mostly-steady upswing. My TMS treatment was October- November 2023. My psychiatrist had more faith in TMS than I did and didn't make any med changes after that. I guess she could see improvement, even if I couldn't feel it yet. In the begining of 2024, I wasn't feeling that all-encompassing blackness anymore, but everything still felt grey. I told my psychiatrist that I was just resigned to living with depression.

Surprisingly, by July, I could say with confidence that I was actually feeling better. I started therapy again, which I had previously quit because it felt pointless. Today, I would say I'm no longer depressed.

It wasn't a quick fix by any means, but I attribute my recovery to TMS. It reset my brain and slowly allowed me to rebuild my neural connections.

I hope this is encouraging for some who aren't feeling any positive effects yet. I will also warn anyone who is about to start, the mid-treatment dip is no joke. I'm not sure exactly how common it is, but it's common enough that I would go in expecting it. The more you mentally prepare and are looking out for it, the easier it will be to remind yourself that it's only temporary. You can do this!!!!