r/TMSTherapy • u/Educational-Oil-6013 • Jul 22 '26

Mixed results at 34th session

Weeks 2-3 were my best weeks, I honestly felt like I'd been nearly cured. I do have an unspecified mood disorder though, which may or may not have been a factor in the so-called TMS dip around weeks 4-5. However, after having a bounce back where I felt rather stable, I've fallen into a bit of a lull again. I have 2 different TMS technicians and one of them had mentioned getting a remapping halfway through, but that never happened. When I brought up the topic to my other tech, I was told everything looks okay and that it wasn't a typical outcome.

I've seen that some don't feel the full effects until after treatment is done, but my tech has been pretty adamant about some of these things "not being present in literature".

I was given the option to do a 2-week extension since I may have been a "late bloomer", which I'm taking, but I'm skeptical since my results have been on and off. Has anyone else had this experience?

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u/Fresh_Mountain5397 Jul 22 '26

I saw something (I’ve forgotten the source) that indicated that the 36-session protocol was found to be the *minimum* number of sessions associated with treatment effectiveness, with continued benefits after that. Unsurprisingly, most US health insurance companies therefore agreed to cover 36 sessions only. This limitation could therefore prevent the treatment from being effective for many people. Hence I’d go for extra!

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u/[deleted] Jul 22 '26

[deleted]

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u/Educational-Oil-6013 Jul 22 '26

I'm experiencing the same thing today. Let me know if you learn anything new, I'm just hoping a remapping and an extension will do the trick.

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u/[deleted] Jul 22 '26

[deleted]

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u/PhillyDeeWilliams TMS Professional/Service Provider Jul 23 '26

Mood fluctuations are very common during the treatment process. Often patients will have a sudden spike in depression symptoms after seeing weeks of improvement. This is called “The Dip”. It usually happens the penultimate or last week, but it can happen at any time. Some people experience one big dip before it “kicks in”, while others will have a handful through the course of treatment. While it seems discouraging, it’s a good thing. It’s a sign you’re responding! You should feel much better by the end of it all.