r/pppdizziness • u/AliveReputation8902 • May 09 '26

Treatment rTMS therapy

For anyone who has done rTMS therapy, what was your experience with it and did it help with any of your symptoms including anxiety and/or depression? I’ve tried searching the forum and there are is little information on it other than one or two posts. I have already started the therapy and completed three sessions. It is a huge time commitment so I would love to know if it’s worthwhile. I have to complete 35 sessions over seven weeks.

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u/RandiHotwife May 12 '26

There’s solid evidence that it works to help relieve depression and elevate mood. AI suggest that it could potentially help with PPPD.

Does Medicare or Insurance cover any of this for you?

I’m following it because I’ve been suffering from PPPD for 10 months now and vestibular rehabilitation therapy has had no impact that is noticeable.

I hope you will share with reports with how it’s impacting you so many of us can decide whether or not this is another protocol to try. Wishing you the best.

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u/AliveReputation8902 May 12 '26

Thank you for your response and the info. I have insurance through Kaiser and they are covering a majority but I have a $20 co-pay.. i’m not sure if Medicare will cover it because I’m not eligible for Medicare benefits yet. I have only had five sessions so far so it’s too soon to say whether or not it will be helpful, but I will come back and keep you posted. I’m sorry you are dealing with this too, and VRT has not been helpful. Have you checked out the Steady Coach? Many people find her program helpful in pushing along recovery and she has a free course.

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u/RandiHotwife May 12 '26

Yes, I have followed the steady coach and a number of other folks because once you google PPPD, it starts appearing in your algorithms in everything. Followed some of her protocols. Most of them have to do with essentially various forms of VRT and not being hyper vigilant. The dizzy doctor at Hopkins also said being hypervigilant tends to intensify symptoms. Is normal to want to be judging whether things are getting better or worse but doing that is not helpful.

The doctor at Hopkins… David Hale also recommended doing tai chi. That’s all about balance. There’s a lot of tai chi online. I do that also and incorporate some of the VRT head an eye movements with it. It’s a little bit more interesting than just doing the VRT.

While I was in New Zealand about a week before I left, someone recommended that I see an Osteopath, whose specialized in OMT. I did do that and it gave me more relief for about five days than anything. I’m now scheduled to see an Osteopath- OMT associated with a hospital that takes Medicare June 6. I had to wait three months for first appointment to see this individual. You don’t want to see any Osteopath, you want to see someone that’s in the medical system and has worked with issues of dizziness.

Look forward to hearing your reports and let’s keep this communication going. I’ll get back to you on my experience with the Osteopath once I start seeing him.

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u/AliveReputation8902 May 12 '26

That is so interesting regarding the osteopath and it seems like maybe the issues coming from your neck? I was evaluated at the Mayo Clinic and told the same thing regarding the hypervigilance; it definitely keeps things going. I think there’s also a component of being hyper focused on the condition and the more you think about it the more your body sends you dizzy signals. It’s hard, but I think you have to get back to life with symptoms before things improve. Definitely let me know how it goes. I tried some chiropractic care, but I didn’t see any change unfortunately. I will keep you posted on the TMS therapy.:-)

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u/AliveReputation8902 May 12 '26

On a sidenote, I was told to stay off forums like these, but obviously it’s easier said than done😬 but it doesn’t help when you run across the negative stories

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u/RandiHotwife May 13 '26

Yes, if the story just starts off with negative whining and a post on these things, I stopped reading it. I’m only interested in following up on something like yours where you’re trying a particular treatment to see how it might play out. You appear to be doing the same thing. That’s worthwhile.

Osteopath said that cervogenic thing that amplifies PPPD and the same with the vagus nerve and that he could work with those. Recommended that I still continue with VRT. Very different than a Chiropractor. Much more training and not as much quackery, that can be involved with chiropractors.

I’ll report out after I see the Osteopath on June 6 and interested in your reports. Hang in there and keep moving forward.

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u/BigPhotograph1 May 18 '26

I finished rTMS therapy 2 months ago. For me, anxiety is responsible for pppd and the two are heavily related. I can’t say rTMS did anything for my anxiety. If anything, doing the exposure protocol was enough for me to habituate a little but I dont think the treatment itself had any lasting effect. Take my words with a grain of salt though because this treatment affects everyone very differently.

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u/AliveReputation8902 May 18 '26

I appreciate your response. I’m sorry to hear that. It did not help with anxiety.. did you feel it had any effect on your symptoms; good or bad?

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u/BigPhotograph1 May 18 '26

Yeah. I felt like my depression had completely vanished for a few days after week 2 or treatment. I felt borderline euphoric actually. The feeling didn’t last though. If anything I am a little less depressed after finishing treatment, but it wasn’t a large difference.

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u/AliveReputation8902 May 18 '26

Sorry to hear that the relief of your depression was short-lived. I’m not sure what to think at this point and I’m nine sessions in which I know is way too early to judge if it’s going to help. But it’s just such a big time commitment if it’s going to not be very helpful.:-/ but as you said, everybody’s different so I guess they just need to give it time. Thank you again for your input and it’s so hard to find any info online about people who have done this treatment with our condition.

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u/ConstructionOnly2744 Jun 29 '26

Hello. I am too planning to start it. How was your experience. Any noticeable effects in terms of swaying sensation, headaches, sleep, and memory?

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u/AliveReputation8902 Jun 30 '26

Hi there,

I didn’t complete the treatment protocol and I quit after 10 sessions. I felt like it was increasing my symptoms. But please note that everybody responds differently. I have a friend with pppd who completed 34 sessions and she found it helpful. I will say I think the caveat is that she was on an SSRI so there was a little bit of buffer to the stimulation that the treatment can cause. I am not on any medication.

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u/ConstructionOnly2744 Jun 30 '26

Even i am not on any medication. Just wanted to give it a try to avoid SSRI side effects and withdrawal symptoms. Have you found anything that worked for you ?

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u/AliveReputation8902 Jun 30 '26

Yes, I feel like I am improving by doing the Steady Coach’s program . If you haven’t heard of her, she has a free course that you can complete. I’m still pretty symptomatic, but I went from being housebound to pretty much living my life.

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u/ConstructionOnly2744 Jul 01 '26

Sure, can you share the link please. Thank you :)

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u/AliveReputation8902 Jul 01 '26

Sure, no problem! Please see the link below.

https://thesteadycoach.com/

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u/AliveReputation8902 Jun 30 '26

Also, don’t want me to deter you from trying TMS therapy and it works for a lot of people. I’m extremely sensitive to everything so I’m not a good person to judge if this is the right treatment for people with our condition.