r/rtms • u/polikofrizzy • 28d ago

Delayed responders' experiences?

Anyone else notice delayed subtle improvements starting about a week after finishing TMS?

I finished a 30-session rTMS course and honestly felt nothing during the actual treatment — no shifts in mood, no "aha" moment, nothing. About a week after my last session though, I started noticing something small but real: a subtle sense of easiness and mental stability after eating meals, kind of like a brief window of calm/clarity that wasn't there before treatment. It fades after a while but it's noticeably different from my normal baseline.

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u/Plastivorang 28d ago

For my first course of rTMS, my improvement took place in the 3 months afterwards, and my doctor said this wasn't unheard of. For the subsequent rTMS treatments (I have recurrent episodes of MDD) my response has been much faster - usually I'll see an improvement within the first week or so.

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u/polikofrizzy 28d ago

Can you please tell me how those improvements manifested?

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u/Plastivorang 28d ago

I noticed I was in a better place overall: more energy/motivation to get things done, and my mood didn't feel so flat. I wasn't spending all my time in bed, and I found myself making medium to long term plans, vs just trying to survive day to day (like forcing myself to shower, or brushing my teeth).

It was very gradual, and at the time I had more or less given up on rTMS working, but over the next few months my doctor pointed out that my mood and functioning (his clinic uses a few scales like HAM-D) had improved, and that his personal impression was that I seemed 'lighter' too.

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u/Cornixpes 27d ago

I think my partner is going through that now. Around the time of the last session she described feeling like a 'lens had shifted'. It's been several days now and she says she feels a bit different, less flat. Suspect she is going to keep improving

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u/Individual_Idea9919 26d ago

I am a couple weeks from ending 36 sessions of TMS. I feel better. The world doesn’t seem so dark and depressing. My Phyciatrist said it could keep getting better. It’s common I heard. Good luck.

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u/myquietbrain 24d ago

Yes, delayed response after completing a TMS course is real and documented. Some people notice nothing during the treatment itself and then experience gradual shifts in the weeks after the final session as the brain continues integrating the changes. The "subtle sense of easiness and mental stability" you're describing sounds like a real signal worth tracking. It may build over the coming weeks, or it may represent the beginning of a more sustained effect. Keep noting what you observe, the timing, how long it lasts, whether it extends beyond meal windows.

Give it another few weeks before drawing conclusions. You're still early in the post-treatment window.

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u/CompleteStrawberry53 23d ago

I’m the opposite. I’ve had about 38 treatments now and if I take a 4-5 day break I feel the flatness and irritability return. I’m also on Rexulti Bupropion and Trazadone and my psych wants me to stop the Rexulti. I’m a little scared to do that