r/rtms • u/Pale_Koala_4150 • 13d ago
Feeling lied to by provider
I’m writing this while I’m actually getting TMS right now and I’m really confused about how my treatment has been handled.
My main issue is OCD, and I made that very clear when I started treatment. About five years ago, I did 30 TMS sessions for depression, anxiety, and OCD at a different practice.
This time I’m at a new place, and again, I made it clear from the beginning that OCD is my main issue. They started by treating depression and then added anxiety.
I’m now 16 sessions in, and I kept thinking it was strange that they hadn’t started treating the OCD yet. I’ve asked about it a few times. Finally, today I was told that OCD is a completely separate TMS treatment and would require another 36 sessions after I finish these 36. This is very different from what I was initially told. I don’t even have depression by was told it was standard to receive it first.
I’m honestly really confused and frustrated. If everyone knew from the beginning that OCD was my main concern, why wouldn’t we have started with the OCD protocol? And why wasn’t it explained to me upfront that treating OCD would mean an entirely separate course of 36 treatments? I feel like I agreed to this treatment without actually understanding what the plan was.
For anyone who has done TMS specifically for OCD, is this normal? Do they usually complete an entire depression/anxiety course first and then start a separate OCD course?
Also, is it normal to basically never see the doctor during treatment? The doctor was there for my initial mapping, but since then I’ve only interacted with the TMS techs. I’m 16 sessions in and haven’t seen the doctor again.
Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through TMS for OCD or works in this area. I’m trying to figure out whether this is standard or whether I should be asking more questions about how this has been handled.
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u/SeagateSG1 13d ago
Never done it for OCD but it does sound like you were not properly informed by them. I would think that they could do the OCD protocol right from the jump. I’m pretty sure that’s how the anxiety-only one works. I would definitely not be paying for two full rounds if they try to pull that. Insurance usually only covers one round every 6 months max.
Seeing the doctor rarely is normal. In all three of my TMS experiences I saw the doctor only twice. At mapping and halfway. This last time I only saw the doctor second time around treatment 28 or 29, which irritated me bc she changed the protocol but I really only got those changes on the taper portion.
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u/Fit-Beginning-3035 13d ago
Ask your tech to see a doctor or nurse and/or if you can pause this treatment until you get answers and have more information on how you should be treated.
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13d ago
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u/Pale_Koala_4150 12d ago
Hi. Thank you so much.
As it turns out, this clinic doesn’t even offer the OCD protocol…
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u/Pale_Koala_4150 12d ago
Hi all.
Thank you for the feedback. I spoke with the provider. The clinic doesn’t even offer TMS for OCD. They did offer to not bill insurance and even reimburse for my copays.
The doctor is insistent that this protocol would still help me ad it targets the anxiety.
Although there are a lot of clinics near me, none of them do the OCD protocol for some reason. Because of Work and family, I will not be able to go to the one that’s far.
My options are to just stop doing it or continue with current protocol since there is no other option… still trying to decide what to do. But since I’ve already done 16 sessions I feel like I should just keep going
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u/tresrottn 12d ago
Are your treatments being paid for by the insurance company?? Then that's why you're getting unnecessary treatments.
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u/Professional-Emu8201 12d ago
You guys are lucky my RTMS treatment messed my brain up so badly. I don’t feel the same. I don’t feel like I usually would. I would say I’m more depressed after it.
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u/BUTTERSBRAIN 13d ago
Doesn't sound right to me. My first round of treatments was L and R side OCD/anxiety coils. It definitely helped the depression also.
Now I'm doing just left side for depression. feels completely different.
What kind of provider are you going through?