This post is about my own experiences and thoughts about eTMS treatment. It should not be used as medical advice or be considered an authoritative source for medical information. If you think TMS/rTMS/eTMS could help you, check with a medical professional for the latest information and steps to get help. If you are a Veteran, First Responder, or Law Enforcement officer struggling with substance abuse, mental illness, sleep disorder, traumatic brain injury, sexual trauma, PTSD, concussions, or other brain trauma, contact eTMS Ohio for treatment options.

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Unfortunately, the state of Ohio intervened and rescinded the permission I was given to record my sessions, so for now there will be no videos. So you’ll have to settle for occasional pictures.

Of course, that does make the update process faster, so that’s a good thing. This will be a “catch-up” post for days 2 and 3, in which I reached and continued at full power.

Day 2: Ramping up

Normally, each session will start and end with an EEG, but the system they use to record was down, so we skipped that part today. Ron went through the normal pre-treatment checks: temperature, blood pressure, blood oxygen, and grip test. The grip test is interesting. I squeeze a grip and it measures the strength I have, to make sure nothing is deteriorating. Ron mentioned another benefit he’s seen: where someone who had hand tremors had them stop as a result of his eTMS treatment!

We went through the standard government-mandated education and check-ins. He asked about my appetite, sleep, fatigue, headaches, irritability, pain. This time there wasn’t anything really significant.

We started at a strength of 30, and he moved the magnet just a little closer to my eyes. Ron also mentioned how he’d never noticed the difference between people’s foreheads until he started doing this!

The pulses actually vibrated my hair, but it wasn’t bad. After a few pulses, he started bumping the power up and by the last few pulses I was at my target power. While we were ramping up on, I started playing with my Playdate.

Ron also mentioned that my treatment was 14 minutes and 40 seconds, with 5-second pulses and 20-second intervals. His treatments were during the research and development phase and took 30 minutes, with 45-second intervals. Progress that I’m thankful for!

With about 8 minutes left, Ron put me up to 30: 80% of my motor threshold and full power for my treatment! It hurt a little, but I decided to stick it out and let it do its thing. Since there was no EEG, that was the end of it.

Day 2, Part 2: The Hunger

I had a slight headache after my treatment, so I went to Kroger to pick up some Tylenol. When I went through the store, I started literally craving sugar. I’ve had a strong desire for something sweet, but this time I wanted to grab every sweet thing off the shelf and eat it! I managed to get out with just a six-pack of Twix, which were eaten that night, along with a healthy noodles and pot roast meal that one of the residents made where I’m staying.

And I was tired. I actually pushed to keep myself awake. Then my daughter called me after work to wish me a happy birthday. We talked for a long time, and around midnight I finally went to bed. I slept well and woke up early. Overall, it was nice.

Day 3: First day starting at full power

I decided to test the government and went for a 45-minute walk in the morning. After coffee, breakfast, and work, I decided to also make the 30-minute walk to the clinic. When I got there, I was informed about the decision to not allow video of my sessions. Right after that, Ron took my blood pressure. It was high, but I chalked that up to the walk coupled with the bad news.

Ron took a 30-second EEG and then we picked up where we left off: at a power of 30 but with the magnet moved down again. At the start I had a headache from the pulses but after a few minutes it subsided and it actually felt relaxing.

14 minutes and 40 seconds later, the treatment was done. Another EEG was taken and Ron said he could already see my alpha waves starting to pick up. He also showed me some pictures he’d picked up from a documentary about the treatment. I forgot to get the name of that, but I’ll check and see if I can find it.

The first image shows how the pulses penetrate into the brain. The orange rings on the right represent the magnet, and you can see how the pulse affects a shallow region, then the rest of the brain reacts to that pulse.

The second image shows fMRI images taken during a pulse. It’s interesting to see how the entire brain responds! This is the physical process that will guide my alpha waves to synchronize with the rest of my brain.

After the treatment, I went back to my home away from home, did some more work, talked to my partner on the phone, ate dinner, read — you know, evening activities. I did cut myself off from my screens at nine, and by 10:00 I was in bed asleep and slept straight through to 5 AM. I don’t know if it’s the eTMS, the habit changes, or both, but it was a good night’s sleep.

It’ll take some time to really know how much this is affecting my sleep quality, and it may require being in bed with my spouse again, since she’s the one who notices my tossing and jerking in bed. I do feel pretty good this morning, though, and am looking forward to Day 4! It’ll be earlier in the day so I can pop up to Columbus and work in a coworking space, then head to roller derby practice. Life goes on!