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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This is a little later than normal, as I went directly from my treatment to home, then to Dayton to see the musical Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations with my spouse and parents (side note: Great musical!), then spent the weekend with my spouse and preparing to return to the treatment center tomorrow. Since today is a U.S. holiday (Juneteenth), the treatment center is closed, and so I won’t be going back up until tomorrow.

Here’s the two TikToks I made right after Friday’s treatment. I had a lot to say so it had to be split up.

Friday’s treatment was mostly routine. Same power, and Ron moved the magnets down to the final spot on my forehead, above my left eyebrow. It’s a little to the left of center because the focus is on the left dorsal prefrontal cortex. The left dorsal prefrontal cortex is a brain region located in the anterior portion of the frontal lobes of the human brain, specifically above the left eyebrow. It is involved in executive functions such as decision-making, cognitive flexibility, working memory, and attention control.

I had a bit of a headache again, just a little bit lower than on Thursday, but it was gone after just a couple pulses. Other than that, it was very routine. I did get set up to start counseling and am just waiting for a call back to get those scheduled.

More things noticed, and some things may be eTMS adjacent

My last post covered some of the changes I’ve seen, but this weekend was the first time my spouse has seen me since I started, and she noticed even more. However, I discovered that the dramatic sleep improvement may not be entirely from eTMS.

Sleep changed again

This weekend, my sleep numbers weren’t as great, for a few reasons. (Note that the date is based on when you wake up, not go to sleep)

Friday night (Saturday, June 17 on the images), I got a score of 36, but that’s mainly because I didn’t get to bed until after midnight. Saturday and Sunday night, though, I got scores of 65 and 53, which are better than my pre-treatment sleep scores, but not by much, and mainly because the sleep depth was bad. I think this is because I had some better sleep hygiene routines at the other place I’m staying that I’m not following through here. I’m keeping with the 45-minute walk, but at night I’m staying on screens (playing video games or just scrolling my phone) and not getting to bed as early as before. That coupled with the little bit of chaos of settling into different spaces is having an effect. Hopefully, we’ll see my sleep get more consistent as we go!

With all that, I still got encouraging news about my sleep. Sunday morning, my wife told me that I was tossing and turning some while trying to get to sleep, but then I went into a really deep sleep that she’s never seen before. She actually had to check if I was still breathing! So even though the numbers aren’t super great, there is a real, observable difference in the way I’m sleeping.

Triggers are easier

I’m feeling like I don’t feel as panicky when any kind of triggers come up. One incident on Friday night really highlighted that. We were parking, and my dad was backing up when I saw a man behind us. I panicked, thinking we were going to hit him, and I started yelling about it. Right after, my spouse did a near-double-take and said, “You came down off that a LOT faster!” Apparently, after incidents like that, I would stay in a very visibly heightened state, but this time, she didn’t see that!

So, all in all, things are getting better.

Short, but hopefully even better, week

Ron has consistently said that the biggest improvement happens some time in the second week, so I’m really looking forward to how things go! It’s a short week because of Juneteenth, but hopefully in the next few days, there will be some cool things happening!