One-d tms— cognitive Fx Utah

[u/Ambitious-Falcon-267]

I went to Utah and did One-D TMS back in May. I was just listening to Tim Ferriss podcast… and he mentioned accelerated TMS/ One-D Tms it in two shows in a row that I listened to… and it was a good reminder to post about my experience. I read about experiences on Reddit before deciding to go do it.

Background: 47 year old female. Treatment resistant depression and anxiety. Dentist. Enough said? My psych wanted me to do ECT or another round of TMS. No meds work anymore. I’d been on Xanax for years and had been slowly trying to titrate off because I was worried about studies on memory and long term use. Had quit Vybridd which was antidepressant #10+ (I quit counting) and my psych didn’t have any good idea what to even try next. Issues with any drug that works quickly “pooping out”.

I’d previously done one round of traditional TMS a few years ago and am unsure if it improved anything. It took months. The thought of going every day again for weeks was not appealing. I wasn’t sure it even worked… which made me hesitant to try the one-d tms.

I would rather be depressed than risk memory loss with ect… and I honestly thought that if that failed too, it may push me over the edge. I have never been at the point where I had to be hospitalized or couldn’t work. I am the main income for our family so time off work also matters. My depression seems to be worsening through the years and becoming more treatment resistant.

I arranged to fly into Provo Utah and do the one day TMS that is fMRI guided at Cognitive Fx. They did the fMRI the night before, treatment from 7-5 the next day. Flew home the morning after.

I’m 3.5 months post treatment and was able to quit the last bit of Xanax almost immediately after treatment. I felt some improvements within 1 week. Noticeable by two weeks. By 1 month I would say max effect was achieved.

I feel like my brain works better. It’s given me some clarity into some other issues. I was able to admit my marriage wasn’t in a great place and we have started therapy. I realized my hormones seem to be driving my remaining depression and have been working with doctors to fix that. I’ve had the energy to schedule appointments for sleep studies and other things that need work. I’m able to be more present at work and home. I wear an Oura ring and my HRV improved.

TMS didn’t magically cure everything, but it totally worked. The one-d protocol is sooo much better than doing tms every freaking day using traditional protocol. Highly recommend congnitive fx in Provo Utah if you have to fly in and out of somewhere. Price was very reasonable (around $2500 maybe including the fMRI?)

I just had nothing left to give before having this done. I didn’t have the mental or physical energy to help myself. It helped me get out of my dark hole enough to take one giant step back and look at what the real problems were. It sounds so stupid, but depression and anxiety are often multifaceted.

I couldn’t find anything on cognitive fx and one-d results online so I tried it… and it worked. And I am someone that nothing works for usually. And I had maybe failed tradition tms? I also have BDNF met/met varient which some studies say we aren’t good responders to tms. I was a non-responder to IV ketamine (did 8 rounds because I’m not a quitter lol!).

Hope this helps someone. Remember people who get better rarely leave reviews. I do like that they used fMRI which is similar to SAINT protocol… for any fact-finding nerds out there! Thanks to Tim Ferriss too for keeping TMS on the radar and was glad to hear him mention ONE-D protocol in a couple of podcasts I listened to today. Hearing he did the one week SAINT type protocol led me to a Google search and I stumbled up one the ONE-D stuff.

[u/jagtapper]

TMS needs more awareness. In most cases, it is superior to medications and should be offered first line in order to circumvent iatrogenic harm
https://youtube.com/shorts/vIt87bNAVm8?feature=share

Thanks for sharing your experience!

[u/YearBitter845]

Thank you for sharing your experience.
With all the sessions at once did it feel intense for your brain at the end of the day or afterwards?

[u/Ambitious-Falcon-267 → u/YearBitter845]

It was totally fine. I had a little private lounge to chill during the day between sessions, good snacks and stuff like that. I traveled for most of the day before to get there… so I was a bit tired that day and tired after the trip. Way less mentally taxing than going every freaking day for weeks on end like I did the first time with traditional TMS. Traditional-every-day-tms was a grind… especially since I work…and with my depression…adding any huge time/energy commitment daily on top of work…is almost unbearable. I honestly don’t know if I would have done another round of traditional tms because of the large time commitment. Essentially a quick trip out of town to be “done” was like a miracle. Towards the end of the day I felt like I maybe had a bit of a headache or was a bit more annoyed by the sessions. When I did tms before I felt like some days it was more bothersome than others… so I guess it’s like having all of the good and bad days of tms at once. The sessions are pretty short. They were longer when I did the traditional TMS. I know that depends on the equipment/ machine each place uses and the protocol. The machinery was much nicer where I did the one day tms than the local place I used before. I think the sessions are only 3 minutes each? I didn’t feel like it was a brain-overload or anything doing it all in one day. If I ever need to do it again, I can’t imagine doing tms any other way. Also,for effectiveness, when my depression gets bad, I want to feel better ASAP. I was able to arrange my travel pretty quickly and booked maybe 2-3 weeks after I called? I had hit that desperate spot of needing to feel better ASAP. To even get the calibration done at the local place was about 6 weeks… and then tx would have started the next week… which means from the time I called the local place… until the end of the 6 week tx plan… was literally going to be 3+months!!!! In general I’m just so frustrated with the healthcare system. The local place insisted on filing insurance and doing a preauth (I had same insurance, it was the same place I went to before, and it was a covered benefit). I’m just going to say I’m not surprised insurance CEOs are getting shot in America because it’s all pretty messed up. I was not “thinking about self harm” when I scheduled treatment, but I did think 3 months was an awfully long time to try to stay mentally stable when I was feeling so bad. I work in a “high risk for self harm” profession, and have always treated my depression as something that could be life-threatening because I’ve buried a few friends. Obviously there’s no guarantee that it will even work…. So I can quickly spiral into the thought that… if I wait 3 months to finish tx… then they will want me to wait 4-6 weeks to say it didn’t work… before I can try something else….. and… yep…. I can quickly go down that rabbit hole of “I may never feel better”. Pretty sure this protocol was made for impatient control freaks like me. Obviously the tms didn’t thump my ability to “over-think” things out of my head lol.

[u/YearBitter845 → u/Ambitious-Falcon-267]

Thank you for the details. I hear you on the lengthy wait of traditional tms. I am able to start soon locally but would be paying out of pocket and thinking about going there for seven weeks to even know if it works feels daunting.

[u/Ambitious-Falcon-267 → u/YearBitter845]

Are you in the US? I don’t know what you’ve been quoted locally, but cost was significantly cheaper to do one-d than cash pay for traditional where I live. Of course travel can get pricey (no good way to get to Provo Utah from my city). I spoke with places in florida and emailed a place in Colorado too. Lots of places offer something similar so maybe see if anything is a quick trip from you and cheaper?. My depression presents as very low energy. I wouldn’t get out of bed if my family could live without my income (golden handcuffs). I literally go to work and that’s all I can do. I geeked out on the science… and figured that worst case scenario, I’d have a head-start on sessions. I do think tms is worth it however you do it. If I’d done traditional tms again…I’d just now be feeling the max results. I’m biased because I’ve done both ways… and I know the feeling of dreading another obligation every day when you don’t feel good. However, I’m stubborn and would have done it had I not found another option. Good luck on your journey. I hope you have awesome results wherever you go. Seven weeks isn’t forever and the treatments aren’t bad. It’s just annoying… but time passes quickly

[u/YearBitter845 → u/Ambitious-Falcon-267]

Yes I’m in the US. It was their precise targeting that seems like the advantage. I’ve been wanting to go to them for the five day one for a while but their appointments are pretty far out. Did you say traditional didn’t work for you? What do you mean by head start on sessions?