How Long Does rTMS Take to Work? Timeline and Expectations

Depression is arguably the worst mental health problem that one can face. It, along with other similar problems, can get particularly bad when none of the medications seems to work for you.

When facing such a situation, you’re likely to come across something known as rTMS (repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation). It’s an advanced treatment that is known to be very effective against treatment-resistant mental health problems. But given its nature as a procedure that is reserved only for specific situations, it remains shrouded in a fog of mystery – from how the whole thing actually works to how long it takes to help you. Keeping that in mind, let us take a deep dive into this treatment’s workings to establish a timeline that can help you approach it with the right expectations.

What happens during rTMS?

rTMS is a non-invasive therapy that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate brain areas associated with mood regulation. When someone is facing conditions like major depressive disorder, these areas will often show reduced activity or disrupted communication with other brain regions.

Here’s how it works: during treatment, a device will be placed on your scalp, usually over the left front of your head. This device will then deliver magnetic pulses that will pass through the skull and activate the nerve cells in that region. It may sound complicated, but in practice it is a very simple and safe procedure. By repeatedly activating the nerve cells in this region, rTMS will normalise the brain’s specific patterns that are associated with depression and other conditions.

These sessions will take about 20-40 minutes to complete, and you’ll most likely stay awake the entire time. When first starting out, expect to attend daily sessions or at least 5 days a week.

What is the typical timeline of rTMS?

The first thing you should know is that the timeline for an rTMS treatment will vary from one person to another. But generally speaking, this procedure can go on for around four to six weeks, totalling around 20-30 sessions. It’s a slow treatment which takes time to make a positive impact against depression.

During the first week of the treatment, you’ll likely not notice anything different, especially in terms of your mood and energy levels. Do not fall for the trap of thinking that the therapy is ineffective – our brain takes time to adapt and respond to stimulation, so you need to be patient during this phase.

By the second or third week, however, you should notice some small changes in your life – from being able to sleep better, feeling motivated to finish daily tasks, or just a reduction in negative spirals.

Once you hit the fourth week, you should notice a notable improvement in your mood and energy. By now, your concentration levels and mood should return to normal, and you may even feel a renewed desire to engage with activities that were previously avoided. Another thing worth noting is that, even after a full course of rTMS, you may need a few follow-up sessions to maintain the effects of the original treatment. Doctors like to call this maintenance rTMS. With some people, the symptoms may be too strong to go away for a long time and may return months or even years later. What the brain needs, then, is simply a periodic booster session that can reinforce the neural changes from the original treatment.

By the end of the treatment, your symptoms will either become negligible or go into remission. That said, don’t worry if your symptoms take longer to resolve or make a return later. If you’re getting rTMS in London from a good clinic, the doctors there will surely monitor your progress and make adjustments as needed.

Why does rTMS require so many sessions?

As established, this treatment requires sustained effort to work its magic. Unlike medications that can alter our brain’s chemistry almost instantly, rTMS works on a deeper level by rewiring our brain’s electrical activity and neural networks.

By repeatedly stimulating our mood-governing regions, this treatment pushes our brain to rebuild and strengthen its neural circuits there. This is, in a way, quite similar to how we try to build muscles through regular workouts and exercise – the keyword being “regular.” This treatment shows its effects only with consistent effort. When rTMS is done across multiple sessions and over several weeks, our brain’s neuroplasticity improves quite a bit, which is when our depressive symptoms begin to disappear.

While most people will see improvements at a similar rate, a few factors also affect how quickly someone notices them. The big one is how severe your mental health condition is. People who have been dealing with long-standing and treatment-resistant depression will take more time than those with more recent symptoms.

Your brain’s chemistry and its unique neurological makeup will also influence how quickly you see the effects of rTMS. Consistency is another important aspect to consider, as missing even a single rTMS session can set you back by quite a bit. Your efforts towards improving your lifestyle factors will also count, as sleep levels, stress levels, and overall health will also impact your brain’s response to the magnetic impulses.

Lastly, combining this treatment with therapy is generally considered the winning combo. The tools and techniques you learn from therapy to work with symptoms can go a long way in enhancing the longevity of rTMS’s effects.

Things will get better in due time

If there’s one thing you should take from all this, it’s that rTMS will most certainly work for your situation, but you’ll need to be patient and let the treatment do its thing slowly. The timeline for this treatment can vary quite a bit from person to person, especially in its final stretches, but as each session builds on the previous one, you can be certain that things will get better over time. So if your symptoms haven’t gone away with just therapy or medications, give rTMS a chance – you’ll likely come out on the other side feeling better than you might have in a long time.