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Days 16 to 19 of TMS

Monday
I was very sick over the weekend, and contacted the TMS center to see if I should come in. Having a cold or flu shouldn't impact treatment, but to make sure I don't spread it they asked me not to come in.

Day 16
I have been on full power for a while, but today I was having a lot of hand movements on our normal power setting. I thought it was from the break, but this didn't happen before and the issues continued during the week so we think it may be due to increased inflammation from my health conditions and/or temporary illness. My tech was great and very patient. We tried lowering the power multiple times, then did an MT check, and contacted my provider to see what's the appropriate power. We ended up lowering our power from 120% to 70% just so I could do treatment and it was much better.

Day 17
Today I continued to have hand movements, but I did not feel as sensitive to the train as I did yesterday. We slowly raised my power and carefully watched for hand movements. I was talking to my tech about how people get so freaked out when they hear there is a [very slight] risk of seizures, and found out Wellbutrin [antidepressant] has a higher rate of seizures than TMS therapy. Me and my tech chatted so time went by faster, and we finished with low frequency as usual. With the placement of low frequency, there is no risk of hand movements which is nice. 

Day 18
Today treatment went well. We continued to watch for hand movements and slowly increase the power. Our goal is to get me back to full power so TMS can be as effective [as quickly] as possible. Also today, while talking with my tech about the MT check and safety, I found out some interesting things! So if you did a full treatment but at the position of your motor cortex, it would significantly increase your risk of seizures. However, the MT check is safe because its a single pulse, which is much less stimulating. When the motor cortex is stimulated and the motor threshold is crossed you will have a hand movement. The goal of an MT check is to find your motor cortex and your motor threshold. This is also why techs watch out for hand movements during therapy. It may indicate the coil angle/placement is off and your motor cortex is being stimulated as well as the target area of treatment. 

Day 19
Today was a really good day. I had no hand movements at all and we continued to work up to full power again. Since my re-mapping where the tech got me a seat cushion [I have issues sitting up tall] positioning myself for treatment has been very easy. We had a slight issue, though, when the coil arm got locked and wouldn't move. My tech called multiple people to try and troubleshoot the issue, and reset the neurostar, but did not get anywhere. Due to this we had to cancel low frequency treatment. It shouldn't impact how I respond to high frequency treatment, which is good. 
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