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I am now receiving TMS therapy and yesterday my blood pressure was high and I was really anxious. Although, my blood pressure was better today and I was less anxious I only slept 3 hours. The text recommended Alpha stem to manage my anxiety and insomnia. My daughter thinks I should finish up the TMS therapy before I buy it, it isn't covered by Medicare. It is very tempting but I think I should see what happens with the TMS. So I'm asking for other people's opinions

September 15
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Reactions
A MyDepressionTeam Member

I did TMS three times. It helped only once. Good luck to you with it. Never heard of Alpha stem.

October 4
A MyDepressionTeam Member

I’m not familiar with alpha stem. Can you share a little more about it?

September 15
A MyDepressionTeam Member

Is the TMS therapy where they attach things to your head and you have to do 36 treatments? If it is, I did 18 and it did nothing for me. I hope it works for you. Medicare paid for all my treatments. I have original medicare, not an advantage plan.

September 15
MyDepressionTeam

What a thoughtful question — and it sounds like your daughter might be onto something! Finishing TMS therapy before adding another device seems like a wise approach. TMS takes time to show its full effects, and mixing in a new treatment makes it harder to know what's actually helping.

There isn't specific community feedback Show Full Answer

What a thoughtful question — and it sounds like your daughter might be onto something! Finishing TMS therapy before adding another device seems like a wise approach. TMS takes time to show its full effects, and mixing in a new treatment makes it harder to know what's actually helping.

There isn't specific community feedback available about the Alpha-Stim device to share here, but the general wisdom from people managing depression and anxiety points to a few things worth considering:

- Give current treatments time — TMS therapy often needs a full course before results are clear
- Talk to your TMS provider — they should know if combining devices is safe or could interfere
- Cost matters — if it's not covered by Medicare, waiting to see if TMS delivers results first protects your wallet
- Sleep and anxiety during TMS — some people experience temporary ups and downs during treatment, which may explain yesterday's rough patch The good news is that anxiety and sleep struggles during depression treatment are common, and there are already well-supported options like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that can help in the meantime — worth asking your care team about while finishing TMS.

Trust your instincts here — they sound pretty good! 😊

September 15
A MyDepressionTeam Member

No,never heard of this.

September 16

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