Unfortunately, TMS is extremely expensive and not likely to be covered by most insurance plans. Even with a decent PPO, I was quoted about $1k a treatment and they said I needed at minimum 30 treatments.
There are effective alternatives which are a fraction of the cost: ketamine (sublingual ~100mg every few days), psilocybin (free? cheap 2-3g ~4 weeks), rapamycin + ketamine also seems promising (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-020-0644-9).
Note the disclaimers, especially "TOUCHING THE DEVICE WRONG DURING ASSEMBLY CAN INSTANTLY KILL YOU. THIS DEVICE COULD KILL YOU OR MAIM YOU OR BREAK YOUR MIND."
However the other things you're posting are alternative chemical treatments. People with resistant depression have already tried the approved chemical remedies. While I broadly agree that there's evidence in favor of both psilocybin and ketamine being potent chemical anti-depressants, I also think there's a number of valid reasons for someone to reach a point where they don't want to try any other chemical remedies, and ECT / TMS become more compelling options.
Ketamine is definitely addictive for a lot of people.
Rapamycin isn't one I've heard of before, but it looks like a does-lots-of-things drug: Wikipedia says it's an immunosuppressant. I'd recommend against DIYing that for a different reason.
just because they're not chemically addictive doesn't mean they're not addictive. Weed isn't chemically addictive but plenty of people struggle with it nonetheless.
Weed is chemically addictive. Your endocannabinoid system is downregulated for weeks after heavy use. You get withdrawal symptoms which are alleviated by use.
I've never seen the phrase "chemically addictive" used by someone who knew what they were talking about. It's only used by people who don't understand that neurotransmitters are chemicals too. Stop spreading this BS distinction.
Yeah, a lot of the withdrawal symptoms are so mild or transient people don't think of them as withdrawal or even make the connection. And people seem to think that anything less severe than shivering and unbearable pain, delirium, doesn't qualify as withdrawal.
The most memorable withdrawal symptom from weed for me was the sweating. Cannabinoids tend to affect the hypothalamus which is sort of like the brain's control module for the endocrine system. And one of the things it controls is temperature regulation. So if you quit cold turkey that all gets outta wack and the sweating happens. Takes at least a couple of weeks to get somewhat back to normal.
Psilocybin’s addictive potential is limited to at least 1 week intervals since it would have no effect if taken more often.
Most people “addicted” wait much longer than that — sometimes months to make sure they have a strong trip and offset receptor down-regulation to the point where it can hardly be called an addiction.
Another issue is that the effect doesn't seem to be permanent, and additional treatments as time goes on has been observed in people who show improvement from the treatment. So, I really hope it gets much cheaper.
Still, it is an FDA approved treatment, so for other readers suffering from depression, it's worth seeing if your insurance covers it. For me, it was covered, and worth it.
Biohacking is not feasible at this time—at least in my opinion:
* TMS machine is a powerful precise device that is expensive and unlikely to be safe from doing-it-yourself
* Every brain is different, so, you’ll need to get an MRI if not an fMRI to understand the structure to target
* Once you have a target, you’ll need to align the device with your skull
* It’s not clear how you’d measure or control the regime on the brain, even if you made it to here
The last thing I’ll say is that you should look for the complaints made against TMS device manufacturers. I’m optimistic that this approach will work for some people; I know many people who could benefit from this technology but I’m not comfortable with recommending it to a family member when I know there’s a risk of permanent brain damage, tinnitus, etc.
