So I have a new machine - from Activadose. I have managed to get my head around the instructions (it was complicated but I had a bit of tech support) and it has a 90 day trial period then I can send it back. Here's one article from New Scientist - saying it can help depression, addiction and fibromyalgia the most. There is also some research on OCD: https://www.newscientist.com/articl...brain-really-does-seem-to-improve-depression/
I decided to get the machine because when I had rTMS which is much more pricey, I did have maybe 8 days of relief from depression, which gave me hope that stimulating my brain in some way can be helpful.
If anyone wants info on how to use the machine, I'd be happy to help, as I just studied it... It involves measuring your head then you can work out where to place the electrodes. There are different montages you can try.
There are various stories on Reddit about tcds - here are some hopeful ones.
I don't think there are a lot of quality studies on anxiety. For me, it makes my anxiety a little worse for a period, but my depression much, much better (I've been depression free since starting this about 6 years ago).
level 2
curiousnootropics
2 days ago
Glad that you are depression free, must have been such a feeling.
Do you need to use tDCS for life?
1 day ago
Thanks, yes it was a remarkable feeling. I'd suffered from treatment resistant depression for nearly 25 years. I had about an hour depression free after the first session and it definitely changed my life being not-depressed (it's taken all this time to go from not-depressed to living a happy life, but without the depression it was possible to get here).
To answer your question, yes, but I have needed it less and less over time. I was applying 5 days a week in the beginning, 4 times a month, then every month, and these days I need to do a single maintenance session every 3-4 months. Whenever I start to feel the depression coming back (which kind of feels like getting the flu after a fashion), I take some time for a 20 minute session (fwiw I use +F3 -F4 at 2ma for 20 minutes).
Here's a good article from Wired: https://www.wired.com/2014/01/read-zapping-brain/
Here is a small study 'Presentation of Cases
n this caseseries we report on the safety of twice daily 30 min tDCS at 2 mA over longer stimulation periods and interval treatment. Six patients (mean age 59.5±22.3, age range 29-87 years) with major depressive disorder received 20 to 31 tDCS treatments within 14 and 50 days, including acute treatment series and maintenance treatment. In the majority of participants, tDCS exerted antidepressant effects. tDCS was well tolerated and there were no clinically relevant adverse events. Discussion:These preliminary data suggest safety and tolerability of twice-daily 30 min tDCS even in a prolonged protocol.Conclusion:tDCS is gaining growing importanceas a therapeutic tool in neuropsychiatric disorders and seems to be safe even when applied'
It doesn't work for everyone, but seems to help some.
I decided to get the machine because when I had rTMS which is much more pricey, I did have maybe 8 days of relief from depression, which gave me hope that stimulating my brain in some way can be helpful.
If anyone wants info on how to use the machine, I'd be happy to help, as I just studied it... It involves measuring your head then you can work out where to place the electrodes. There are different montages you can try.
There are various stories on Reddit about tcds - here are some hopeful ones.
I don't think there are a lot of quality studies on anxiety. For me, it makes my anxiety a little worse for a period, but my depression much, much better (I've been depression free since starting this about 6 years ago).
level 2
curiousnootropics
2 days ago
Glad that you are depression free, must have been such a feeling.
Do you need to use tDCS for life?
1 day ago
Thanks, yes it was a remarkable feeling. I'd suffered from treatment resistant depression for nearly 25 years. I had about an hour depression free after the first session and it definitely changed my life being not-depressed (it's taken all this time to go from not-depressed to living a happy life, but without the depression it was possible to get here).
To answer your question, yes, but I have needed it less and less over time. I was applying 5 days a week in the beginning, 4 times a month, then every month, and these days I need to do a single maintenance session every 3-4 months. Whenever I start to feel the depression coming back (which kind of feels like getting the flu after a fashion), I take some time for a 20 minute session (fwiw I use +F3 -F4 at 2ma for 20 minutes).
Here's a good article from Wired: https://www.wired.com/2014/01/read-zapping-brain/
Here is a small study 'Presentation of Cases
n this caseseries we report on the safety of twice daily 30 min tDCS at 2 mA over longer stimulation periods and interval treatment. Six patients (mean age 59.5±22.3, age range 29-87 years) with major depressive disorder received 20 to 31 tDCS treatments within 14 and 50 days, including acute treatment series and maintenance treatment. In the majority of participants, tDCS exerted antidepressant effects. tDCS was well tolerated and there were no clinically relevant adverse events. Discussion:These preliminary data suggest safety and tolerability of twice-daily 30 min tDCS even in a prolonged protocol.Conclusion:tDCS is gaining growing importanceas a therapeutic tool in neuropsychiatric disorders and seems to be safe even when applied'It doesn't work for everyone, but seems to help some.
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