Category: Uncategorized

Review: Transcranial magnetic stimulation for chronic migraine

Welcome back!

Today’s post is on my experience with single pulse Transcranial magnetic stimulation (I’ll be referring to it as TMS for the rest of this post!).

I currently use TMS for my chronic migraines with vestibular aura. Migraines have always been something I suffered with but 16 months ago they become more severe. I now have a daily headache and before using TMS daily vertigo too.

The TMS is supposed to lessen the migraine symptoms you have and does not promise a cure. Although, my migraine nurse from the TMS device company in the States has said TMS and the erenumab injection coming out this year on the NHS has a really high success rate if you pair the two together.

Everyone cross everything!

Currently in the UK the TMS is only available on prescription privately or at 2 London hospitals; so I guess you could say I’m kind of lucky. Before I started using this device I’d tried over 5 medications for migraine and found I am one of those people who get every side effect listed. It was miserable. Especially when I realised that there might never be a medication I could tolerate even if it helped with symptoms. At the hospital I’m currently with I tried occipital nerve injections and even though they have a high success rate they did nothing for me except exabarate my symptoms for the first 4 weeks after the treatment.

I’ve been using the TMS device now for nearly 3 months and I’m pleased to say I’ve started seeing a difference. The pain in my head is less and my vertigo/dizziness sitting down has gone, which for me are my worst migraine symptoms. I use it 3 times a day and you do need to be careful where you use it as it is a magnetic pulse but it’s all relatively simple to use once you know how.

Obvioualy using TMS takes more time than just popping a pill, however it does have less side effects, and if you’re like me it could be helpful because of this.

I’d say if you’re offered the TMS by your consultant for migraine go for it. I didn’t have any hope that it would work but i am already seeing glimmers.

Have you tried TMS for migraines? Have you tried the new erenumab injection? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading,

Beth x

Image from pexels.com by Meo

The confidence trap

I’ve never had a lot of confidence. I think the most I’ve ever had was when I was around 16/17 and it was all centred around getting the best grades I could and trying to be the most popular in my friends group.

Confidence has never come easy to me, never been something from within only something from the outside affecting how I see myself. This I guess is where the problem of disability and/ or chronic illness lies with confidence. Or perhaps even just the whole lie of confidence and self esteem not dependent on disability.

Now I’m not saying everyone feels this way, I can only speak about my experience. In this case it’s this,

being unable to do things that I deem successful because of my physical health makes me lack confidence and self esteem. I feel as if I should be a certain way, able to do things that I cannot, be seen in ways I am not. That’s where confidence from the outside fails. Confidence from the outside is essentially praise from other people. People i may not even know well! Why does it matter what they think, why should it affect me? But it does. I need to work on somehow having confidence from the inside. I have chronic illness and am disabled because of it. I cannot do everything I want to do or even everything my brain is capable of. This does not mean I shouldn’t be proud of things I have achieved, big or small. I, and you, whoever you are and whatever we have achieved, whether validated by someone else or not deserves to feel confident and know essentially that we are okay. We are not the best or worst we are just us.

Today I’m giving you permission (not that you need it!) to feel some confidence. To remember that you are trying your best and to remember your best is good enough. Celebrate your small successes.

Today I’m going to remember this, that I am trying my best, I am not worst or better than other people and hopefully I can start to celebrate my small successes and feel even a little bit more confidence.

Thanks for reading,

Beth x

Image from pexels.com by Snapwire