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We utilize the latest FDA-Approved TMS Therapy to treat Service Members, Retirees, and their Families.

TMS for Bipolar Disorders

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is growing as a treatment option for bipolar disorder. The magnetic pulse from TMS treatment sessions can balance chemicals in the brain that are abnormal in those with bipolar disorder.

Traditional treatment for bipolar disorders includes psychotherapy and various medications to control shifts in moods. TMS therapy uses repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to target specific areas of the brain. This magnetic stimulation allows the patients to have consistent neuroactivity, breaking their mood cycles.

Our TMS bipolar disorder treatment in San Diego has improved the lives of many who suffer from mood disorders.

Facts on Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a psychological condition that causes mood swings. These mood swings are known as manic episodes and depressive episodes. Mood swings may occur infrequently, or they may occur many times per year.

Manic episodes include periods of heightened moods and emotional highs. A bipolar person in a manic episode may be excited, over-confident, energized, impulsive, and possibly experience delusions. In bipolar II disorder, a person may experience milder hypomania, which has similar lessened manic symptoms.

During a depressive episode, people with bipolar disorder may experience extreme depression, similar to what is seen in a major depressive disorder. But unlike unipolar depression, bipolar depression comes in waves contrasting to emotional highs. Symptoms of depression are severe sadness, a lack of interest, hopelessness, fatigue, lack of motivation, and possibly suicidal thoughts.

While bipolar disorder symptoms can manifest at any age, it is typically diagnosed in the teenage years or early 20s. This is likely due to the maturity of the brain and changes in hormones.

Possible Co-occurring Disorders

People living with Bipolar disorder almost always experience additional, compounding mental health conditions that also require treatment. These conditions may intensify the symptoms of Bipolar disorder, which can minimize the success of Bipolar treatment. Some of these co-occurring conditions include:

Anxiety disorders
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Alcohol or drug problems
Heart disease, thyroid issues, headaches, or obesity

TMS is a break-through technology that provides tremendous relief and often full resolution of Bipolar symptoms without medication. Our San Diego Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Center specializes in providing TMS for Bipolar Disorder.

Traditional Treatment vs. TMS Treatment

Traditional medicinal treatments for bipolar disorders use a combination of drugs:

Mood Stabilizers — lithium being the most popular, are decently effective, safe in low doses, and affordable. They help control the sparks of manic episodes.
Antipsychotics — are also useful for manic episodes. When combined with antidepressants, they can increase the efficiency of antidepressants and mood stabilizers. They reduce symptoms of delusions and hallucinations.
Antidepressants — are used for depressive episodes but typically take weeks to affect mood-altering chemicals in the brain.
Benzodiazepines — such as Xanax, treat depression anxiety and typically used short term as needed.

These antidepressants, antipsychotics, and mood-stabilizing medications are often ineffective, and many patients dislike the side effects. There are many different types of each. Patients with bipolar disorder particularly try many before finding one that works for them (if they find one). Some report unwanted changes in personality and mental numbness.

A report by Psychiatric Times states that medications used for bipolar disorder are roughly only 50% effective in reducing symptoms.

Contrary, TMS treatment for bipolar disorder has nearly no side effects besides rarely reported comfort issues during treatment. TMS therapy in San Diego has been proven safe in controlled trials. TMS relies on magnetic pulses to stimulate the brain to self-balance chemicals, so there are no systemic side effects.

For those patients who didn’t see benefit with traditional treatment, brain stimulation through TMS has proven to be 2-3 times more effective. That’s why we recommend our TMS for bipolar disorder treatment in San Diego.

Since brain chemicals fluctuate in bipolar disorders, TMS may need to target different parts of the brain as episodes arise. In depressive episodes, the left frontal cortex may be targeted. In manic episodes, the right prefrontal cortex. The more the patient clearly explains day-to-day symptoms, the more effective the treatments can be.

Some may worry that TMS might change their personality in similar ways that antipsychotics and antidepressants can. However, TMS doesn’t produce mind-numbing side effects like those drugs. Instead, it can bring out the stable parts of your personality since you’re reducing symptoms without those drugs.

Benefits of the bipolar disorder TMS therapy in San Diego include:

High Success Rate – a considerably higher success rate than other standard treatments.
Non-Invasive – the procedure is entirely external to the body.
Non-Sedative – it requires no sedation and is relatively painless.
Minimal to No Side Effects – it has no side effects in the vast majority of patients.

Brain Therapy’s San Diego TMS Bipolar Treatment

Brain Therapy’s TMS treatment center in San Diego offers the latest in TMS therapy for Bipolar Disorder. Our San Diego Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Center uses the Theta Burst Stimulation Express TMS machine.

There are many different advantages of using 20 Hz theta bursts over more common TMS systems:

Theta Burst TMS has over a 70% remission rate, meaning nearly ¾ of people see complete loss of symptoms. Higher than competing TMS machines and even electroconvulsive therapy.
Sessions are less than five minutes long, whereas competitors have 30-40 minute treatments.
Effective treatments typically have better long term symptom reduction than other TMS procedures.

If you’ve been struggling with a bipolar disorder and have been unable to find successful treatment through medication and talk therapies, give our San Diego bipolar TMS treatment a try.

Brain Therapy’s TMS treatment facility is now on board with most insurance providers besides Medi-Cal. We also have easy financing options for all who wish to try our San Diego TMS. We accept cash, checks, bank transfers, and credit card payments.

If you’d like to learn more about our the treatment process, please visit our TMS Procedure page.

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