CHARLOTTE — The Food and Drug Administration recently approved a treatment for use in young people with depression, and one local woman says it changed her life.
For 20 years, Colleen Ellen said she was drowning under the weight of depression and suicidal thoughts.
“I have taken countless medications, all different classes to address my brain chemistry,” Ellen told Channel 9′s Deneige Broom.
She’s a childhood cancer survivor, she’s dealt with postpartum depression, and she lost her brother to suicide.
“I have had trauma therapy, behavioral therapy, meditation to address my trauma, and nothing ever seemed to even touch the symptoms of depression that I was experiencing until I found Neurostar, and it has changed my life,” Ellen said.
Ellen underwent Neurostar TMS treatment, or “transcranial magnetic stimulation.” It was approved by the FDA in 2008 to treat major depressive disorder in adults who didn’t have success with medication and therapy alone.
“I said, I have nothing left to lose but my life, so I’m going to give this a try,” Ellen said.
Five days a week, for seven weeks, Colleen sat in a chair at TMS of the Carolinas. A technician placed an electromagnetic coil against her scalp for about 20 minutes, and it created a magnetic field to stimulate certain areas of the brain.
By changing their brain chemistry, Terry Wise says a lot of patients get their lives back.
“I’ve owned mental health clinics for 21 years ... you don’t just talk your way through severe depression,” Wise said.
Wise co-founded TMS of the Carolinas four years ago. He says he’s seen patients who couldn’t even get dressed in the morning end up living full, healthy lives.
“Sixty-two percent of the adults that complete all 36 sessions essentially go into full remission. Eighty-three percent have what’s called a positive response rate, which means their symptoms of depression are reduced dramatically,” Wise told Broom.
Side effects of TMS can include pain near the treatment site, eye and tooth pain, and it can have a low risk of seizure. Neurostar’s website says less than five percent of patients stopped treatment because of side effects.
Ellen said she did experience headaches during treatment but that they were a small price to pay to again be a fully present wife and mother.
“I was able to get dressed. I was able to take my kids to school and walk them to school in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon,” Ellen said. “I got my life back. You know, I’m not dead.”
She’s also encouraged that this year the FDA approved TMS for adolescents with depression, in case her children struggle someday too.
Neurostar TMS is covered by insurance in adults only after they’ve tried multiple medications. But for teens, some insurance companies cover it as a first treatment option to avoid medication.
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