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According to the World Health Organization, depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, with an estimated 350 million people suffering from this serious disorder. For many patients, medication is not the answer to their debilitating depression and mood disorder symptoms. For 40-60% of these patients, medications fail to offer any relief for their daily symptoms.
Our compassionate team is led by Dr. Greg Thorkelson-Pittsburgh's leading expert on the clinical application of TMS therapy. Dr. Thorkelsoncompleted advanced training in Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation at both Duke and Harvard Medical Schools. He directly manages TMSpatients in collaboration with the rest of our team.
According to the World Health Organization, depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, with an estimated 350 million people suffering from this serious disorder. For many patients, medications are not the answer to the debilitating depression and mood disorder symptoms that plague them daily. For 40-60% of these patients, medications fail to offer any relief for their daily symptoms.
Our compassionate team is led by Dr. Greg Thorkelson - Pittsburgh's leading expert on the clinical application of TMS therapy. Dr. Thorkelson completed advanced training in Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation at both Duke and Harvard Medical Schools. He directly manages TMS patients in collaboration with the rest of our team.
Our Nexus team is dedicated to walking with you every step of the way. From helping you navigate your insurance coverage, to developing a treatment plan that works for you. Using innovative TMS technology to help you to achieve relief of your symptoms, we're ready to help you get back to living your life to the fullest.
Depression impacts 17.3 million adults in the US, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. TMS is a revolutionary treatment that safely and effectively alleviates symptoms of depression, facilitating a profound improvement in patients’ mental health, resulting in a significantly greater quality of life.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder can be time-consuming, creating significant distress on the individual facing it as well as their family and friends. TMS is the only non-invasive, FDA-cleared technology treating OCD effectively without adverse or long-lasting side effects.
Our Nexus team is dedicated to walking with you every step of the way. From helping you navigate your insurance coverage, to developing a treatment plan that works for you. Using innovative TMS technology to help you to achieve relief of your symptoms, we're ready to help you get back to living your life to the fullest.
The Nexus Group provides Deep TMS therapy using BrainsWay technology as one treatment option for medication-resistant patients. BrainsWay utilizes deeper penetration, maximizing the stimulation of cortical neurons. This stimulation results in a highly effective treatment that can facilitate a profound improvement in a patient’s mental health.
The Nexus Group utilizes Apollo – a TMS therapy that is designed, engineered, and manufactured in Germany – for its high-end, innovative, patient-centric magnetic neurostimulation technology. This leading TMS technology is designed for enhanced TMS therapy with the utmost comfort and effectiveness in treating medication-resistant mental health conditions.
Greg Thorkelson, MD, a board- certified child/adolescent and adult psychiatrist, completed advanced training in Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) with both Duke and Harvard Medical Schools. He has had dozens of presentations and publications to his credit and he collaborates with providers in Japan and Germany to advance the field of TMS.
Additionally, Dr. Thorkelson holds the prestigious European TMS Certification and was awarded a Visiting Fellowship in Electroconvulsive Therapy at The University of Pittsburgh where he continues to teach as an Assistant Clinical Professor. He is the Medical Director of The Nexus Group, the leading innovative, integrative psychiatry clinic in Western Pennsylvania that focuses on the interface between physical and mental health.
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A highly qualified patient advocate will meet with you to discuss TMS therapy option, review your insurance coverage and/or out of pocket cost, and treatment package
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Our top psychiatrist will meet with you soon after to provide a thorough evaluation for TMS eligibility and discuss all clinical aspects of TMS therapy
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TMS is covered by most insurances. Some insurances require prior authorization before the treatment starts. Our trained patient advocates will prepare and submit all prior authorization documents and inform you of our progress as we move along.
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Our top psychiatrist and certified TMS therapy clinicians will personalize your treatment plan based on your individual medical, mental and physical health needs. We will work with you regularly throughout the treatment towards your goals.
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This safe, effective, and non-invasive treatment form gently stimulates nerve cells in the area of the brain responsible for mood regulation to achieve remission of depression and mood disorders. You can listen to music of your choice, choose aromatherapy, enjoy snacks/drinks while receiving treatment. You can finish each session by relaxing in our massage chairs.
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During the 6-9 weeks of treatment, your assigned TMS therapy clinician and Dr. Thorkelson will track your progress and symptoms. We will update your provider regularly regarding your progress throughout the TMS treatment. Your provider can participate in your treatment process at the level that they feel comfortable with and you will return to their care upon the completion of your TMS therapy to continue other treatment modalities if you wish.
Very professional and caring staff. They made the experience enjoyable. Loved the spa atmosphere and after-treatment massage chair too. The end result of the treatments was a positive outcome. I am definitely dealing much better with issues that would have caused anxiety in the past My level of depression improved a good bit. The treatments did not cause any discomfort. The only thing I noticed the first few weeks was a little fatigue afterwards and occasional headache. I saw more improvement after the TMS treatments than I ever had with medications.
Patricia T.
This will be a long review so please bare with me. Also understand that this is my experience and everyone's individual needs will differ from mine, so the care received can be different depending on the person.* Everyone at The Nexus Group deserves their own 5 star review. I've never felt more welcome or comfortable at any other psychiatry office during my 12 years of getting mental health treatment. I read through some of the negative reviews, and can say my experience has been vastly different. I've been seeing Dr. Rucki since January and have appreciated her warm approach.
Chelsea L.
We all know that 2020 has been a friend to no one. As someone who has suffered anxiety and depression most of my adult life, everything was exacerbated x 100 this year. I decided to finally address the problem when my depression symptoms weren’t responding to any of the medications or dose increases I was taking. To be perfectly honest, every day was a fight not to end it all. When I started TMS therapy I was absolutely certain it would not work. I went though the steps and did was I was supposed to do but in the back of my mind I definitely did not think that it would help me, because nothing had.
Jackie L.
I had really been struggling with depression and anxiety to the point where it impacted my every day life. Dr. Thorkelson worked with me tirelessly until we found a solution. We sorted through different medications until we landed on doing TMS. Initially I was nervous about this process, but Dr. Thorkelson and his staff walked me through the entirety of the treatment to the point where I trusted them completely.
Anonymous
TMS a drug-free, FDA-approved, and insurance-covered treatment used to treat individuals with medication-resistant depression along with other mood disorders.
This safe, effective, and non-invasive treatment form uses highly focused magnetic pulses to gently stimulate nerve cells in the area of the brain responsible for mood regulation. Helping many patients achieve remission of symptoms caused by depression and mood disorders.
Depression
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Stroke rehabilitation
Most patients have treatments daily for 6-9 weeks. Each treatment takes about 20 minutes and is done in a relaxing office setting. Your TMS clinician will be with you each day, guiding and encouraging you every step of the way.
During your first treatment we'll take a few measurements to personalize your therapy.
At the start of each treatment we'll gently rest the TMS coils on the top of your head. You'll hear clicking sounds and feel a slight tapping sensation.
We want your time with us to be as relaxing as possible. That's why we've made sure each of our treatment rooms are stocked with drinks and snacks. You can select music during your treatment, aromatherapy, or finish each day with time in our massage chairs.
During the 6-9 weeks you are in treatment with us we will help you track your progress and symptoms. You'll have appointments with your provider every 2 weeks to check on your improvement as well as continued follow-up care after you've finished to help keep you on track with your goals!
Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known simply as depression, is a mental disorder characterized by a slow slide into decreased interest in other people, and isolation, an inability to feel pleasure or feel much of anything, lethargy, lack of motivation, decreased self-esteem, and loss of interest in normally enjoyable activities and insomnia.
Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD) is defined as a patient’s inability to find relief from medication or talk therapy. Over 40% of depression patients experience TRD.
Medication can cause so many adverse effects that many patients discontinue the medication because the side effects outweigh the benefits, if indeed the patient experiences any relief at all. Many patients have cycled through 2-20 antidepressants.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) was FDA-cleared in 2008 for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder. TMS is especially effective for Treatment-Resistant Depression.
TMS uses MRI technology that stimulates the area in the brain that regulates mood. Research has revealed that this part of the brain is underactive in depressed patients. TMS is non-invasive, medication-free, virtually free of side effects and covered by most insurance providers.
Brains Way Deep TMS reaches wider and deeper brain regions, leading to a depression response rate of 67%, when combined with medication, 23% higher than standard TMS combined with medication.
As well, almost 80% of Brains Way patients proceed to improve during continuing treatment.
TMS is a long-lasting treatment for depression. Over two-thirds of patients retain their response one year after completing a cycle of TMS. And even for patients whose mood slips a bit, they can receive monthly or bi-monthly maintenance treatments, as well as a second round of TMS. The great news is that over 80% of patients respond to a second round of TMS. Eventually, many patients reach depression remission and only require occasional touch-ups [or single treatment sessions infrequently].
Only two-thirds of patients with depression achieve remission from depression with antidepressants and must remain on the medication indefinitely. Moreover, medications often produce unwanted side effects, such as weight gain, fatigue, inability to focus, nausea, and sexual problems, which frequently force patients to discontinue the medication and taper over to another medication, and the cycle continues, over the course of 2-20 medications.
Cross-tapers often produce withdrawal symptoms such as a temporary return of depressed symptoms, zapping sensations in the brain, nausea, dizziness and incapacitating fatigue as the brain slowly adjusts to the new medication. Many patients go through this merry-go-round of multiple medications, many to no effect.
TMS is virtually free of side effects because it treats depression in the exact location where it occurs, and unlike medication, TMS is non-systemic and does not circulate through the bloodstream.
The magnetic pulses pass through your scalp into the location of the brain that regulates mood. You'll hear clicking sounds and can feel like a tapping or tingling sensation on your head. Some patients may experience temporary scalp sensitivity at the treatment site and some experience a slight headache that can be relieved by OTC headache medications.
Although there is a minuscule risk of seizure associated with TMS (0.1%), the patient’s medical history is thoroughly reviewed to help rule out this risk.
During the first session, Dr. Thorkelson uses precise calibrations to ensure that the TMS coil will be positioned over the correct part of the brain. He then administers several brief pulses to measure the patient’s motor threshold. The motor threshold is the minimum amount of power necessary to make the patient’s thumb twitch.
The largest differentiator between medication and TMS is that TMS is non-systemic and targets only the brain’s mood center. Therefore, side effects are typically kept to a minimum, if indeed any are experienced. Also, patients must remain on the medications to achieve depression relief, whereas TMS is a short-term with long-term results.
Everything, except that both treat depression.. Electroconvulsive therapy(ECT) uses electricity to intentionally induce a seizure while patients are under general anesthesia. Recovery from ECT occurs slowly, and patients are usually closely monitored for a few hours after treatment. Patients who of are undergoing a series of treatments can take up to two weeks to recover. Patients suffer short-term, and even in some cases, long-term memory loss.
By contrast, TMS uses magnetic pulses and does not require sedation, anesthesia or muscle relaxants. Patients are able to resume daily activities immediately after treatment.
TMS is a long-lasting treatment for depression. Over two-thirds of patients retain their response one year after completing a cycle of TMS. And even for patients whose mood slips a bit, they can receive monthly or bi-monthly maintenance treatments, as well as a second round of TMS. The great news is that over 80% of patients respond to a second round of TMS. Eventually, many patients reach depression remission and only require occasional touch-ups [or single treatment sessions infrequently].
Going through depression can feel like being trapped in a cage with no escape. Beyond feelings of constant sadness and anhedonia or lack of motivation, there is a constant feeling of lethargy and irritability. Appetite and sleep patterns are significantly and noticeably changed to an extent it impacts day to day functioning.
Also experienced are feelings of hopelessness and low self worth. There is a feeling of confusion which can cloud cognition and ability to think coherently. Recurrent thoughts of death or suicidal ideation may not be uncommon in somebody suffering from depression.
Symptoms can be so impairing, it may impact personal and social life such as relationships and decision making ability. It also can impact professional life such as loss or termination from a job as well as stunted personal growth including deterioration in academics.
Depression can be enormously debilitating leading to an extremely poor quality of life, which no individual deserves.
Going through depression can feel like being trapped in a cage with no escape. Feelings of constant sadness and an inability to feel pleasure are accompanied by a growing sense of hopelessness. Appetite and sleep patterns change significantly and a desire to isolate sets in. Often the person with depression is unaware he or she is slipping until they almost hit bottom. And then an unshakeable numbness takes over.
“Hope” is not in the vocabulary of people experiencing depression. In fact, many of these people are treatment-resistant, so all the talk therapy and medication treatment they’ve received only reinforces their skepticism. Similarly, people with OCD don’t have much experience with hope.
NEXUS understands treatment-resistant patients. Over 40% of people with depression do not respond to therapy or medication treatment, and between 40 and 60% of OCD patients do not respond to treatment.
We use a relatively new technique called TMS, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, to treat Major Depressive Disorder, and since 2018, OCD.
TMS directs magnetic pulses to the areas in the brain that regulate mood or OCD. Brain scans have shown these brain regions to be underactive in people experiencing these conditions. NEXUS is unique because we use both types of advanced TMS technologies on the market.
Over and over, we’ve seen patients improve from full-blown clinical depression and major OCD to a sense of hope and re-engagement in life over the course of treatment.
Call NEXUS at 412.214.0042. Give us a chance to show you a different way.
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