FIRST SESSION OVER AND DONE.

The worst part was getting up at 6:30 AM to be there by 8:00. The nurse, J., was friendly and told me everything she was about to do, which I like. That way, nothing is a surprise.

First I had to take off my glasses and put them and my cell phone in a basket on the desk. The magnetic pulse could damage the phone at close range. Then J put a tight-fitting Lycra cap on me - I'll get a photo tomorrow. She did some measurements and marked spots on the cap in marker. Then she put the magnet on one side of my head and buzzed me - the goal was to make my thumb twitch minimally. My whole hand twitched and tingled so she dialed the magnet down. They want the lowest level where she can still observe my thumb twitch, my motor threshold. When she was satisfied, I could hardly tell by watching my thumb that anything was happening and I felt nothing in my hand. It tickled on my head but didn't hurt. The level on the left side of my head was at 32 and on the right 28. Or the other way around.

Next I reclined in a lounge chair, and J. warned me that the muscles of my face, jaw or neck may be triggered, and that it shouldn't hurt but the best thing to do was to relax and just let it happen. If I clenched or tried to control it, my muscles could be sore afterward.

She had me turn my head to the right and she placed the magnet on my head. It weighs 8 lbs (about what my smaller cat weighed) so it was noticeable but not heavy. She then tightened it so that it was pressed firmly against my head and my head couldn't move. That didn't bother me but it might some people.

She turned on the magnet and it buzzed me for about 2 seconds (one one-thousand, two one-thousand) and stopped for 5 seconds, then buzzed again for 2 seconds. J raised the level each time. The first few times it actually tickled at the spot on my head where the magnet was focused. After three or four times, my eyelid started to twitch so I closed my eyes. It felt like someone lightly tapping my head with a pencil - I could feel it but it didn't hurt. And on the opposite side of my head, the side pressed against the chair, it felt like someone was touching my hair.

J continued to raise the level and my jaw started to tingle, then twitch, then move side to side. It wasn't comfortable but not painful. I tried to just stay relaxed and let it happen. The magnet felt like someone tapping firmly on my head. Again, not painful

After a total of 3 minutes, I was done on that side. I turned the other way and the whole procedure repeated, eyelid twitch, jaw wagging, pencil tapping and all. The only difference was that instead of feeling like someone was touching the side of my head opposite the magnet, it felt like someone was touching me on the very top of my head. Three minutes and we were finished. I filled out a couple short depression indexes and I was on my way. I felt fine afterward, no headache or dizziness or anything. Back tomorrow but not until 11 AM. At least I get to sleep in!