Picosure on Black Tattoo - London, GB

I got a black tattoo on my inner forearm when I was in my 20s and after years of deliberation I decided to remove it as a 38th birthday present to myself. I always thought that getting rid of a tattoo would be almost as quick and as expensive as having it done... I was wrong. I have had five picosure sessions so far (8 weeks apart) and I am happy with the results, although it's taking much longer than I thought. I have been told I'll need at least another 3 treatments i.e. 8 in total. I want to share my experience to help others make an informed decision.
First treatment: painful, minimal blistering, redness and swelling for about 48 hours. Very itchy after one week (waking up during the night because of it - awful). Minimal fading if any.
Second treatment: as painful as the first one with similar side effects but after about 3 weeks I could see some fading in some parts of the tattoo. I made sure I moisturised the area properly and this meant the itching was much less.
Third treatment: this is where it all changed... It was so much more painful, almost unbereable. I got huge blisters after a few hours as well as swelling and redness. I considered going to A&E, but then I called the clinic and they said it was OK because they used higher settings this time. The blisters took about a week to heal. Tattoo began fading more and more, especially in the two weeks before the next treatment.
Fourth treatment: as painful as the third one and blisters were even larger. Because of the size they took slightly longer to heal but I was left with no scarring. Again fading has been significant although I still have a long way to go - there appears to be more ink in some parts of the tattoo than others which is odd.
I had my fifth treatment yesterday. The beautician I was with has left the clinic so I had this treatment with someone new. She spent much longer cooling the area before and during the treatment than the previous person and as a result it wasn't anywhere near as painful. I think this may also be because there was significantly less ink this time.
I will update my review with my progress.

I am very disappointed, don't think 5th treatment did anything to my tattoo. Wondering whether this is normal and it fades less after having had a few treatments?

I had my 6th session yesterday. It was much less painful than normal, hopefully that's because there's not much ink left. So maybe there was more fading after session 5 even though I could not see it (although it did look a little paler in the last few days). There's not much swelling and redness is more localised ie only around the letters. I only have small blisters where it looks like more ink was used. My next treatment will be in 10 weeks, rather than eight as usual. I was told that at this stage it's best to give the body more time between treatments to get rid of the ink. This sounds good to me, hopefully I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel :)