KETAMINE UPDATE
Unfortunately, I lost all my 2007 data on my Ketamine treatment updating the website. So...I
will do my best to recall what I discovered receiving the treatment.
I underwent Ketamine therapy the summer of 2007. I went through approximately 8 separate ketamine infusions.
I tried to apply for the coma study, but was denied due to my age. In any case, my doctor agreed to do infusions.
The first few infusions, I was completely awake with smaller
doses of Ketamine. I had no sleeping medication and I can completely recall the entire experience. I went on some
pretty facinating "trips" or "hallucinations". The first few made me laugh and I thought my doctor
was a maid. Kind of crazy I must say. These initial trials gave me relief for approximately 24-48 hours.
Then the pain came back.
The next longer sets of
infusions were much more frightening. I was given medications to settle me, but I still recall many frightening "hallucinations"
post ketamine therapy. With the highter doses came longer periods of pain relief, but not lasting.
After sevaral treatments, the longest relief I received was a total of a
week. My doctor discussed it with me, and told me that recent research indicated that the risks of ketamine outweighed
the results. My doctor did not feel comfortable, based on the studies to date, to continue to treat with the findings
from the Pain Doctors Symposium in 2007. There findings indicated that high levels of ketamine could cause extreme brain
damage, resulting in vegetative states. We chose to discontinue treatment until further double blind studies had been
completed.
That being said, I know many people
who have undergone ketamine studies. They are brave and heroic in there efforts to rid their bodies from pain.
Only a few have become completely pain free. I hope that continued research will help all of us to find a cure with
or without ketamine treatment.
