Ketamine gives Stephanie a chance at a life

Ketamine gives Stephanie a chance at a life

Source of the Story
Provided to Health Rising
Resource Type
Patient Story
Name
Stephanie
Diagnosis
  1. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
  2. Fibromyalgia
  3. Irritable Bowel Syndrome
  4. Ehlers Danlos Syndrome
Other diagnoses
severe degenerative disc disease, chronic pain response syndrome, PTSD
Disease Course Over Time
Stephanie was fine until one day at age 22 she turned to pick up something in the shower and experienced a lightning pain in her back. She had no idea what was ahead of her. An examination indicated she had the jagged and brittle spinal column of an 80-year old woman: unbeknownst to her she had severe degenerative disc disease.

Multiple back surgeries and many diagnoses later including a spinal fusion in her neck left Stephanie in enormous pain and unable work. She was left with the option of a pain pump or ketamine infusions.
Type of Onset
gradual non-flu like
Approximate Date of Illness Began
1996-2000
Duration
11-15 years
Functionality at it's Worst
Mostly bedbound
Symptoms
extreme pain, fatigue and depression (after a violent incident)
Positive Test Results
severe degenerative disc disease
Treatments That Made A Big Difference
Ketamine infusion
Treatments That Had No Effect
Stephanie tried many, MANY drugs”, including large doses of opioids, steroid injections, trigger point injections, physical therapy, physical exams, acupuncture, massage therapy, water therapy, discograms. None brought her significant relief.
Present State of Health
  1. Leads near normal life but cannot exercise vigorously
Words of Advice
"Ketamine has saved my life"
[fright]
Ketamine-vial.jpg
[/fright]
Stephanie gets 800 mgs of ketamine infused for five hours a day for two days in a row. Propofol helps her sleep through the infusion cycle. She feels tired and out of sorts for about 24 hours after the infusion but her pain goes from an 8-9 every day to a 2-3 for 3-4 weeks. Then she does the infusion again.


Stephanie is not well and she needs to get Ketamine infusions regularly but she said ketamine has saved her life and has been “fantastic for depression”.

Ketamine's effectiveness in some patients with treatment resistant pain and/or depression has sparked a search for ketamine derivatives that do not require infusions. Some drugs are in clinical trials now.

Read more Ketamine, fibromyalgia and depression below
  • Like
Reactions: marco italy
Author
Cort
Views
2,171
First release
Last update
Rating
0.00 star(s) 0 ratings

More resources from Cort

Get Our Free ME/CFS and FM Blog!

New Threads

Forum Tips

Support Our Work

DO IT MONTHLY

HEALTH RISING IS NOT A 501 (c) 3 NON-PROFIT

Shopping on Amazon.com For HR

Latest Resources

Top