My old doctor doesn't offer it. It's the first time I've ever heard of it as well. The doc told me that basically I would lay down with an IV of Ketamine. They would let the Ketamine slowly drip down the IV for 2 hrs. Ketamine is an anesthetic that is used sometimes in surgery and it is also used for Vet surgeries. The theory is that Ketamine binds to the receptors in the brain that recieve pain signals. So theoretically even after the anesthetic sleepy effects of the Ketamine wear off, it will stay bound to those pain receptors for awhile. The reason I'm skeptical is because if that is the case why isn't always used in surgery so that it'll help with the acute surgery pain? But anyway, since everyone is different it's kinda a "let's see how long it helps YOUR body not feel the pain." When the doc told me about it I googled it and apparently some docs are using it in trials to see it it helps with depression. Giving patients Ketamine shots on a daily or routine basis for a series of time and they are seeing good results. This one I'm not expecting too much out of, but any little relief from pain is still relief. The nerve block I just had done lasted a day and a half. At first I was upset but now that the pain is back full force to the point that my husband was actually really nurturing last night. He put an ice pack on my abdomen and kinda rotated it around different places for 2 hours while I layed on him. Then he massaged me and carried me to bed. So now I'm thinking "at least I got a day and a half." Weird how we can go all over the map in emotions and thinking so many times during the same day and from day to day.
I'm glad your doctor told you this. I think we can all learn from just about everyone as long as we're open to it.
What's a ketamine drip? They put ketamine in one of my compounding creams to use on my hand. For a while it was a great addition to the arsenal of things I use, but things have taken a turn on me in the past few days. Curious about new procedures and haven't heard of this.