Posted by brynb on January 31, 2013, at 9:48:34
Hi All-
I finally saw a new pdoc last night and I'm hopeful (I think). He does TMS, Ketamine injections and med management. He really seemed to "get it" and made me feel better about my situation (he thinks we can quickly stabilize my depression so that I can get to a place where I can make the proper life changes (regular schedule, going out, exercising, etc.) necessary to become "whole" and functioning.
He thinks TMS would be good for me, but we started with Ketamine injections last night as he said *some* people get instant relief from it. I found it very euphoric. There was an assistant monitoring me throughout the entire trial (1 hour total, 2 separate IM injections). It was a sort of humorous experience as the assistant is Russian and I managed to engage in a deep conversation with him which covered many of the great Russian writers. I must've asked him about five times if he was depressed too which I think he thought was amusing (he's not). I also asked him why we equate Russians with depression so easily (I'm an Eastern European Jew and most of my ancestors are from Russia). Sorry, off track here.
Anyway, after the treatment, my dad picked me up and took me home. I doubt I could've made it back on my own. I felt a bit buzzed (sort of drunk-ish and exhausted), but all and all, it was a good experience. I can't say I feel less depressed yet, but I'm going in for round two tomorrow and we'll assess from there.
I love that his approach is very holistic; he also gave me supplements, put me back on Deplin, and agreed with me that I don't need more meds than just an AD and a benzo (I haven't been doing well from cocktails and the side effects have literally pummeled my body). I'm excited that I'm getting an "all in one" type of experience.
I'll report back tomorrow after my second round of injections.
Hope you're all well and I'm interested in your experiences with Ketamine too.
-b
poster:brynb
thread:1036949
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20130124/msgs/1036949.html