Ketamine For Depression? (Page 38)

It was recommended by the members of a separate thread that one be started that directly relates to ketamine and it's use to treat depression.

If anyone besides myself would like to discuss it's use as a treatment for depression, feel free to post your questions, answers and experiences here.

This thread is an offshoot of a related one that discussed a treatment of Scopolamine for depression.

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Hi Sarah, am I correct in assuming that Ketamine treatment worked for you which is why you are using the intra-nasal ketamine to continue with the benefits?

Thank you for sharing the information.

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Sarah, Is your full name Sarah K. by any chance?

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NY Ketamine has opened a Ketamine clinic for depression, PTSD and neurogenic pain in PITTSBURGH. Pittsburgh, PA is a 1 hour flight or 6 hour drive from Toronto.

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I've had major depressive and disorder since 1971 on and off. I'm 72 now and still
taking meds. for DEP. and anxiety. I take 80mg paxil,50seroquel and 1mg alprazolam
In 1991, my DEP. was so bad I had 6 ect treatments, that only helped a little. Being so
depressed is so bad, I really feel sorry that so many people are suffering from this evil.
Today, while reading this, was the first time I ever heard of Hydrocodone helping a
person feel less depressed. I wonder if there are other people helped by pain meds.

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You tried to send me a text so I could use Google. I can't do that, I have an old cell
phone and It doesn't text. This has happened before and I never know what to do. I
did give you my correct cell phone number, however, don't know if you got the message.

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Just touching base. I'm waiting to see if my depression comes back, and if so whether ketamine or other treatments start working again. FYI, I've had a seriously down week in July since I was a teen, but only started having bouts of depression a few years later. It has always been atypical in its manifestation, and not even fitting the typical pattern for atypical depression. A year ago my endocrinologist ran a panel of tests including PTH (parathyroid hormone), which came back high. She refused to tell me what it meant, or why she had it done. My GP ran the test again, because when I looked up hyperparathyroidism the symptoms matched on so many points. The parathyroid glands control calcium levels, and high blood calcium can produce depression, among other things. I fought to get help in Ontario, but the endocrine surgeon would not take my GP's referral, and the endocrinologist has been...let just go with less-than-helpful. Looking through my medical records showed my calcium levels had periodically been high since at least 2002 (I have not looked farther back). Ketamine therapy had been working wonders for me, but recently had stopped working, and I was frankly terrified that I would not be up to my kids being out of school and me being depressed this summer. I couldn't think clearly, was having balance problems, losing my memory, and living a lovely combination of irritability and apathy. I ended up flying to Florida and going to the Norman Parathyroid Centre. 20min surgery, they found 2 adenomas (2 of four glands were out of control, producing 21x the normal amount of PTH) and removed them. When I woke I felt great, I could think, balance, had a sense of time, concentration, memory, energy and interest in things again. There was no depression, either.

The question now is whether those adenomas have been causing the depression for 20-30 years, and even if they are not the sole cause, whether having normal neuron transmission will allow depression treatments to work well.

Looking at the prevalence rates for hyperparathyroidism, I suspect psychiatrists should be investigating if it is a cause or complicating factor whenever they run into severely treatment resistant depression. So I am posting this to suggest that, if you are reading this, take a look at your blood tests for any calcium levels which are high, or PTH high, and if so make sure hyperparathyroidism is not causing or adding to your troubles.

Hang in there, guys. You've made it this far, and that shows serious strength. If you try ketamine therapy, I hope it works for you. If not, there are other options. Keep going.

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Romeotaz, I'm so sorry I didn't see your posts at the time. Yes, my name is Sarah K {edited for privacy}. Common name but you can Google ketamine to see a couple of interviews.

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That is the best news I have heard in a while my friend. I'm so happy for you I am crying. I pray that discovery will help others also. I myself have a calcified tumor on my thyroid also and have all the systems of thyroid disease. I'm going to mention the information to my doctor and get checked myself just to see if maybe that could be cause of my severe depression. Thank you:-). I have reached 18 months with the Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, so I am past the point of reversing it and not dealing well with that fact. My family still continues to be unsupportive and does not acknowledge I need help. I am back in NY and My pain doctor has just left to start a holistic practice. I am without a pain doctor with one week of pain meds left and so scared I'm considering getting a pain pump implanted. I've read nothing but bad things about them. There are so many things that can and do go wrong with them that I feel like I am signing my death warrant which wouldn't be to bad if the death wasn't supposed to be horribly painful because you can either overdose or go into severe withdrawals if some thing goes wrong with the pump. Our Governor has just passed a law that pain patients can only get one week of medicine at a time now. I think the man has truly lost his mind. Now people that have trouble getting out of their house have to do it once a week or twice a week as in my case. Then that's 8 more copays which is $45.00 each time I see a doctor. What are the elderly going to Do? New York is getting to hard to live in for pain patients but now where do I go? Sorry for the negativity. The burning from the CRPS/RSD has spread and is truly unbearable and I can't find a doctor willing to put out the fire without risking my life with a pain pump because that's the only appointment I might get. It just has me bewildered that the medical community could be this cruel. Love to you all...Mary

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In answer to that question..... numerous, rigorous, large scale reports of pain meds working....II tried, when a lot of studies came round about opioids and depression-tried it but even they did not help my TRD. I stopped taking them.....I was hoping so much for relief....God Bless!

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Mary,

While thyroid levels can definitely affect depression, I was talking about parathyroid glands. They are four little glands, usually tucked in behind the thyroid. They regulate your calcium levels. From what I've been reading, most endocrinologists deal with thyroid conditions regularly (they mainly deal with diabetes and thyroid issues), and few consider parathyroid issues at all. Just make sure your doctor knows you are asking about the parathyroid (meaning near the thyroid) glands. They are normally yellowish white and the size of a grain of rice. Two of mine were red and the size of a big pea, but very active. Many people, by the time they get surgery, have a larger adenoma. It is almost never cancerous, and usually only one gland that goes off (but you can see from my case why they need to check all of them).

Best Wishes,
Cai

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Caiguise,
This is great news for you! So glad after such a long time someone actually found what very well could be the source to your depression and other symptoms.
I for some reason can only reply to questions and not post one myself.
Have a great night.
Alli

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I'm still looking into the process of ketamine for depression and wanted to ask about 2 places :
1. Has anyone heard of the ketamine institute or " restore ketamine infusions"
Gerald W. Grass MD or
2. Neuro-Luminance run by Dr.Theodore Henderson

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I wouldn't recommend him because first of all he's charging outrageous fees and secondly his name isn't mentioned in any of the famous ketamine research studies. I'd highly recommend Dr. Brooks at NY Ketamine Infusion if you're interested in getting Ketamine as he is a very compassionate and caring doctor. The choice is yours at the end. I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents to help you. I personally had my treatment through him but unfortunately the results only lasted very briefly.

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Romeotaz, let me know if you still had a question for me.

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Romeotaz,
Yes I agree with you they are expensive. They do indicate on the sites that there is something different that they do that can possibly help with the results .
That is what made me ask the question.
Thanks for your response .

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Sarah, thanks for the kind offer. I did try to find a research study I could perform in but I wasn't able to find the one that you suggested. I don't recall the study now that it has been such a long time.

Anyhow, I'm at my wits end guys. My depression is bad. My functionality is limited. Here's a brief summary of my case:

Current medications:

In morning: Wellbutrin 300 mg XR, Valsartan Morning: Valsartan (80 mg), CoQ 100 mg, Vitamin B2 (400mg for headaches - it has helped), Butterbur 75 mg & feverfew 200 mg (for headaches - it has helped)

Afternoon:
Butterbur 75 mg & feverfew 200 mg (for headaches - it has helped)

Night time:
Butterbur 75 mg & feverfew 200 mg (for headaches - it has helped), Wellbutrin 300 mg, Brintellix 20 mg and Fenofibrate 145 mg.

Other medical problems :

Anxiety, blood pressure, cholesterol, OCD and sleep apnea

Previous medical problems (not active right now) :

Tension type headaches & Medication overuse headaches
Fibromyalgia, chronic daily headaches, backpain

Treatments tried:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (sessions for 4 years) - helped reduced anxiety but that was it.

Fischer Wallace Cranial Electrical Stimulator device - didn't help

TMS (28 sessions)- didn't help

Bilateral ECT (8 sessions) - didn't help

Ketamine - IV helped but oral form was not that helpful. Discontinued use.

Meds tried that helped:

For depression: Combination of Lexapro and Nortriptyline (depression improved but headaches remained at that time) & Combination of Wellbutrin and Brintellix (depression improved)

For headache (it doesn't matter now since headaches are gone): Fiorinal, Fioricet

Meds tried:

Risperdal, Celexa, Klonopin, Abilify, Cymbalta, Amitriptyline, Invega, Trazadone,
Ambien, Viibryd, Buspar, Doxepin, Effexor, Seroquel, Savella, Clomfranil, Propranolol, Topamax, Gabapentin, , Prothiaden, Xanax, Alprazolam, Lexotanil, Frisium, Lyrica, Verapamil, Fetzima

My Vit D came out low (20 mg) and I'm already taking supplements for it. I had the same reading 3 months ago and I took the supplement but for some odd reason the reading came out to same.

I take walks 30 mins a day - 3 to 4 times a week.

Can anybody suggest something I could try to get better. I hate to live like this where my life is in a limbo...

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My pleasure.

I'd be wary of those treatments since I don't know anyone who has tried it and therefore won't pursue it. Maybe someone else in the thread can chime in.

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Romeotaz, what's your nearest major city?

{edited for privacy}

I think intranasal ketamine is worth trying for sure, possibly even intramuscular. And I might have missed it, but have you tried scopolamine?

Hang in there. I really respect that you're going for walks! More than I'm doing lately. It'll get better, for both of us.

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I had an infusion of ketamine 6 months ago and know understand what they mean when they say treatment resistant depression.
No medication I have tried over the last 30 years has helped me!!!
I had an infusion as a trial member and got my very first look at what life is like without depression or suicidal ideations.
I felt like I was in a place that I could only dream of:
I was happy and extremely social, & didn't feel anxious, for the first time in my life!
The downside of it is that it doesn't have a permanent affect or whether you have a similar results.

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THANK YOU so much to everyone!

As a nurse of 25 great years.....understanding so many others suffr...gives me hope. Crazy as it may sound!

I would take only a few days a week at this point if it worked:)

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