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Ketamine is a safe, effective drug approved by the FDA for over 50 years. It typically has been used as anesthesia but recently has gained popularity in treating health issues. Doctors have found that Lyme disease pain, acute and chronic, can be treated with ketamine therapy. In addition to Chronic Lyme, it also treats::
Ketamine can inhibit N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA). NDMA is a receptor that binds together glutamate to manage the thalamus, which is the brain’s most crucial pain center. The NMDA receptor operates your neural network, and it’s the ability to process pain signals to the central nervous system. Over-activation of this receptor resulting from chronic Lyme disease can result in excitotoxicity. It blocks these receptors, and patients experience relief from pain. My doctor explained that ketamine resets the pain receptors in the nervous system that Lyme damaged.
Treatments are administered intravenously, and the patient could either be awake or a local anesthetic is used. Between one and four treatments are recommended. However, after the first treatment, benefits and pain reduction are seen.
I never thought I would go this route, but my pain was so bad. I originally went to a ketamine clinic and had a treatment done. Although I felt better a few days after the treatment, it was not a good experience. During the first treatment, I was awake in a sterile white room with no one else, They administered the treatment, but I soon became very agitated. I had no sense of what was happening and then became very nauseous, continued to vomit through the treatment, and then slept for 24 hours straight. After I woke, I felt terrific, but it was very traumatic for me.
I found another doctor that had treated hundred of Lyme patients with ketamine I tried it again. This time it was much gentler. The treatments did help reduce my pain and reset the receptors. Just do your due diligence before you choose a facility. The good thing is that ketamine is starting to be covered by insurance companies.
What is promising about Ketamine for Chronic Lyme patients is that some insurance companies cover part or all of the cost for these treatments. Since many Lyme treatments are out-of-pocket expenses, the fact that insurance companies are covering Ketamine treatments should be a reason to seriously look at this as an option for those suffering from severe pain due to Lyme.
For more information, please read this cited study and this one too.
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