Bipolar Disorder Support Group
Bipolar disorder is not just a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders marked by periods of abnormally high energy and euphoria, often accompanied by bouts of clinical depression. This is the place to talk about your experience with bipolar disorder, learn from others' experiences, and find support.
I read an article about the effectiveness of Ketamine treatment for depression, chronic pain, and PTSD among other things and wondered if anyone has experience with it? It's not covered under insurance so it'd be quite an investment for me, but I've been struggling with a depressive episode that doesn't want to seem to budge no matter what I've attempted. It's not conter-indicated for bipolar depression, but neither is it fully accepted for treatment of bipolar depression so I'd have to ask the doctor about whether it's right for me. Evidently the FDA is considering it for BP treatment, they're just not finished with the trials and red tape yet. You know big pharma doesn't want long acting medications on the market - it cuts into their bottom line if we're not all being prescribed oodles of high does of abilify, celexa, injectables and all the big money makers. Ketamine treatment is supposed to be long acting and cuts out the need for a lot of other meds in a cocktail so the lobbyists aren't really pushing it through the FDA or state insurance boards. So, has anyone tried it?
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Hey All...I hope that you have a lovely, peaceful beginning of your weekI have a bunch of chores that need doing but may put them off til tomorrow and just hang out with my landlord/roomie todayWhat about you?...Anything special going on?Have a great day and take good care of you!!..Xo
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Once again I've had a fever today. I'm not going to the hospital because that's a huge waste of time but I did schedule a dr appointment for Wednesday afternoon.
It is a drug that's frequently abused.... Thanx for the post Book.... I'll surf the web on this ….. Big hug.... I'm sorry that you've been struggling...….xo
When given Ketamine and D-cycloserine along with their usual drug regimen (some were on Latuda and Zyprexa, some were on Seroquel) the subjects showed a 50% reduction in depression symptoms and a 75% reduction in suicidality,
Ketamine originally was a horse/large animal tranquilizer, it was adapted and re-marketed for humans and is a medication mainly used for starting and maintaining anesthesia. It induces a trance-like state while providing pain relief, sedation, and memory loss. Other uses include for chronic pain and for sedation in intensive care.
D-cycloserine is an antibiotic used to treat tuberculosis.
So this is definitely a "new breed" of drug combo and directing treatment to a different part of the brain. As Research continues Dr.'s will try and pinpoint more direct area's that cause BiPolar.
Ketamine is rarely used out-patient, and how they're going to deal with the extreme sleepiness issue will be interesting to see.
But don't be confused, this combo is not being put through Trials and marketed to be a "replacement" medication, it's being made to use with one's current Mood Stabilizer, Anxiety meds, etc.
And its not just using the Ketamine you have to use the 2 meds together for them to work.
The "special K" thing will also be an issue, with the Political climate we're in and the Narcotic Drug battle, the FDA will want to make sure this new drug combo is 100% effective, before they put another form of Ketamine out there to be misused.