Life-Changing Email
Wonder what it’s like to have a changed life from IV ketamine treatment…?
Imagine opening an email that could change your life.
Let’s say you’re an IT architect, or a chef, a kindergarten teacher, or a construction worker. And let’s say something happened … something terrible, terrifying, and painful. You might have caught your arm in equipment or you might have found out your wife’s leaving you … maybe you were assaulted and suffered injuries to your back and neck.
At any rate, let’s say you’ve been profoundly traumatized –by either big T’s or little t’s — and are living with sustained damage that is keeping you from the life you used to have. You feel disabled physically and psychologically.
Honestly, you’ve tried to “get over it” but you seem to become more withdrawn with each passing week, month after month.
You jump at every noise, every touch.
And leaving the house becomes impossible. Fear grips your throat at even the thought of walking out the door. And finally, you wonder how you could end this futile life.
Hope Reaches Out Its Hand…
Then, you get an email from a friend.
And, though you don’t know it yet, it’s an email that’s destined to restore your life.
“Hey, just reaching out ….” it says. “I know you’ve been going through a terrible time…” . And after some 
words of compassion and empathy, you see a link. A link about ketamine …? you think to yourself. What’s this?
Ketamine Off-Label = New Hope
She says this link really might help. So you click on it.
And you learn about IV ketamine and how it’s reversing depression, PTSD, and all sorts of other psychiatric mood disorders by switching on the lights in people’s brains.
Your energy is so low, listlessness so high, and resistance to interference so strong, that at first you’re highly skeptical. But something makes you continue to read. And the more you read the more you notice hope pinging in tiny pings inside you.
After reading the article a few more times…you push through the apathy and call the author of the article…who’s a psychiatrist.
And the Miracle Begins…
Here’s the important part.
After going to your first appointment for the ketamine infusion, then the second, you begin to notice something changing.
Let’s talk about that.
How do you know if you’re getting better…?
Are there scientific ways to measure it…? Like say in your blood stream…? Or maybe ways to measure the way you feel… from one day to the next even…?
And what about measuring the things you do…? Since you’ve been in such a bad place, you haven’t felt like doing much of anything. So isn’t it remarkable that you actually feel like seeing friends again? Working in the garden…? Going shopping…?
I’m happy to tell you the answer is a resounding yes! There are ways to measure, ways to compare from week to week and month to month. We psychiatrists use them all the time.
What’s In It for You…? EVERYTHING.
But when it’s YOU who’s suffering, who was shattered by that tragic accident or violent assault or loss of your precious child, you want to know what YOU can expect. In what way will I feel better…? What will it look like…? What should I watch for…?
Everyone’s experience varies a bit as to whether they experienced relief with the first treatment, the 
second, or even the third… and in which ways the relief and recovery showed itself.
Here’s one patient’s story, as an example:
Jeanine was a brilliant IT architect at the top of her game who suffered a violent assault that left her badly injured and deeply traumatized. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to recover from the injuries or the trauma.
The event left her unable to work, unable to function, and even afraid to leave the house. This went on for months. Depression set in and she couldn’t shake it. She did everything they said. And it didn’t work.
Then she received an email from a trusted friend who gave her a link to an article about how IV ketamine is restoring people with depression, PTSD, anxiety, and other mood disorders. By the thousands.
She Took the First Step…She Called.
Jeanine read enough to know it was worth the effort to call and see if this might help her.
And the tools we used to measure her level of depression and anxiety showed dramatic improvement as she had 6 infusions over the next couple of weeks.
But what really mattered to Jeanine, beyond the numbers, was the change in her life.
A Changed Life with IV Ketamine
Jeanine is real. So are her words, and so is her permission to share them. Here’s excerpt from her note to me after the second infusion:
“…In addition to completing some dreaded paperwork I’d been avoiding for 8 months, I’ve also had a productive day in other ways. I also:
1. ENJOYED (!!) my 2 mile walk by the river.
2. Painted the kitchen shelves, a task I started about 7 weeks ago and simply lacked the executive ability to complete until today.
3. Got to the pharmacy and back without too much difficulty or hesitation.
4. Went to the store and bought personal items.
5. Dead-headed my roses.
6. Did laundry.
7. And treated myself to a solo lunch at a slow-food restaurant and enjoyed (!!) my food.
Given the difficulty I have had just getting out of my house by myself for 3 years, I call this a huge success.
I look forward to my next treatment tomorrow.
During last night’s treatment, the only pleasant part was the ‘sparkles’ I felt in my brain, but clearly it worked very well. I did not have any morbid or suicidal thoughts whatsoever today, which is extraordinary.”
What Will You Experience…? How Will You Know… ?
Read what Jeanine says… and others. Unique stories, personal victories, consistent relief… Outstanding function.
Here are some more of her thoughts after a couple more infusions…
“John and I walked 2+ miles along the river today, which I really ENJOYED. I’m frustrated by back pain today, which is keeping me from doing any but the very lightest of garden chores. I am so eager to get out there and dig!”
Then a few days later:
“I reminisced about someone I knew years ago who desperately needed my help with a project. His project was in the toilet and his job depended on its success. I took a weekend and went shoulder to shoulder with him to resolve the bugs in the program and he was rewarded for its design soon after. As I thought back I felt 1. I was proud of myself for helping him and proud for him at his success. 2. I was sad to no longer be in touch with him…to have lost not only his friendship, but the valuable work I did. Here’s the point: 3 weeks ago I could have acknowledged the quality of the work, but only felt the sadness of the loss. Now I can feel both.”
The day after her last infusion:
“Thank you for helping me get my brain back. Delighted to say I took a lovely hike through the woods today. I enjoyed it so thoroughly and found myself so enthralled with the sites, smells, and beauty. The beauty was actually so distracting, I didn’t notice two bears in my vicinity!
I would say I am back to normal. My depression and anxiety symptoms seem to be gone. I’m breathing in life and 
my family again like I did when I was young.
Thank you from the depths of my heart for helping me find myself again.
A few days later, she had a bunch of friends and family over for dinner–the first time in a few years that she’s had people over for a party–which she just loved.
The Face of Psychiatry has Changed.
So many people who were listless and without hope are living new, joy-filled, changed lives with IV ketamine treatment. If you’re one of the millions of people who have sought effective treatment for a psychiatric mood disorder without relief, call me or make an appointment.
There is so much hope for you to live the life you thought was beyond your reach. Let us work with you to determine the best approach for your recovery.
To the restoration of your best self,
Lori Calabrese, M.D.
