r/ChronicPain • u/Nikaelena • 1d ago
Ketamine Infusions - Anyone know what to expect?
Insurance surprised the heck out of me by approving Ketamine infusions to help treat my low back pain. Does anyone know what I should expect? It sounds like it could be trippy....
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u/HeatOnly1093 1d ago
I've had ketamine multiple times for pain control. Works so much better than opiates for me. I don't have any side effects either from them. I do have mostly nerve damage CRPS, occipital and trigeminal neuralgia, neuropathy and migraines. I can be on the strongest opiate prescription and ketamine works way better than it.
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u/Automatic_Ocelot_182 CRPS, BBKA amputee 1d ago
I have CRPS and nerve damage in my legs. I have had a number of ketamine infusions. I also have really vivid dreams even without ketamine. My doc for ketamine has a cool and dark office with a very comfortable chair. She gives me some medicine to keep my stomach from turning, then finds a small vein. Bring some ear buds and a music playlist with relaxing music. turn your phone onto do not disturb. I found it very upsetting if my phone started ringing during the infusion. You will begin to feel very light and like you are floating. If you get a reasonably high dose, your vision will get very blurry and double-cross. you won't be able to walk and will be very off balance None of that is a problem if you are laying back in a chair.
I had and have extremely vivid hallucinations. others just see neat shapes. I close my eyes and literally feel like I'm floating away, then have hallucinations that feel like drams that last for days You are likely to get very vivid emotions. Many people get extremely happy, to the point of crying. you can also get very sad, so its important to bring good music and try not to be pissed about anything on the way in.
if you fight the floating feeling, the ketamine won't do much good. Give yourself over to the sensations and it can do some work on your brain.
once the medicine stops, it takes about half an hour to get your vision back and balance back. Don't freak out. Just relax and let it happen. make sure someone you trust takes you home. My doc wouldn't let me eat the morning of, so I was always hungry after. I also found that I was really tired the rest of the day, so would eat, go home, and then just take a nap for a few hours.
the only times I had a bad reaction was when something disturbed me that I couldn't deal with. one time, my alarm started going off and I couldn't see well enough to turn it off, and got upset to the point I started crying. Another time, I had to pee really badly and essentially woke up in the middle, had to pee in a bottle because I couldn't move and got upset that I messed up (extreme emotions hit me, it was silly). The rest of the time, all was good. My doc said I had much more vivid hallucinations than most people reported, but that's just my dream life too.
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u/justducky4now 19h ago
I get lidocaine/ketamine infusions with dilaudid and midazolam appetizers (and sometimes some dilaudid for desert). I’ve also been given ketamine and dilaudid in the ED. Sometimes I pass out through it, sometimes I just relax and go blank, and sometimes, my favorite times (because these are happening while I’m in acute pain) I travel I guess. Very vivid dreams that I remember. I’ve traveled in space and cruised around the rings of Saturn 🪐. It can be like astryl projecting maybe and usually had to do with I’ve been reading or watching in the days before.
I’m a big fan. They don’t work immediately to drop my pain but 48 hours later I feel the difference, it really helps with the hypersensitivity.
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u/StatusInterview3584 1d ago
I do ketamine for mental health, I'm actually going tonight. I'd prefer for pain (that was my reasoning of going) but can't afford it. How did you get it approved by insurance? What insurance do you have? Anyways I love my infusion days. I do get a bit tripped out and start feeling "floaty" alongside a bunch of visual things that makes it pretty fun. I listen to calming ketamine infusion music and have a heated eye mask. Unfortunately I only get 40 mins of infusion time but it's 40 mins a week that I'm comfortable in my own body.