Psychiatry Practice Provides Ketamine Treatment for Treatment-Resistant Disorders near Greenwich, CT
Depression, severe anxiety, bipolar disorder. The extensive horrors of PTSD, the merciless oppression of OCD, alcohol and substance abuse, the life-threatening risk of suicidal thoughts. Psychiatric disorders, especially when they’re severe, can rob life and meaning from the existence of the person who suffers from them, as well as those who love him…or her. There are medications and other treatments that help some who suffer… maybe 50-65% … but for all the rest, it can seem like there’s no hope. Just anguish, humiliation, and despair. Torment. Despondency. But there’s new hope. Ketamine treatment near Greenwich, CT is provided by an expertly skilled psychiatrist right up the road – Lori Calabrese, M.D. at Innovative Psychiatry.
So what’s it like to have a family member with a psychiatric disorder like depression…? Here’s a glimpse…
Gregory’s Story
“Gregory, you HAVE to get out of bed and go to school! C’mon…get up!!”
Gregory turns toward the wall…and doesn’t say anything. His eyes remain closed.
“Gregory, I mean it! You’ll get too far behind.”
Gregory is 15, and he doesn’t know what’s wrong with him. But he just can’t do it. He can’t get out of bed…or face another day. He just can’t…
The aroma of bacon frying downstairs…he used to love bacon. Right now though… this month… he doesn’t care. He couldn’t eat if he wanted to…and he doesn’t want to at all.
“Gregory!! Gregoreeeee!! The car’s leaving!”
Good, he thinks to himself. Maybe I can try harder tomorrow. Right now I just wanna go back to sleep….
A Silent Teen Can Be a Mystery to a Worried Parent
When you’re the parent of a teenager who seems to become quiet…almost sullen…and stops cooperating… you don’t know whether to punish him or soothe him or take him to the doctor… What happened to that energetic little boy who always wanted to please?
Is he involved in something illegal? Why doesn’t he want to go to school…?
Gregory is showing signs of a psychiatric disorder. Families who have faced one of these disorders in loved ones are like veterans of war. They suffer with their family member… and they become steeled to the whole scenario. Walking on eggshells, pushing…prodding…worrying…enduring with their loved one.
Ketamine Treatment near Greenwich, CT
But in Greenwich, CT these families have new hope nearby. Lori Calabrese, M.D. at Innovative Psychiatry focuses on helping patients with the most severe disorders get better. Well, better than better, she works tirelessly to help them get well. And one of her most powerful tools to do that is IV ketamine treatment.
More about that in a bit, but for now back to Gregory.
Gregory’s always gone to private school. He’s had every advantage. He was born here in Greenwich, and has wanted for nothing. The best sports, the best after-school opportunities, good friends from fine, respectable families.
But it’s like the air that goes out of a balloon when it’s untied. It seemed a few months ago Gregory just deflated.
The Richness of Life in Greenwich, CT
Life in Greenwich, CT is full of things to do and places to go. Great restaurants, a visit to the Audubon Center, catching a polo match, visiting some art galleries…. Symphony performances are a few miles down the road, and you can always see a great show at Capital Theatre.
Sometimes, having all the advantages isn’t enough. The headlines are full of stories about overdoses and suicides among the richest of the rich. But … treatment-resistant disorders have no respect for money or advantages.
In Gregory’s case, he’d been to the restaurants, the theatre, the symphony with his family, just like his other friends. But didn’t want to do anything now. The dreaded fear that depression was coming back hung over him like the angel of death.
He hated it. The last time was 3 years ago. And he had to be in the hospital quite awhile. He finally started feeling better about a year later. But considered himself weak, shameful … a loser. He criticized himself to others believing he’s not capable of normal functioning like other kids he knew. He was ashamed but felt powerless to change it. Trouble is, the things he dwelt on about himself created their own damage.
It was happening again, and he didn’t think he could face that cold, dark, listless, and barren place again. All the scolding because “he wasn’t living up to his potential.” …he really hated that. He wished he could SCREAM in everyone’s face – “Can’t You SEE I CAN’T?????” But just the thought of it made him tired. He needed to go back to sleep.
…
The Desperation of Those with Treatment-Resistant Disorders
So for some people, when depression seems to be returning, antidepressants and other medicines help them get back on track before too much damage is done. But for far too many, the same old medicines do little or nothing, even though they help others with the same diagnosis.
But, there’s good news. Neuroscience researchers have uncovered uses for a 50 year- old anesthesia medicine that’s turned out to be the most remarkable medicine for psychiatric disorders of our lifetime.
IV ketamine treatment reverses the symptoms of severe treatment-resistant depression, social anxiety, panic disorder, PTSD, OCD, bipolar disorder, substance use disorders — in up to 80% of cases. It can stop suicidal thinking in 4 hours or less.
Sound melodramatic? That’s only because you haven’t seen it work. But here’s the thing.
Not everyone achieves the remission we all want. One reason is that some people, for reasons researchers don’t yet understand, just don’t seem to respond to ketamine treatment.
But the other reason lies in the way the ketamine is administered.
If you scratch your knee, in most cases a bandaid and a little antibiotic cream will help that scratch close and heal in short order. Just slap that bandaid over the scrape, and voila! It’s much better in two or three days.
But your brain is the most delicate and complex organ in your body. More profound than the most sophisticated computer. It takes more than slapping a bandaid to restore it to optimum function.
Unfortunately, since the extraordinary actions of ketamine treatment on mood disorders were discovered, news has spread like wildfire. And clinics have popped up everywhere offering this extraordinary medicine.
Trouble is, people who can start an IV sometimes consider themselves proficient at providing ketamine for psychiatric disorders. So there is widespread administration of this medicine without the skill in diagnosing and treating the underlying disorder and helping the patient get the most out of every drop.
So, here are some examples:
First, ketamine should be provided IV, not IM or intranasal spray. It’s true there is testing going on using nasal sprays, but the problem with sprays is that the condition of the sinuses can serve as an obstacle to the medicine, and diminishing the dose the patient actually receives. There are other problems as well.
The most predictable method is by IV infusion where the medicine is instantly in the blood stream and can go straight to the brain delicate brain systems at the right dose and rate. These infusions use a very small dose and last about 40 minutes.
Second, the response to a single ketamine infusion has been found to not last more than a week or ten days after a single dose. So it shouldn’t be given as a one-time treatment.
It needs to be given in a series of 6-9 infusions over 2-3 weeks. For some reason, stacking the infusions like this builds a foundation that seems to really last. So this series is the cornerstone of ketamine treatment.
After this series, it may be necessary to have an infusion every 2-3 months, but in most cases achievement of remission is lasting. As in for 6 months, or a year… and more.
This is why it’s so important to understand the psychiatric disorder itself, how to treat it, and what to do to enhance response and remission. This is out of scope of practice for anesthesiologists and emergency room physicians.
Third, a precise infusion pump should be used to adjust the dose as needed to achieve the robust and extraordinary responses ketamine treatment is famous for.
In addition, the psychiatrist who understands the response to watch for, and is proficient in adjusting rate and dose for the best response, sees the most robust responses in her patients. Since each person is unique, each brain is, too.
The most effective outcomes from ketamine treatment are enjoyed by patients of psychiatrists who excel in these skills.
People and families like yours who suffer from these psychiatric disorders, who have not been helped by at least two trials of other treatments, have access to ketamine treatment at its best after just a few minutes drive with Lori Calabrese, M.D. at Innovative Psychiatry.
Innovative Psychiatry has been her full service psychiatry practice for many years, and has been treating patients with the most stubborn and unresponsive illnesses. She specializes in patients who could not find help elsewhere.
Dr. Calabrese received the best education and training. Wellesley- and Harvard-educated, and Mass General trained, she’s been a leader in her field and a doctor’s doctor to colleagues in a four-state area. Her practice focuses on novel and advanced treatments for these treatment-resistant disorders. Of all of them, ketamine treatment is the most effective and brings relief the fastest.
She offers this treatment in a peaceful and beautiful environment and ensures that each patient is as comfortable and relaxed as possible before the treatment begins. Equipped with a blanket, the lights are turned low, and while the patient rests her staff monitors vital signs.
The Response You Hope For Doesn’t Happen By Accident
In some cases, patients begin feeling improvement the first day. At other times, the improvement begins the second day or after the second infusion. In some, there is very little difference until third, fourth, or even fifth infusion. Then, relief begins to grow, the ability to feel, to enjoy, and to create. And once this improvement develops, it continues to expand for awhile.
This is why it’s so important to not be discouraged after the first infusion or two, if you don’t feel better.
One patient said she felt nothing after the first infusion, but for the first time in years, she folded a load of clothes that evening. Sounds small, but it wasn’t. In her case, improvement waited until after the third infusion, then it accelerated quickly over the next couple weeks.
Consider another aspect of ketamine’s actions. Some patients who did not show improvement after 6 or 8 infusions, and left the office disappointed, reported a delayed reaction where the wonderful response took hold a few months later.
At any rate, ketamine is not for everyone. But it’s life-changing for so many that chances are, it will be restorative and healing for you. Ketamine treatment near Greenwich, CT is provided with proficient skill and insight at Innovative Psychiatry in South Windsor, CT.
If you’d like more information about ketamine treatment or Dr. Calabrese, call or email Dr. Calabrese.