I haven’t felt this good since I was a kid!
Before ketamine infusion therapy, I felt overwhelmed and hopeless. I went to therapy every week and took my medication as directed, but I still couldn’t shake my depression. I felt like I needed Ativan every day to ease my anxiety (but I only allowed myself to take it three times a week because I was worried I’d become addicted). I wasn’t able to focus on my business or even watch a movie all the way through. It felt like my major depressive disorder was a life-sentence, and I would always just have to muddle through.
Then I read an article in the New York Times about a new option—ketamine... I had reached a low point and I knew I had to try something different. So I did my research and learned that ketamine is safe and highly effective at treating depression.
When I met Dr. Benjamin Yudkoff at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, I knew I had come to the right place. Dr. Yudkoff is passionate about his work and incredibly caring. He genuinely wanted me to get better and believed that ketamine infusion therapy would work for me.
At first, I was nervous that is might make me feel strange, or that it might not work. But then I learned that the infusions would take place in the hospital’s PACU where skilled nurses would administer the medication. During my treatments, I listened to guided meditations and after I followed Dr. Yudkoff’s recommendations to a T. After my third infusion, I didn’t see any change and I thought I might need the maximum eight treatments. But then, after my fourth treatment, a switch was flipped and I felt alive again. I did two more treatments for a total of six.
I cannot express how grateful I am to Dr. Yudkoff and the nurses in the PACU. I have a family history of personality disorders and substance misuse disorder, and I have personally struggled my entire adult life. But here I am today, feeling better than ever. Things that crippled me in the past, like feeling self-conscious about my body, have not gone away, but they feel lighter and I am more capable of dealing with stress. I’m also sleeping well! I no longer need an alarm clock. I wake up a half hour before my alarm goes off feeling rested, happy and content. And I’m able to support my family members rather than feel burdened by my own depression.
I will still continue to do the work in therapy and take my medications. But perhaps someday I will be able to ween off some of them. I’ve already stopped taking my Ativan!
Now, I can focus on my business and I’ve even started dating someone new. It’s all thanks to Dr. Yudkoff, the team at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital and ketamine infusion therapy.
—Anonymous
To learn more about ketamine infusion therapy, including, specific details related to eligibility criteria and costs, click here. If you think you would benefit from intravenous ketamine therapy, please speak to your providing psychiatric medication or ECT/TMS prescriber.
