Source: Stephanie Gordon, Avesta
“I would definitely recommend it to others, the results for me initially have been profound and light years beyond anything I’ve achieved with psychiatric medications. It’s not subtle, after the full induction phase my anxiety was ostensibly extinguished and I began living a brand new life free of the torment and burden of incessant anxiety. Throughout a lifetime of anxiety, using cognitive behavioral techniques, exercise, medications, therapy, sedatives, etc., I always felt like I was just barely affecting the root of the anxiety – a brain connectivity and chemistry that was hyperactive at baseline and unrelentingly on guard.
Ketamine feels like the root issue, the brain itself, was being calmed and healed and so it was infinitely more effective than all those other approaches. The only caveat is that I’m not sure the effect is lasting and that might be a factor in whether it is a clear success or whether it is a transient relief. At about the 3-4 month mark, after undergoing a stressful pair of surgeries, my anxiety began to recur and at times seemingly return. I had a lot of concomitant stressors, so that has to be considered, but earlier in my treatment stressors washed off me like water off a duck. Now they are beginning to take a toll again. I am going to back up a few steps and do some more frequent ketamine treatments in the hope of getting back on track, but it is a reality check that the results may not be as lasting as I had hoped. Time will tell. I hope to get to where I can get treated around once every couple months, but maybe that’s not going to happen for me.”