Since the Winter of 2013-14, I have suffered from chronic back pain. There was no traumatic event…read more- it came on randomly, and doctors' best guesses are that it stems from playing college hockey. I have tried the facet blocks, the deep needling, injections in the SI (sacroiliac) joints, the procedure where the pain doc shocks 5 or 6 parts of the nerve to kill it (it does regenerate, however), but nothing brought any significant relief. One doctor's solution was simply to write me a prescription for 240 Tramadol each month (2 pills taken 4 X each day); eventually had a seizure on the tramadol and was switched to oxycodone. After becoming tolerant to the oxy, he'd swap back and forth b/w that and dilaudid in what became a 3 or 4 month cycle.
All of the above was simply a band-aid, however, (and not particularly useful or helpful); desperate for permanent relief, I finally agreed to and underwent back fusion (of the L5-S1) in June of 2018 due to "degenerative disc syndrome" - before creating the new bone to fuse the vertebrae together, he cleaned out and removed the dark bits & pieces of the destroyed disc. Still, after still experiencing pain a full year later, the surgeon went back in and performed a bit more work on the fusion in June of 2019. Ultimately, however, the pain never went away (and, in fact, there was barely any relief whatsoever), and I was told that I was experiencing failed back fusion syndrome, or something like that. Two more years of the oxycodone/dilaudid back-and-forth continued until...:
As a birthday gift in the summer of 2021, my brother got me the one week regimen of ketamine infusions with Dr. Frederick. This process consisted of five straight days of going in for a ketamine infusion that lasted about 4hrs each day. I began to experience relief very quickly (within just a few weeks). The utterly miraculous (as far as I was concerned!) results affected more than just the physical pain in my back, however:
- the desire to drink alcohol (which had, at times, been a problem in my adult life) dropped to practically 0% almost overnight
- I was able to stop taking the opiates almost immediately. Given the length of time I was on them & the high dosage required for me to feel any relief, I had started to become extremely concerned about how doctors would ever be able to manage/control pain if I was ever in something like a car accident
- mentally, an enormous weight was lifted from me since I no longer felt that my situation was hopeless
To be clear - my pain did NOT and has not completely dissipated. It DID, however, drop from a daily 6-7 average on the pain scale to a much more manageable 2-4 on the scale. I go in for "booster" infusions several times each year (about every 2-3 months or so). Given that I live about 4 hours away from DrF, I had to find a local entity for most of my boosters - but, AT LEAST ONCE each year, I always return to DrF for a booster infusion, and more if my schedule allows.
So far, everything I wrote was only about the ketamine itself and its effects. The PEOPLE at Alchemy Welness, however, are top-notch. The "bedside manner" of DrF and his entire staff is beyond description - every single person is kind & attentive and a real treat to interact with! As you are probably aware, Ketamine itself is a very weird drug. As a psychedelic, it can significantly alter your sense of reality, which can sometimes be scary; on the very rare occasion that I have ever become anxious during an infusion, one of the staff has always spent time sitting with me, often patting my hand & arm in order to "ground" me (which significantly calmed me and kept be in reality, as opposed to the distortion of reality that arises from the ketamine). Finally, every time I call the office, it is such a treat to speak with Cadria, who is always incredibly pleasant & attentive.
There is literally not a single thing I would change about my treatment experience with DrF & his staff - I am so incredibly grateful to him for helping me get back to living and leading a normal life.
David Erickson
Baltimore, MD
