Ketamine infusion therapy could offer hope for chronic pain patients

(InvestigateTV) — Millions of Americans live with chronic pain. The epidemic is often hidden behind closed doors as patients suffer in silence, according to research published in the “Journal of Primary Care & Community Health.”

Chronic pain, such as back pain, arthritis and headaches, including migraines, is often described as aching, burning, shooting or throbbing.

It can impact the daily life of people who suffer from it and lead to depression and anxiety, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

For those who cannot get relief from traditional pain management methods, some in the medical community are promoting ketamine infusion as a possible solution. The treatment works by slowing down pain-sensing nerves that send messages to the brain.

Elanor Koch of Nebraska said she has seen improvement since starting the therapy.

In 2020, doctors found a tumor on her cervical spine that had eroded and compressed her spinal cord by more than 60%.

“Before, I would wake up in pain and live life in pain, and I’d only have so much in me I could give a day until I would push myself into a flare that would leave me in bed for a handful of days,” Koch said.

She went through neck fusion surgery, then had to relearn to walk and use her left arm. Still, she experienced debilitating pain.

“Couldn’t get a hold of or a grasp on how to manage my pain in a way that felt safe or effective,” Koch said. “Opioid pain therapy didn’t feel like a good long-term solution, and other alternative pain-management areas were not working.”

Finding relief through ketamine treatment

In 2023, Koch found ketamine infusion therapy at Mind and Body Wellness Center.

The off-label treatment is said to help the brain process thoughts and emotions more effectively.

“When I’ve went through ketamine, I had a perspective that I’d never been able to force myself into,” Koch said. “To see it for what it is and understand that that’s part of the experience of why we’re here and it didn’t feel like my pain was as daunting.”

During the hour-long sessions, patients experience dissociation.

“You’re not fully aware of your physical body and you’re kind of just hanging out in your head for a while,” Koch said.

After six treatments in one month, Koch said she experienced significant improvement.

“I was like pain free for three months,” she said. “I had minor flares every once in a while, but they weren’t long lasting, and they weren’t very common or close together.”

Koch requires maintenance infusions about every few months.

Cost barriers limit access

Infusions cost $400 to 500 per session and are not covered by insurance.

Dr. Stephen Salzbrenner at Nebraska Medicine said the price keeps more people from accessing the treatment.

“It’s pretty widely accepted in the scientific community that it’s effective and so it’s offered,” Salzbrenner said. “Now it’s not often covered by insurance ‘cause it’s not approved. If it was FDA-approved for depression, insurance might cover it as a treatment, but since it’s not, it’s kind of done out of pocket a lot of times.”

FDA-approved alternative available

Salzbrenner offers an alternative treatment that is FDA-approved and accepted by insurance for depression.

Esketamine is a nasal spray that’s chemically related to ketamine but has a distinct chemical makeup.

“It can happen within hours, it’s really pretty remarkable,” Salzbrenner said. “Because a lot of the traditional antidepressants we have take six weeks, eight weeks, before you really know if it’s going to help.”

Salzbrenner said it’s essential to combine the treatment with talk therapy.

“Therapy is really indispensable,” he said. “You can’t replicate that with a medicine.”

Koch agrees with that approach.

“I have a psychiatrist and a talk therapist,” she said. “I’m no longer taking any antidepressive medications. If my word counts for anything as somebody who could barely get out of bed two years ago, I’d say try it.”

Treatment not suitable for everyone

People with certain medical histories might not be good candidates for ketamine infusion, including those with mental health conditions such as schizophrenia, uncontrolled high blood pressure, heart disease, kidney or liver disease and substance use disorder.

See the full report by Erin Sullivan.