HI Lisa,

 

I also have a stimulator in that worked so great for awhile, but now is not helping. The only place I could find where they are using ketamine frequently is Drexel University through Dr. Schwartzman in Philadelphia.They do a 5 day inpatient therapy or a 10 day out patient treatment.He also screens people for the coma treatment in Germany. If you go to the website www.RSDS.org you can pull up an article published in Neurology Today in Feb 2006 that discusses the coma treatment and the awake therapy called "Two Approaches to Ketamine Move Forward For Complex Regional Pain", also this quarters news letter from RSDS.org has a detailed description of the awake infusion of ketamine both the 5 day in patient and the 10 day out patient by Dr. Getson called "Overview of Ketamine Infusion Therapy". You should be able to access that article on the website too.One really big problem is insurance.  It's an expensive treatment and very few patients have been able to obtain approval for the treatment in addition to the issue that ketamine has not been approved by the FDA to be used for CRPS.

 

 Schwartzman has obtained approval for a trial/study of ketamine here in the US from the FDA (article in the New York Times )but is waiting for Drexel University to do all that they need to do to set up the study.  I have consulted multiple doctors on my own and through friends in the medical field all over the country and every single one has said to wait to try the ketamine until after the study. 20% of those that try ketamine get absolutely no result from it and  it can be a very dangerous treatment when given to a person by someone not experienced in it's use. With all  that said, I do have an appointment in Jan of 2008 with Schwartzman to be evaluated, but I live in California. 2 weeks ago his office staff told me his is currently training someone to help with the ketamine infusion therapy because so many people are requesting it and that person would be available this month, so that may help people get access.

 

My doctor feels it is best to wait to see if Dr. Schwartzman's results can be duplicated when he does the trial before he would recommend going to Philly and possibley considering trying to find a way to pay out of pocket for the treatment.(just traveling there seems overwhelming to me physicaly) Once the trial is done and if the results are favorable, then insurance will be more likely to pay and maybe more physcians will get involved and offer the treatment in more locations....

 

Hope this info helps and sorry you feel so awful...I sure understand.Take care!

Terry