What Most Don’t Understand About Fibromyalgia

Trying to navigate life with any pain condition is tough. However, it’s especially challenging with a complex condition like fibromyalgia. 

This disorder causes widespread pain, fatigue, and cognitive difficulties. For many people, it coexists with other conditions, from anxiety and depression to migraine, irritable bowel syndrome, and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Unfortunately, fibromyalgia is also notoriously difficult to treat. As a result, people often experience lost productivity, lower perception of well-being, and reduced quality of life. 

But there’s a new option: ketamine therapy.

Dr. Peter McAllister specializes in treating people with psychiatric and neurological disorders, like fibromyalgia, at Ki_Ketamine in Stamford and Westport, Connecticut. In this blog, he explains the nuances of fibromyalgia and how ketamine therapy can help.

Understanding fibromyalgia

Approximately 50 million American adults have fibromyalgia. While it’s most common in women between 20 and 55 years of age, it can affect people of all ages, including children and seniors.

One of the things people often don’t understand about this condition is that it amplifies how a person perceives pain. It affects how your brain and spinal cord process both pain and nonpain signals.

Another unique characteristic of fibromyalgia involves its cause. Some people develop symptoms after a significant event, like an infection, surgery, or severe psychological strain. But for others, symptoms develop gradually without an obvious trigger.

While the exact cause of fibromyalgia isn’t known, experts suspect that it’s due to repeated nerve stimulation that leads to brain and spinal cord changes. It causes an abnormal rise in brain chemicals signaling pain. However, the receptors themselves become overly sensitive to the signals they receive.

These changes are what has made treating fibromyalgia so tricky — until ketamine therapy.

Ketamine and fibromyalgia

In most cases, experts use a combination of strategies to manage fibromyalgia symptoms because no single treatment works for all symptoms.

Common treatments for fibromyalgia include:

• Over-the-counter pain relievers, antidepressants, or antiseizure medications
• Physical therapy, occupational therapy, and talk therapy
• Lifestyle strategies like stress management, regular exercise, and good sleep habits
• Alternative therapies, like acupuncture, massage, yoga, and tai chi

Dr. McAllister uses ketamine to reduce the pain signals themselves. That’s because this treatment works to “reset” the central nervous system.

Experts have used ketamine safely as an anesthetic agent since the 1960s. What sets it apart from other medications is how it targets certain receptors in the brain.

For people with fibromyalgia, this targeted approach prevents the “wind up” phenomenon — or the ongoing, worsening, or chronic aspects of pain. It also alters the brain’s pain memory. This reset stops symptoms from occurring. 

On top of that, ketamine therapy provides relief for co-occurring psychiatric conditions, like depression and anxiety, at the same time.

What to expect from ketamine therapy for fibromyalgia

Our team administers low doses of this medication through an IV drip at the Ki_Ketamine office. After a comprehensive assessment, Dr. McAllister can determine a treatment strategy to address your unique needs moving forward, including the frequency of sessions.

When you undergo ketamine infusions at Ki_Ketamine, we supervise you closely the entire time. People undergoing ketamine infusions typically feel relaxed, alert, and distanced from their pain symptoms.

We also have a therapy dog in the office to add to your comfort throughout your treatment session.

Do you have fibromyalgia? Dr. McAllister understands your condition and can help you manage your symptoms. Contact Ki_Ketamine to learn more about this remarkable treatment option today.