07. The Ketamine Diaries, Pt. 2: OCD, PTSD, Depression, & Chronic Pain

In the Ketamine Diaries episodes, I share my full journey of clinical ketamine treatments for OCD, PTSD, depression, suicidality, and chronic pain. In this episode (part 2), I share every part of my experience from the very beginning of my ketamine treatments, through all of my stabilization and maintenance treatments thus far, the short and long-term effects, and everything that has led me to my present-day state, post-treatments. I detail every treatment experience from the physical, mental, and emotional perspectives, and speak in detail about the insights, challenges, and integrations that came with each trip. I provide reflections for how the immediate treatment experiences translated to long-term effects (or not). I share the nitty-gritty details of medical decisions I made that influenced the trajectory of my treatments, and explain the rationale behind these decisions from a research-informed standpoint. I finally share the results at this point of ketamine treatments for every diagnosis + symptom that I sought treatment for, and close with disclosing everything that has informed my decisions moving forward with continuing treatments. This episode provides a full, comprehensive, and multidisciplinary account of myself going through weeks of intensive ketamine treatments, and ultimately creates an honest and curious space for anyone thinking about pursuing ketamine treatments to explore their questions and concerns. Topics covered in this episode + timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome, exciting life updates, intro to part 2, important disclaimers (00:05:31) Stabilization Day 1: Treatment setting, medication decisions (benzodiazepines/anxiety meds, nausea meds, pain meds, etc.), trip report, decisions moving forward (00:17:59) Stabilization Day 2: Medication decisions, trip report, trip insights (read verbatim) - distance between me and my symptoms/fears, virtual therapy (00:27:15) Stabilization Day 3: Trip report - realizing the suppression of my true self, orchids vs. dandelions, sea turtles; trip insights and integration (read verbatim), virtual therapy (00:46:32) Stabilization Days 4 & 5: Steep downturn, trip report - suicidality during the entire trip, how I dealt with the horrific experiences that day, trip insights and integration, virtual therapy (00:52:20) Time between stabilization & maintenance treatments: physical side effects of treatment, integration of trips, challenges, insights, awarenesses (01:04:10) Maintenance Day 1 & 2: summary of high-dose haze, extreme compounded physical side-effects, full report of integration and recovery (01:06:05) Everything that informed my decision about moving forward with treatments, reflections about clinic, effects on my chronic pain (01:09:10) Overall effects on my mental health (OCD, PTSD, depression, suicidality, etc.), lessons and reflections from treatments, where/how I am now, my treatment plans for the future, changes in my life I cannot wait to connect with you, answer all of your questions, and co-create this with you. Welcome to a Chat with Uma! Connect with me! My website: umarchatterjee.com Instagram: @UmaRChatterjee Twitter: @UmaRChatterjee TikTok: @UmaRChatterjee Email: [email protected]