Many people with nerve pain describe it as 'worse than death.' Can ketamine help? - Toronto Star

Toronto studies see some success in treating pain, depression. But ketamine's potential is still poorly understood.

Carmelina Crudo said she experienced what some call “the opening” when she first tried ketamine therapy. While the therapy didn’t completely take her pain away, she said she learned to “surrender” to the pain, which has been transformative. 

Most of Carmelina Crudo’s life has been etched in pain.

At 21, a major car accident left her with a spine injury. Then came fibromyalgia. A slipped disc. Lyme disease. More bacterial infections than she can count.

At one point, she was taking 52 pills a day, over 20 prescriptions, just to keep her head above water.

“The pain was a 10 out of 10 every minute of every day,” Crudo, 63, said from her home in Bolton, seated on a heating pad to soothe her nerve pain. “It was just 20 years of hell.”

But then she came across a clinical trial for a novel treatment that would change her life: ketamine combined with psychotherapy for nerve pain.

Ketamine is widely used in Canada as a general anesthetic for both humans and animals, and can be administered off-label by medical professionals in clinical settings for certain mental health conditions and pain management. A version called esketamine, a prescription nasal spray, was approved by Health Canada in 2020 for treatment-resistant depression. It’s also used recreationally for its psychedelic properties, and was widely publicized when “Friends” actor Matthew Perry’s abuse of the drug led to his death. 

Ketamine has been a life-saver for people with certain mental disorders, experts say — but improper use can prove fatal.