Chronic pain is a huge problem…
It’s time for new approaches.
Chronic pain is a huge problem…Years of chronic pain take a toll…
After 10 agonizing years with chronic pain, Michele S. is in complete remission — free, at least for now, of one of the most chronically painful disorders known to medicine.
"I was in constant pain. On a scale from one-to-ten, my normal day's a six or a seven, and I just couldn’t function" Michelle said.
Michelle is not alone. Over 50 million Americans suffer from some form of chronic pain on a daily basis.
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"Pain is the biggest cause of disability in the US, particularly chronic pain conditions like Fibromyalgia, and we have not had very many effective treatments for it. But that may be about to change." Dr Grass, Director of the Ketamine Research Institute said.
Chronic pain is now being recognized as a neurological condition that may be caused by the "overactivity" of certain brain circuits related to pain. It can be compared to “turning up” the volume on a stereo system. The sound, or in this case the pain and sensitivity, is blasting in every room of the house causing widespread pain. Research has shown that one factor known to contribute to “turning up the volume” is a brain chemical known as glutamate.
Glutamate and Chronic Pain
Glutamate is a brain chemical that activates or “turns on” various receptors in the central nervous system which are like “little switches.” Activating them turns the volume up on pain and everything hurts. If that’s the case, then by changing the glutamate levels and turning some of the pain receptors off you could dial the volume back down to comfortable levels. And that is what a new treatment option appears to do. The RESTORE infusion has been found not only to block the effects of glutamate and turn the sound (pain) down but it also seems to “rewire or reboot” the system to return to normal operation – pain-free. The effects of the treatment can be very rapid, and in some cases, produce dramatic, long-lasting relief.
One such patient is Michelle. At only 35-years-old, Michelle’s life dramatically changed several years ago, after becoming ill with a viral illness. Soon after she seemingly recovered from the virus, she began to have difficulty concentrating and everything started to hurt. She even felt pain just by being touched.
What is chronic pain like?... Michelle's Experience
"I was in constant pain. On a scale from one-to-ten, my normal day's a six or a seven, and I just couldn’t function" Michelle said. "Emotionally, I was getting depressed, my husband saw it more and more. I just sat in the chair and went from my bed to the chair, and that was horrible, I couldn’t function at work and everything in my life started to crumble.”
“I went from doctor to doctor and each one gave me a different opinion. Eventually, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. After that, I tried everything to help the pain including antidepressants, antiepileptic medication, pain medications, and acupuncture. I even tried Meyer’s cocktail therapy, but nothing worked. So, I researched a lot on the internet and found out about Restore. I was becoming desperate to find some help, so I flew to Florida and began, RESTORE infusions.” she said.
“It was nothing short of amazing. Within hours following my first infusion, the pain melted away and I began to feel better. My mood improved dramatically, and I could concentrate again. Now I have my life back and I am working and enjoying life with my husband for the first time in years.” Michelle said.
Rebooting the Brain
“Many patients described the feeling of being 'reset' after the treatment. They often use computer analogies to describe the effects, Grass said.” One patient said she felt like her brain had been 'rebooted' like a computer hard drive. Others report that it is like the neural networks “light up” all over your brain when you're experiencing the effects of the infusion and then start working properly again. The experience varies for each person but what they all have in common is that the pain begins to lift, and they feel “normal” again.
Some Things to Consider... A New Approach
More than 5,000 years after the ancient Sumerians discovered they could treat pain with the gum from poppies, medical science is still uncertain about who will develop chronic pain, how to prevent it and what to do when it occurs. The reasons the same insult to the body can leave one person with short-term discomfort and another with permanent misery have long eluded researchers.
“Chronic pain is incredibly complex,” said Dr Grass. “It is interwoven with all kinds of psychological, emotional and spiritual dimensions, as well as the physical. Unfortunately, the medical community doesn’t have a terribly good understanding, overall, of that kind of complexity.”
Now — prompted by the opioid epidemic — the National Institute of Health, university researchers and drug companies, among others, are reexamining chronic pain, hoping to develop new approaches to predicting and preventing an ancient malady that afflicts so many people in the world.
We now understand that for some with chronic pain, the problem is not in their backs, knees or joints but their brains. The brain is a very dynamic organ and it changes from minute to minute. New connections are established with each memory that we have and that includes the memory of pain. Research has now shown that with the development of chronic pain, new pathways and “memories” are established. It seems to be as if chronic pain become the “new normal;” for certain individuals. In these cases, even if the original injury heals completely, chronic pain remains.
Perhaps the physical and emotional toll of a lifetime of constant pain leaves patients prepared to feel little else. Or perhaps the pain signals that have flooded the brain for years have permanently rewired some circuits, leaving her unusually sensitive to even the slightest irritation. By disrupting glutamate, the RESTORE infusion not only turns downs the volume of the pain in the short term but also returns connections to a “normal” setting. Dramatic improvements are seen in many patients with RESTORE infusions, but not every case is the same.
Each Person is Unique
"Many physicians have the impression that all people with Fibromyalgia are alike, but you really need to know a lot about the person to appropriately consider this form of therapy for them. Each person is unique and different, so the treatment must be individually tailored to match the patient. The amount of medication needed from patient to patient can vary greatly. This is addressed with the RESTORE Infusion, by matching the treatment to the person, providing more effective therapy.” Dr. Grass said.
Also, because RESTORE is administered by intravenous infusion, it requires close physician monitoring and adjustment during the treatment phase to ensure the best results. Many patients report their symptoms, begin to improve almost immediately after the infusion. "Frankly, it is wonderful to have something that is so effective and acts so rapidly." Grass says.