The New Shot for PTSD or PTSI

Did any of you recently see  “The Doctors” program on television?  In this episode they had a guest veteran named Clint that was first deployed to Afghanistan in 2007.  He is married and has two beautiful little girls. Unfortunately, when he returned he suffered from severe PTSD. It almost totally destroyed his life. He could not sleep, he barked at his two daughters every time they did anything, and he was having flashbacks, was always irritable, suffered from depression, and was paranoid. His wife stated that they were always walking on eggshells around him because they never knew what would set him off.

It turns out that someone in his family saw a story about a new PTSD Medication, administered by a shot, that is being used to help soldiers that suffer from PTSD and PTSI. The new PTSD medication does require that the patient go into surgery in order to get the injection. Everyone is hoping the new shot for PTSD or PTSI can be the help everyone has been looking for. Dr. Eugene Lipov has revolutionized the treatment of PTSD or PTSI by treating PTSD in this way. The injection is called the “stellate ganglion block injection.” It is possible that this may be a groundbreaking injection treatment for soldiers suffering from PTSD or PTSI. It is a local anesthesia that is injected into the C6 vertebrae.  Local anesthesia is any technique to induce the absence of sensation in a specific part of the body, generally for the aim of inducing local analgesia, that is, local insensitivity to pain, although other local senses may be affected as well. When someone suffers a severe trauma, new neurofibers grow inside the brain and increases epinephrine. Epinephrine and norepinephrine are released by the adrenal medulla and nervous system respectively. They are the flight/fight hormones that are released when the body is under extreme stress. During stress, much of the body’s energy is used to combat imminent danger. The injection into the neck turns off the neurofibers and reverses the increase of norepinephrine in the brain. This is the reason why there can be such a rapid change shortly after leaving the operating room. Clint said when he woke up, he immediately felt a difference in his mood and that he actually felt good for the first time in years. He said this shot has changed his life back to normal. His wife could not believe the difference. Even his daughters noticed a significant change in their dad! Clint stated that he now looks forward to getting up every morning and having a productive day.

So far, 2,200 people have received new PTSD medication via a shot.  I know it does not sound like much when we have hundreds of thousands of men/women suffering from this horrible disease/injury. But of those 2,200, there were no reported complications experienced with this shot. Also, the cure rate (for a better word) is about 77%. Dr. Eugene Lipov said that much of the Veterans Administration has agreed to offer the shots. Just think what this injection could do for our servicemen/servicewomen! So many veterans fight this battle when they return from deployment. Many do not survive the demons in their minds. Most human beings cannot see the things these veterans have seen and wipe them out of their mind. The visions are constantly there. This injection has the promise to help almost three-quarters of our returning veterans who suffer from PTSD symptoms. Let’s all do what we can to see that these injections are available for all of our returning veterans. I am going to do more research on this topic and see if there is a way to help! If anyone has any ideas, PLEASE feel free to contact me. REMEMBER— “A MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE!”