Spravato Went Horribly.
The story
I've been in a constant state of fight or flight, honestly I've been in crisis, since the election. I'm disabled, trans and intersex, other flavors of 'undesirable' in the eyes of the government. I was close to taking my life and writing hotlines pretty much everyday sobbing my eyes out. My psychiatrist said if I refused to be hospitalized (I did) then we were down to Spravato and Electroconvulsive Therapy... Yes, she basically said the only solution was nasal spray ketamine or electroshock. I wish I was joking. I'm allergic to so much that these three things were my only option left. Are my only option, but I'm just done. No. I refuse it all.
There's a decent chance ALL healthcare might be taken away from me soon anyhow.
I decided to give Spravato a try, I was really, really hoping it would work. It didn't. My blood pressure shot up so high I almost had to go to the ER, I couldn't stop panicking and crying, I almost threw up multiple times. I am familiar with dissociation, it's a horrendous feeling I get sadly often, but I can tell the... Cycle of it? I suppose? As in, even when dissociating or having derealization, I can tell when it's at it's worst and when it's staring to wane. With Spravato, not so, it was two hours of being at the worst part of all my dissociative episodes and panic attacks at once with no reprieve. Closing my eyes made it worse, I couldn't even try to sleep to get through it, I had so many nurses coming in and out. A random man who was there also getting Spravato himself came in and tried to talk me and my mother through it and reassure us that sometimes that that even still happened to him. I can remember the talking, but it's more like I'm looking back on a movie I watched, not something I witnessed. All that felt like it was me in that moment was the fear. Nausea. My heart wanting to break through my ribcage, the pain of each heartbeat, rattling in my brain of memories and thoughts both that I couldn't differentiate among other things. It was just too much.
Finally, finally after two hours it started to let up, they took my blood pressure and since it wasn't at a concerning level (it was not normal still but not medically concerning? I think?) I was allowed to come home. I almost threw up multiple times on the ride home.
I was essentially sedated for three or four days after, too tired to tell what I was feeling but knowing I wasn't happy or okay, just too tired to cry or panic anymore. My heart kept beating funny off and on, though, I kept getting chest pain off and on. It's still happening off and on and it's been a few weeks. I'm scared it permanently damaged my heart, I already have so much going on, I can't do it.
All therapeutic effects it had are gone, all the fear and grief and dread and pain are back in full force, my family is trying to convince me to try it again and I refuse. My mother told me, essentially, she liked me better sedated. My pain, my fear for my life under this regime in America with so much being taken away from me (after being attacked just getting groceries two weeks after the election by the way), is an inconvenience so I need to just "be normal."
I can't help but wonder if there's hidden meaning behind "be normal." I could get into the why, I could get into my whole life story leading up to this of medical malpractice, but I won't. It's too much. There's so much I need and want to say but what's even the point?
I suppose I'll end this with something that happened a few days ago that's still hurting me, that was my reason to coming to this site again. I still don't really know how it works, if you can see my other post, but it's pertinent to this if you can. I tried one more time, one more time to reach out to someone to help me, give me help feasible for me with all of my limitations. Admittedly, getting a bit angry, because all the "advice" given even when I explained my situation was things I couldn't do. I tried explaining again, and it was turned back on me. I'm apparently a fascist for saying poor, disabled, non-white and intersex people are being left out of people's consideration when giving queer (especially trans) Americans help or instructions to help themselves. I was apparently posting "fascist bait" and somehow I'm also a Nazi? I don't even know. All I said was that I needed help, I just needed some steps given to me to take to try and get myself safe, to a better place. Then, got frustrated, and said their advice wasn't even advice for me or many others in my situation. It felt like dismissal and a "welp not my problem- figure it out!" and I said so. I said that people need to stop leaving the most vulnerable of the lgbtqia2p community in the dust and this girl got four other people to gang up on me.
I give up. I deleted all social media, I feel hopeless but won't write Trevor or 988, no one wants to help me. No one who can will, because I'm "not valuable" enough. Not to another country, not even to a blue state, nothing at all. I need too much help, have too many targets on my back, and have the nerve to point out that people are pulling the ladder up behind them once they get theirs and seeing certain parts of the community in the dust. Even some trans people are, mainly those of us that are poor and or disabled, intersex and or non-white. Of which I am all of.
And now I sit here alone, sad, thinking about everything and wishing I could close my eyes and wake up anybody else tomorrow. Wake up and find out this was all just a bad dream.
No, I'm not going to do anything to myself, I'm just so tired. If you can see people's past posts on here, again, what I said before sort of gives more context but even with both these two posts it's not everything going on with me.
Goodnight, I guess.
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Points of view
honestly, i can't believe all the crap you're going through!! the system's a mess and it's failing people like you who need the most support... like, "be normal"??? seriously???!!! your family's missing the point and they're being insensitive, and it's just not okay... you’ve got every right to feel frustrated and burnt out when the healthcare options are so limited, especially with all the nuances of being disabled, trans, and intersex that aren't being addressed properly.. it's like the system's just giving a "one-size-fits-all" solution when it's clear that kind of "solution" doesn't work for everyone 🙄... sure, some folks are pulling the ladder up behind them, but don't let the blind spots of others steal your hope... keep pushing for what you need because visibility is power, just like they say, "no one's free until we're all free"!!! hopefully your voice will keep reminding people that there’s real lives impacted when the system drops the ball like this!!! keep fighting!!!
Thank you for being nice, and I just don't know what to even do anymore is the problem, every attempt I make to try and fight or get more help just ends badly. I had been writing aid organizations, a lot of them, and got no reply. So, I tried to ask a person I saw talking about their plans, and was ganged up on and screamed at. My psychiatrist stopped answering me completely after the bad reaction, I feel like she gave up, which I guess is fine because I don't want to try more psych meds. But, it just feels like everyone sees me as an unavoidable sacrifice, a goner. I don't want to be, I just want to live I never really even got the chance to, but what am I supposed to do when every avenue is closed off to me and worse and worse just keeps happening?
I feel for what you're going through, but it sounds like you're being a bit dramatic...!!! like, you can't just throw in the towel cause things didn’t go perfect with Spravato, ya know??? sure, things are tough, but who said life is fair? nobody gets out easy here; i remember trying some allergy meds once that messed me up, but i didn’t just quit looking for other solutions... sometimes you gotta stick it out and see if maybe a second round would do better... and yeah, your family might not get it, but maybe they're just stressed too and don’t know how to show it right??? 🤷♂️ not everyone’s out to get you; remember, it's easy to keep our heads down and whine instead of facing the music... i know the vibes when everything feels heavy and unfair, but c'mon, giving up on everyone isn't gonna get you anywhere... try a bit more patience, man...
Spravato was my last solution, I said that here, I'm allergic to everything. I've tried so many medicines, it was this or ECT, and I'm not doing that. I'm not trying more medicines just to have more reactions. This was the WORST reaction I ever had, too, and I'm not risking anything like it (or worse) happening again. I'm still in therapy, I'm just not doing any more psych meds. Did you also not read it made my blood pressure go to high I almost had to go to the ER? Heck no, I am not trying a "second round". And it sure does feel like everyone is out to get me when the government is trying to erase my existence and every attempt to reach out for help ends in people treating me like shit. Or telling me I'm just not trying, like you are, I've had patience. A lot of patience. Not everyone can just endlessly fight especially with no one in their corner and it really does feel like no one is. Thanks for nothing, have a good day.
I am so sick of people calling me dramatic for not dealing with things as perfectly as they do, and or think I should. Who says life is fair is such a childish, dismissive response, too. I know it's not, we both know it's not, saying so helps no one. You seem like the type of person who tells anyone mentally ill to just drink water and "simply stop and choose happiness" as well. I had hoped a venting site wouldn't have people like you but here we are I guess. And this is why I am giving up: no one wants to actually help me they just shame me.
Nice to tell someone who had been close to doing the worst that they're just being dramatic, too, but I'm "not valuable" so I guess I should get used to that.
AncientRubyFireCacophonyInVancouverWithDisappointment
5d agoHey, I just wanted to pop back in and say I didn’t mean for my comment about the "dramatic part" to come off the wrong way. Reading your replies, I can see that this experience was really intense for you, and I’m sorry if my wording felt dismissive. That wasn’t my intention at all.
I appreciate you taking the time to explain more about what happened and how it affected you—it sounds absolutely terrifying. I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be to go through something like that, especially when you're expecting help, not harm. I really hope you're in a better place now, or at least that things are improving.
Sending good thoughts your way.
I appreciate the apology and willingness to listen to me better/more, and apologize myself for my blow up, it is no excuse but it I had a straw that broke the camel's back moment. Things are still very raw, but as Spravato gets out of my system I am at least having a bit better time with some of the symptoms that were/are lingering. I am trying to figure out what to do now with everything, or at least to cope.
i truly empathize with your struggles and can totally understand why you'd feel so overwhelmed given everything that's happened to you lately 😞
It's truly disheartening to read about the immense challenges you're facing, especially with the healthcare system failing to provide the necessary comprehensive support. 😔 Navigating the intricacies of medical treatments can be overwhelming, particularly when it seems like the options offered are far from adequate and potentially harmful.
The psychiatric world needs to evolve to accommodate unique cases like yours rather than relying on generalized interventions. It’s concerning to see the lack of personalized care and understanding in this scenario, and it leaves one wondering if these so-called solutions are genuinely beneficial or just another route to more complications.