Ketamine/EMLA Gel

calico · 03-19-2004, 05:12 AM

Hi, this was posted on a CPS pain board I'm in. I don't know why a topical gel would help but the gal who wrote this is getting considerable reflief from it and I wanted to pass the info on.

Calico

"What I have is a compounded gel, compounded (or made similar to a recipe, but it is a chemical recipe) from CustomMeds in Florida. Mine is Ketamine 15% (which is actually a general anesthetic like you would get before surgery) and EMLA 7% (which is a combination of topical anesthetics, including lidocaine, used to numb the skin before a surgery or shot or something like that!) compounded into a transdermal gel. My son will be graduating from WVU in May with 2 chemistry degrees, (Yay), and he says this is just brilliant that they would think to put these together in a transdermal gel, which for the most part almost limits all possible side effects when ingested (taken orally).

Dr. Huber worked with them over the phone to see what was best for me at my last appointment, then faxed the order, or prescription to them for them to make for me! I would recommend this to all of you. We take enough stuff orally and this works within minutes!

Following is an explanation from the CustomMeds website at

http://www.CustomMeds.com

What is a gel, and what makes it different from an ointment or a cream? Creams and ointments are topical treatments which largely remain on the outer layers of the skin. Very little is absorbed below the skin. A transdermal gel has a much greater ability to permeate through the skin, carrying the medicine directly to the area
of pain.

Why is a gel superior to a tablet or capsule? When you take a pill, such as ibuprofen, that pill is absorbed by the body and distributed equally throughout the body by way of the blood system. This means that only approximately 1% of the medicine in the pill will go directly to the any specific area of pain. With a gel, you apply the medicine directly to the affected area and approximately 80% of the medicine will go directly to the pain area. The other significant advantage is that there are no toxic side effects to the stomach, liver and kidneys as are typical with arthritis medicines.

Here are a few good websites you might find interesting also:

http://neuro-www.mgh.harvard.edu:16080/forum/
and
http://www.braintalk.org

I hope this helps and I pray for relief for everyone! Oh yeah, I have been having major problems with my Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in my right hand and arm where I have to use it so much now, so, I tried the gel on my wrist - and it helped that, too!! It even seems to help the arthritis in my fingers and neck! I'm just trying it on everything now! I'm going to see if I can just order a tub of it!!! LOL. Actually, you only have to use so little of it you can barely tell I've been using it for everything!"

calico · 03-23-2004, 06:55 AM

Hi, here's some more info on the Ketamine Gel. This person is very enthusiastic about it.

Calico

From Beth in West Virginia

My Dr. is Dr Stanford Huber at the West Virginia Pain Treatment Center in Morgantown, West Virginia phone number: 304-598-6216. I have the Pharmacy Order Copy
that he faxed to CustomMeds Lab. Phone number for CustomMeds is 1-800-226-2023. On the order it says:

For: Post Herpetic Neuralgia ~ Compound: Ketamine 15% & EMLA 7% Gel

And, yes, it is still just as great as when I first told you about it! My friend was here yesterday and she has arthritis and carpal tunnel and it was really hurting her where she had worked out in the yard, so, just to experiment, I barely put some on her wrist and her fingers and within 10
minutes ~ it quit hurting!! She also had surgery on two herniated discs in her back which were killing her, so, again, I just barely put a little bit at the site of her surgery, right in the middle of her back, and, again, 10
minutes or so later ~ no pain!! She was shocked!! She said it worked better than all of the drugs she has taken!
Of course, we still need our meds, but this stuff just seems to penetrate right to the spot and seems to go pretty deep.

dejerine · 03-23-2004, 10:50 AM

Dear Calico

Thanks for all the very practical information.
EMLA is an acronym for eutectic mixture of local anesthetics. Eutectic just means it is a gel but liquifies at skin temperature. It doesn't work by itself much unless occluded supposedly,s in a wrap, but the ketamine gel is interesting. That is a hard drug to characterize. Thanks again for the info. Trying to understand the ketamine locally, but from my inexpert viewpoint, no matter how absorbed still a systemmic drug, I think. Will read more.

metronycguy · 03-23-2004, 07:49 PM

do they still use that dmso solvent to get stuff to absorb in the skin?

calico · 03-24-2004, 01:03 PM

There was something on the Board today about the formulation (or something like that) that is proprietary about this stuff. Has anybody looked at the pharmacy web site? I'll write a note to do that.

Calico

calico · 03-25-2004, 08:51 AM

I've written a question to Dr. Fudin, the pharmacist on pain.com, asking what he thinks of this without naming the company. Hopefully we'll get an answer.

Calico

alan · 03-31-2004, 05:51 PM

This helped central pain?

Alan

"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"

calico · 04-01-2004, 07:03 AM

Hi, Alan, the gal who says it helps her has both central pain syndrome from a stroke and carpal tunnel syndrome. She said it helped both.

Calico

alan · 04-12-2004, 04:58 PM

What should the doctor put on a scrip for this gel? And should I have it mailed to me, then fax it to custommeds? It's a LD call, so the doc's office may not want to fax it.

Alan

"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"

alan · 04-15-2004, 04:11 PM

We ordered the sample today.

Alan

"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"

03-19-2004, 05:12 AM	#1
calico Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 272	Ketamine/EMLA Gel Hi, this was posted on a CPS pain board I'm in. I don't know why a topical gel would help but the gal who wrote this is getting considerable reflief from it and I wanted to pass the info on. Calico "What I have is a compounded gel, compounded (or made similar to a recipe, but it is a chemical recipe) from CustomMeds in Florida. Mine is Ketamine 15% (which is actually a general anesthetic like you would get before surgery) and EMLA 7% (which is a combination of topical anesthetics, including lidocaine, used to numb the skin before a surgery or shot or something like that!) compounded into a transdermal gel. My son will be graduating from WVU in May with 2 chemistry degrees, (Yay), and he says this is just brilliant that they would think to put these together in a transdermal gel, which for the most part almost limits all possible side effects when ingested (taken orally). Dr. Huber worked with them over the phone to see what was best for me at my last appointment, then faxed the order, or prescription to them for them to make for me! I would recommend this to all of you. We take enough stuff orally and this works within minutes! Following is an explanation from the CustomMeds website at http://www.CustomMeds.com What is a gel, and what makes it different from an ointment or a cream? Creams and ointments are topical treatments which largely remain on the outer layers of the skin. Very little is absorbed below the skin. A transdermal gel has a much greater ability to permeate through the skin, carrying the medicine directly to the area of pain. Why is a gel superior to a tablet or capsule? When you take a pill, such as ibuprofen, that pill is absorbed by the body and distributed equally throughout the body by way of the blood system. This means that only approximately 1% of the medicine in the pill will go directly to the any specific area of pain. With a gel, you apply the medicine directly to the affected area and approximately 80% of the medicine will go directly to the pain area. The other significant advantage is that there are no toxic side effects to the stomach, liver and kidneys as are typical with arthritis medicines. Here are a few good websites you might find interesting also: http://neuro-www.mgh.harvard.edu:16080/forum/ and http://www.braintalk.org I hope this helps and I pray for relief for everyone! Oh yeah, I have been having major problems with my Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in my right hand and arm where I have to use it so much now, so, I tried the gel on my wrist - and it helped that, too!! It even seems to help the arthritis in my fingers and neck! I'm just trying it on everything now! I'm going to see if I can just order a tub of it!!! LOL. Actually, you only have to use so little of it you can barely tell I've been using it for everything!"

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Switch to Linear Mode Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

03-23-2004, 06:55 AM	#2
calico Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 272	Hi, here's some more info on the Ketamine Gel. This person is very enthusiastic about it. Calico From Beth in West Virginia My Dr. is Dr Stanford Huber at the West Virginia Pain Treatment Center in Morgantown, West Virginia phone number: 304-598-6216. I have the Pharmacy Order Copy that he faxed to CustomMeds Lab. Phone number for CustomMeds is 1-800-226-2023. On the order it says: For: Post Herpetic Neuralgia ~ Compound: Ketamine 15% & EMLA 7% Gel And, yes, it is still just as great as when I first told you about it! My friend was here yesterday and she has arthritis and carpal tunnel and it was really hurting her where she had worked out in the yard, so, just to experiment, I barely put some on her wrist and her fingers and within 10 minutes ~ it quit hurting!! She also had surgery on two herniated discs in her back which were killing her, so, again, I just barely put a little bit at the site of her surgery, right in the middle of her back, and, again, 10 minutes or so later ~ no pain!! She was shocked!! She said it worked better than all of the drugs she has taken! Of course, we still need our meds, but this stuff just seems to penetrate right to the spot and seems to go pretty deep.

03-23-2004, 10:50 AM	#3
dejerine Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Utah Posts: 1,199	Dear Calico Thanks for all the very practical information. EMLA is an acronym for eutectic mixture of local anesthetics. Eutectic just means it is a gel but liquifies at skin temperature. It doesn't work by itself much unless occluded supposedly,s in a wrap, but the ketamine gel is interesting. That is a hard drug to characterize. Thanks again for the info. Trying to understand the ketamine locally, but from my inexpert viewpoint, no matter how absorbed still a systemmic drug, I think. Will read more.

03-23-2004, 07:49 PM	#4
metronycguy Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: ny Posts: 5,674	do they still use that dmso solvent to get stuff to absorb in the skin?

03-24-2004, 01:03 PM	#5
calico Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 272	There was something on the Board today about the formulation (or something like that) that is proprietary about this stuff. Has anybody looked at the pharmacy web site? I'll write a note to do that. Calico

03-25-2004, 08:51 AM	#6
calico Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 272	I've written a question to Dr. Fudin, the pharmacist on pain.com, asking what he thinks of this without naming the company. Hopefully we'll get an answer. Calico

03-31-2004, 05:51 PM	#7
alan Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Baltimore, MD Posts: 6,169	This helped central pain? Alan "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"

04-01-2004, 07:03 AM	#8
calico Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 272	Hi, Alan, the gal who says it helps her has both central pain syndrome from a stroke and carpal tunnel syndrome. She said it helped both. Calico

04-12-2004, 04:58 PM	#9
alan Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Baltimore, MD Posts: 6,169	What should the doctor put on a scrip for this gel? And should I have it mailed to me, then fax it to custommeds? It's a LD call, so the doc's office may not want to fax it. Alan "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"

04-15-2004, 04:11 PM	#10
alan Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Baltimore, MD Posts: 6,169	We ordered the sample today. Alan "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"