If you haven’t already had a chance to read about my experience with the first SGB injection. Please head over Here and do that before continuing reading. This will be the part two update to that blog.

And, if you’d like to learn a little bit about me, and how I ended up with PTSD you can read my blog post My Son, My HERO.

Now, onto the main questions that I’ve been asked almost daily since November 27th…

“Do you feel any better? Do you feel any different? Have you noticed any changes?”

The short and sweet answer to that would be ” yes, yes, and yes”

But, you aren’t here reading this post for a short, sweet, answer. You want details, because more than likely you, too, are thinking about getting the SGB injection and praying for it to be your miracle cure.

I have to preface this by saying that, as i’m sure you know, because like me, I’m sure you’ve researched everything SGB related until your fingers bled. But, it still has to be said that everyone’s experience with this injection is different. I read many variations of articles and experiences before deciding it was right for me. I was willing to do anything it took to feel better so, getting this injection was a very easy decision. If it couldn’t make me feel worse, and had even the slightest potential to make me feel better, bring it on! That was my mindset.

I received my second SGB Injection ( Left Side) on November 27th at the same clinic ( West Michigan Pain Clinic) by the same Dr. that performed the first injection. ( Dr. Roma Zolotoy)

I found myself just as nervous the night before this injection as I was the night before the first. Even knowing what to expect now, I would dare to say I was even more nervous. You see, for me, this felt so final. This somehow felt like my last hope at feeling better ( which looking back now, was completely irrational) but you know…anxiety can spin a beautiful web of lies. I truly believed that after trying as many antidepressants, mood stabilizers, anxiety medicines, and intensive therapy as I had, that if this injection didn’t work then I was a lost cause.

The next morning my husband, myself, and my anxiety walked into the clinic. Hopeful for miracles, hopeful for a cure, hopeful that the 15 minutes of relief I had felt after my first injection would really stick around this time, I was wheeled back and 10 minutes later I was done.

The injection itself was just as quick and nearly painless as the 1st injection. This time, I knew what to expect. Dr. Zolotoy shared with me exactly how the procedure is performed:

“Stellate ganglion is located over the front aspect of the neck. To perform a stellate ganglion block the patient lays facing up and is closely monitored during the procedure. Unless there is a severe fear of needles, there is no need for sedation. The neck is slightly extended and the head rotated away from the side being treated. The neck is cleaned several times with a special cleaning solution and an x-ray machine is used to identify the bones of the neck . This procedure can also be successfully performed with ultrasound guidance and some practitioners do not use any imaging a all. Skin is numbed over the “target” area with local anesthetic such as lidocaine. Target is over the lower part of cervical (neck) spine, typically on the right side. Using imaging guidance, a small/thin needle (~25 gauge) is advanced until contact is made with the cervical spine/bone. Usually the needle does not need to travel more than a few centimeters. Contrast dye is then used (unless the patient is allergic to dye) to confirm proper needle placement. Then I also like to do a “test” dose to again confirm proper needle placement. Once this is done, several milliliters of local anesthetic is injected and needle is removed. That’s it! Within a few after the procedure patients can also develop some common symptoms on the side being treated. Examples include a droopy eyelid, stuffy nose, redness of the face. All of those symptoms resolve. Overall, if done by a skilled practitioner this is a safe procedure. It has been used for decades to treat various pain conditions and is becoming more widely used for patients being treated for PTSD. As I tell my patients, no procedure works on everyone but it can definitely be considered for those affected by PTSD as part of a comprehensive treatment program. ” – Dr. Roma Zolotoy

I came out with a droopy left eye, and a sense of relief. I tried so hard this time around to not get so, in my head about it. I didn’t sit there waiting for the light bulb to go off, waiting for some foreign sensation to come over me. We stayed for a few minutes to make sure I didn’t have a reaction and we were off. There was, however, a noticeable difference from the first time around, not so much mentally, but physically. My left eye, as I had mentioned was droopy and I noticed a pain in my neck that wasn’t there the first time around. A very tolerable pain, but a pain none the less. For me, it was all the reassurance I needed that the injection had in fact gone into the right spot. ( Although as Dr. Zolotoy had mentioned, you don’t always get these symptoms and that doesn’t mean that the injection didn’t work.)

Throughout the next few days, I had several people ask me how I was feeling and if I had noticed any changes. I felt discouraged and at a loss of what to tell them. I had not, in fact, felt a change. I didn’t feel the light bulb go off, I still had to take my anxiety medicine almost daily. But, everyone seemed to be cheering me on so loudly that I didn’t want to pawn my disappointment off on them. My usual answer was ” I haven’t really felt much yet, but I’m still hopeful, I know that these things aren’t always instant.”

In the Joe Rogan Podcast where he talks with Dakota Meyer about his experience with the SGB Injection Here , he describes feeling an instant relief.

“As soon as the needle left my neck, it instantly took me from downtown New York City traffic, to driving down a quiet country road with no where to be..”- Dakota Meyer

For me, that wasn’t the case. So, I waited. I waited to feel something, anything, to reassure myself that I had not just wasted my money and more importantly my hope. I waited, until today. Two weeks after my second SGB injection, when I finally felt like I had something to say.

The SGB injection was not an instantaneous relief for me, no. But, over the last two weeks I have seen small, gradual, changes. The people around me that I love and care about the most see changes. The changes aren’t grandiose, they aren’t overtly obvious. But, I feel better. In a way, I don’t know how to describe with words yet, only actions. I want to be around people, again. I want to pick up the phone and call people I’ve hid and hibernated from for weeks…months. It takes me just a little bit longer before my kids (running through the house, screaming, fighting, pulling each other limb by limb) throw me into a full blown panic attack. And when that does happen, I don’t have to run to my bottle of anxiety medicine right away. I feel I have a clearer head. I feel like I have my emotions back. I’m not as zombified and the world is becoming brighter day by day. I feel more empowered than I have in the last year. More in control of my own thoughts and perspective. I have had less depersonalization/ derealization episode (which, in my opinion is the scariest symptom of PTSD). Most importantly, I’ve made some amazing progress towards tackling my PTSD head on. I was able to make a video about my sons Leukemia treatment, when before I was unable to even think or speak of that time period without collapsing completely with sorrow and anxiety.

Long story short, I believe with my entire heart, that you should do anything and everything to help heal yourself. We are our biggest and (more times than not) only advocates! Whatever that means to you. DO NOT GIVE UP HOPE! Whether that be the SGB Injection or not, run fearlessly towards treatment options as if your life depends on it…because it does. If there is even the smallest chance that something could help you along your journey, do it. I believe that when we are struggling hard with our mental health, the fog becomes so thick we cannot see a way out. We are overcome with the deafening silence of our own thoughts, and insecurities and refuse to look for the light tower. If you are suffering from PTSD, the SGB injection just might be the beacon of hope you’ve searched so long for. I pray that it is!