isn't that true!!!!!!

Adelaide - I wanted to add my bit of experience for you to evaluate. My daughter had gone thru something like 5 lumbar blocks and 6 Bier blocks to treat her RSD, then she was being scheduled for a spinal cord stimulator when my sister came across a brief mention of Calmare on a discussion board, and we decided to try it before trying out the SCS because of how it's non-invasive, and if it didn't work, we could do the SCS anyway. We did some research and liked the guy in NJ best because he seemed to have the most experience with RSD, and thank God, it worked for her. I just posted an update in the Calmare thread, and there are posts on that thread sharing our personal experience with it, and with a TENS machine, and how they were different to us (we've used both).

Anyway, all that to say that I wanted to encourage you to not stop with the first - or even the second insurance denial. As you said, it makes no sense for them to not try $1500 instead of treatments that cost many, many thousands more. I wrote a four-page letter to my insurance company showing how it was so silly for them to not pay for the Calmare treatment when our other option was a SCS that would probably cost, what, $60,000 for the unit and the surgery, plus a probable lifetime of some pain meds. By the second or third appeal (I think I addressed the last one to the president of the insurance company), they approved it and paid for it. Of course the difficulty is that you feel so bad that you don't want to take the time and energy to write a letter, but maybe you can get someone to do it for you. You can't appeal to the heart of an insurance company executive, but you can appeal to their wallets! When I pointed out the vast savings that were a good possibility, they finally caved and paid us (and it was even after the fact because we went ahead and did it anyway!)

I also like that most if not all Calmare providers will do the first treatment free if it doesn't work, and you'll know if it will work or not by the first treatment. Also, my experience was a little different than gigicnm's experience - our doc said that you can get Calmare after ketamine treatments, but it doesn't work as well.

Anyway, just some info for you to read and digest, and I hope that you find a treatment/treatments that work well for you! That's great that they were willing to pay for ketamine. Mine wasn't, although they would have paid for a SCS. Gentle hugs, prayers and best wishes