Most Popular Questions
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Ketamine infusion therapy is a powerful and validated treatment. It consists of 6-10 infusions over 3-5 weeks to help with mood disorders like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, PTSD, OCD, and substance abuse.
Ketamine therapy has shown to be effective for people suffering from depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, PTSD, OCD, and drug and alcohol withdrawal. A typical treatment course consists of 6-10 infusions over 3-5 weeks.
For mood disorders such as depression, an initial series of 6–10 infusions over 3–5 weeks is typically recommended. Your maintenance regimen is determined after your follow‑up visit with our PMHNP‑BC once the initial series is complete.
Most patients receiving treatment for mood disorders schedule a maintenance infusion monthly, though some do well with intervals of every 6–12 weeks. We remind patients that maintenance infusions are as needed, based on how they’re feeling and their clinical response.
Yes, ketamine has a large safety profile and is used commonly in hospitals and clinics. Ketamine is not addictive.
Ketamine is an FDA-approved medication and is commonly used by physicians. Ketamine infusions, however, are considered off-label treatments.
Ketamine infusions for mood disorders:
Your subsequent ketamine infusion appointments are scheduled for 75 minutes. The infusion itself typically runs 20–40 minutes, and the remaining time is dedicated to recovery and preparing for discharge.
You should expect to feel not quite back to baseline when your appointment ends, but this is a normal and temporary part of the infusion process. It’s common to feel a bit off‑kilter, experience mild visual fuzziness, sensitivity to light, or drowsiness. These effects typically resolve within 30–40 minutes as you continue to recover. Most patients prefer to go home and rest for the remainder of the day.
During your treatment, you will be safely monitored in a private room in our office. We will give you optional eye shades while you either meditate in silence or listen to soft music as you’re getting your treatment.
You will be awake throughout the treatment. You may feel euphoric or enter into a meditative state. It is in this meditative state which patients may have breakthroughs that are initiated by ketamine. This allows you to “unlock” different parts of your brain to approach your issues from different perspectives in order to resolve deep-seated problems during treatment.
Yes. Ketamine is one of the most powerful treatments for treatment-resistant depression and oftentimes works much better than ECT or TMS. There is a solid body of evidence that shows ketamine is the most effective treatment for depression. Approximately 70-75% of patients have a 50% decrease in overall symptomology following their initial series.
Patients suffering from depression or mood disorders may start to feel better after a few hours, however some may need multiple sessions to notice a difference. Harmful thoughts such as suicidal ideation, harm to self, and harm to others are often the first to disappear.
Ketamine elevates mood and reduces harmful thoughts by increasing levels of glutamate. Ketamine works in several ways to elevate mood and reduce harmful thoughts and behavior. Ketamine works directly on neurons in the brain’s prefrontal cortex to establish new connections, repair damaged cells, and induce anti-inflammatory properties.
For your safety, do not eat any solid foods for at least 6 hours prior to your treatment. However, you can have clear liquids (water, tea, coffee, juice, etc) up to 2 hours prior to your treatment.
No, it is not safe to drive the day of treatment. You will need a ride home planned out beforehand by either family, a friend, or ride-sharing service.
We recommend getting your treatments on a day when you are not working. You can resume normal function the following day.
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If you cannot find answers to your questions in our FAQ, you can always contact us. We will get back to you shortly!