FAQ About Ketamine Infusion Therapy
You will be greeted upon arrival and shown to your treatment room. Our doctor will review your treatment plan with you, and your nurse will place the IV. The Ketamine infusion lasts 45 minutes, followed by about 30 min of post-infusion relaxation. Plan on a total time of 1 hour and 15 min.
We use a protocol first developed at Yale which consists of a course of six, 1-hour treatments given over the course of 2-3 weeks (approximately every 2-3 days between treatments). Following this booster treatments are given approximately every 4 weeks depending on your specific needs.
Although Ketamine is FDA approved for anesthesia, low-dose Ketamine infusion for the treatment of mood disorders is an off-label usage of the medication. Off-label uses of medications are not covered by insurance.
Absolutely no driving for 12 hours after a treatment. You should not consume alcohol or make major financial or legal decisions for 24 hours after a treatment.
Common side-effects, during and immediately after treatment, include nausea, dizziness, minor visual blurring, or minor HA
Ketamine should not be used as a first line therapy for mood disorders.
Ketamine is not recommended for the treatment of psychosis or mania.
Ketamine therapy should not be administered to those with uncontrolled hypertension, heart disease, kidney problems or liver failure.
Not at this time.
Ketamine is not physically habit forming. It has been abused as a street drug at high doses (several times the dose given for depression). Ketamine addiction has not been described in the setting of mood disorder treatment.
There is extensive research supporting the use of ketamine for treatment resistant mood disorders. Research is on-going with numerous studies being released yearly exploring ketamine’s effectiveness. Please see our Science of Ketamine web page for more information.