What was one of your most memorable experiences during the treatment?
My grandmother died a couple of years ago. I miss her so much everyday. I wore her ring to my ketamine infusions. Before I went in for the first treatment I just stared at her picture which made me less nervous. During my first infusion, I felt her presence. I started having wonderful memories of her flooding my mind. It helped me to focus on all the happy moments I had with her. It helped my grief a lot.
According to the World Health Organization, depression has now surpassed HIV, AIDS, malaria, diabetes, and war as the leading cause of disability. It is estimated that 16.2 million Americans have experienced a major depressive episode, and depression is much more common in females than males. Some studies report up to 20% of teenagers experiencing depression before they reach adulthood, and statistics are showing that it’s actually increasing.
Furthermore, with the current COVD-19 pandemic, civil unrest, and heightened stress levels worldwide, our psychological health is challenged even more. Experts are anticipating significant impacts in the rates of anxiety and depression.
To simplify the question, we will limit the discussion to ketamine and its role in depression.
The short answers are: 1) Unawareness of ketamine as a treatment 2) Ketamine is not FDA approved for mood disorders 3) Ketamine is considered an experimental or investigational drug
But to leave it at this doesn’t fully explain it. To explore more, let’s do a deeper dive into each of these answers.
You’ve read up about ketamine. Maybe you have a friend or acquaintance who's gotten better thanks to ketamine. You’re ready to try ketamine infusions and you want to talk to your doctor but not sure how to go about it without getting an immediate dismissal. Well we got you covered and have a suggestion on how to bring up ketamine treatments with your doctor.
COVID-19 has taken the world by storm, and with the rush of new trials, medications, and treatments, everyone is hoping for a miracle drug or vaccine. But with the rush and urgency for a treatment, doctors had to result with what is currently available and repurposing drugs that are originally intended for a different disease. They have tried drugs such as hydroxychloroquine, antivirals, antibiotics, and vitamins. It’s a tough battle to fight, as they need medication that will stop the disease from progressing and treat those patients that have fallen dangerously ill. With severe economic impacts and a push to “open-up” states, doctors and researchers are rapidly developing trials to find out which medications may be the most effective.
We often get asked this question: "How long is the time frame between ketamine booster infusions?" The real answer and it’s no surprise is... it depends.
As you already may know we recommend an initial six treatments over a period of two to three weeks. This is based upon the evidence from the clinical studies. Then depending on your response and how you feel, you may need a booster anywhere from every two weeks to every four weeks, sometimes even out to two or three months after the initiation series.
Let’s face it, life can be stressful. And at times with so much information at our fingertips, it can get overwhelming, really quick, really fast. Constantly refreshing our phones for new updates. All while trying to grasp what may be happening around our community, the nation, and around the world.
In this post, we wanted to share with you a question we’ve been asked several times: "What is your opinion on eating/drinking before ketamine infusions?”
No Drinking or Eating For At Least 3 Hours
At our clinic, we typically recommend that someone does not eat or drink for three hours prior to their ketamine treatments. Why? Well, some of the side effects of ketamine is nausea and vomiting.
It’s no surprise that we are firm believers in ketamine infusions for the rapid treatment of depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, and chronic pain disorders. However, we also recognize that ketamine is not the one silver bullet that is going to fix every single problem in your life. Yes, you may feel great after your infusion, but you can’t be on ketamine all the time - plus the effects of ketamine can fade over time.
What kind of practices comes to mind when you think about having a long lifespan? Healthy eating habits, getting enough physical exercise, and avoiding all bad habits? And what is considered a long life? According to The World Factbook, the average life expectancy is about 77 years for men and 82 years for women.
