What is ketamine therapy?

For people whose mental health symptoms do not improve with conventional treatments, ketamine therapy can be a safe and effective option. Ketamine is a legal medicine that has been approved by the FDA and has been used regularly for decades as an anesthetic. More recently, it has become a mainstream remedy for treatment-resistant mental health conditions. Unlike medications that come in pill form and are taken daily, ketamine is administered as a nasal spray, an intravenous solution, a shot, or a lozenge. Intranasal ketamine comes in a bottle identical to over-the-counter allergy sprays. Dr. Smith prefers to use ketamine nasal spray because it is simple to self-administer and can be done from home.

What happens during ketamine therapy?

Treatment begins with an introductory session in the office under close observation by Dr. Smith. Patients learn how to administer the medication safely and are monitored for side effects. Subsequent sessions are done independently by the patient at home, usually twice per week. Follow-up visits with Dr. Smith for continued observation and treatment occur about twice per month. Ketamine is not used regularly for an extended period. However, some patients may benefit from repeat sessions on an as-needed basis following their original course of treatment.

Will ketamine make me hallucinate, trip, get high, or dissociate?

Ketamine can cause an altered sense of reality when taken at high doses. This typically occurs with recreational use. Brief changes in perception and thinking can occur with medically-supervised intranasal ketamine therapy, but this is not routine, and it is not how the medication works to improve mental health symptoms. Unfortunately, some companies have entire marketing strategies based on misleading and exaggerated claims about how the medication works, how effective it really is, and what symptoms it actually improves.

How do I talk to Dr. Smith about this?

Contact Dr. Smith for a consultation about ketamine treatment.