What is Ketamine Infusion Therapy?
Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic medication. While originally developed to help people feel comfortable during invasive procedures, the role of ketamine in providing rapid relief for treatment-resistant depression and other mental health issues has been explored with new emerging data over the past decade.
How it Works
Ketamine is delivered via an IV infusion over about 40 minutes to put your brain at a “dissociative threshold”, where you begin to feel mildly dissociated and allow your brain to explore suppressed areas in a safe way. It works in multiple ways to affect neurotransmitters and neuromodulation to help rewire your way of thinking. This is performed in a clinical setting over the course of two weeks, the “induction series”. People typically require 6-8 treatments over two weeks in order to feel that they have received the most benefit from their treatments.
Interested In Treatment?
You will need a referral from your mental healthcare provider. This can be your primary care doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist, or counselor. While ketamine infusions can help get your head above water, it is important to keep working on your mental healthcare through traditional means to ensure that you have lasting benefit. Referral forms can be found here
We make sure to screen and prepare patients to help avoid any complications. The most common complications of treatment are nausea and anxiety. If you experience these related to treatment, we have medication to help. People who have a diagnosis of schizophrenia, certain cardiac dysrhythmias, glaucoma or uncontrolled aneurysms should not receive ketamine infusions.
Most people need between 6 and 8 treatments during their two-week induction series. After that, booster treatments can be given as needed (typically one or two infusions every few months).
Since every plan varies, it is best to reach out to your insurance company directly to see if they will cover treatment. Many insurance companies will pay for treatment in part, or apply the cost of treatments to your deductible. The cash-pay pricing for ketamine infusions is $250 per infusion if you are not using insurance.
You will need a referral from your mental healthcare provider. This can be your primary care doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist, or counselor. While ketamine infusions can help get your head above water, it is important to keep working on your mental healthcare through traditional means to ensure that you have lasting benefit. Referral forms can be found here.