Is Ketamine Safe For Mood Disorders?
ABOUT KETAMINE
Ketamine was FDA approved for use in anesthesia practice in 1970 . It works on several brain areas involved in symptoms of depression, suicidal ideation, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Postpartum Depression (PPD), and numerous pain syndromes.
It has recently been approved in nasal form by the FDA for depression, and may be available to our patients in the near future. We are currently providing IV infusions of Ketamine only, which is still an off label use of the drug.
Ketamine, like all medications, does have some side effects, that include dizziness, blurred vision, and rarely, nausea. We provide anti-nausea, and pre medications, as appropriate, as well a quiet space for treatments to minimize side effects.
Treatment induction includes 6 one 45-60 minute sessions spread over a 2-3 week period. Research has shown this regimen to be the most effective induction method. Patients typically feel effects within the first 4 treatments, and are recommended to continue their regular care with a mental health practitioner, as well as their current drug regimen. Additionally, ketamine booster infusions are generally needed periodically following the induction treatment to maintain relief.
“In the last decade, there has been mounting evidence that up to 80% of patients suffering from treatment-resistant depression have benefited from Ketamine infusions.”
Ketamine, unlike opioids, is not associated with any physically addictive properties.
We will work with you and your health care provider to ensure that you are a good fit for the therapies we offer to maximize your wellness.
Please visit our FAQ section for more information or contact us with your questions. We are here to help!
Avesta is an Advocacy Consortium Clinic
As of February 1, 2021, the national Ketamine Taskforce for Access to Safe Care and Insurance Coverage has been launched. The Taskforce has a mission to ensure access for pain and mental health patients to safe ketamine treatments through insurance coverage of the therapies.
Latest government estimates show that 50 million Americans are estimated to experience chronic pain and 50 million are estimated to live with a mental health condition (with much overlap between the two populations). The great news for these patients is that ketamine, an FDA-approved anesthetic, has been used off-label for both mental health and pain conditions for decades with high efficacy and safety.
The unfortunate news is that insurance organizations around the country typically consider the use “experimental” and therefore do not cover it in its entirety or at rates that are fair to ketamine providers. This has left the tens of millions of Americans experiencing mental health conditions and pain with huge suffering and lack of access to affordable treatments. This presents a huge obstacle to the majority of mental health and pain patients who are forced to forego this life changing treatment because they cannot afford to pay out of pocket.
In light of this heartbreaking reality, the Ketamine Taskforce was created to increase access to lifesaving ketamine treatments. The Taskforce brings together patients, doctors, nurse anesthetists, nurse practitioners and researchers from around the country behind this goal.
The Taskforce has built an Advocacy Clinic Consortium — a network of clinics who are aligned in this mission and who plan to contribute aggregated, de-identified real-world data on the efficacy of ketamine for analysis and submission to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The Taskforce has already made progress on an application for adequate reimbursement coverage to CMS, who has requested real-world evidence to aid its diligence process.
KETAMINE IN THE NEWS
Dr. Eshkevari was interviewed by Arlington Magazine!
“Out of the Pandemic, Growing Concerns About Teens and Mental Health”
Ketamine’s promise as an antidepressant is being undermined by its lack of profit
January 01, 2020
Esketamine, the first new method to treat depression in 25 years, is gaining credibility. Last year, Janssen Pharmaceutical’s ketamine-based drug was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat patients with treatment-resistant depression. And on Aug. 3, the FDA followed up with a second approval, allowing doctors to prescribe the tranquilizing drug to patients experiencing suicidal ideation.
How Ketamine Combats Depression
June 01, 2020
The anesthetic drug ketamine has been shown, in low doses, to have a rapid effect on difficult-to-treat depression. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet now report that they have identified a key target for the drug: specific serotonin receptors in the brain. Their findings, which are published in Translational Psychiatry, give hope of new, effective antidepressants…
Effects of Rapid-Acting Antidepressant Ketamine Consolidated in Sleep?
April 26, 2020
Ketamine alleviates depressive symptoms within hours, with the most significant change typically seen a day after its administration. However, the symptoms often reappear within a week. According to researchers at the University of Helsinki, neural connections strengthened by the quick treatment of depression are consolidated in the brain during the deep sleep periods of the following night. To prevent the circle of negative thoughts regaining supremacy, depressed patients also need therapy.
More Than Just a Trip: Why Does Ketamine Work for Depression When Nothing Else Does?
March 10, 2020
Even though depression is a common and debilitating mental illness, the last groundbreaking medication released for it was Prozac, approved in 1987. Throughout the last 20 years, though, research scientists have discovered that ketamine, a common anesthetic and, at times, a recreational drug, is a rapid and effective medication for treatment-resistant depression.
Ketamine Builds Neurons
April 12, 2019
Scientists have demonstrated that Ketamine actually increases dendrites, parts of nerve cells involved in signaling, that have been otherwise lost due to chronic stress, allaying depressive behavior-NPR.
Ketamine Offers Lifeline for People with Severe Depression, Suicidal Thoughts
August 04, 2018
Ketamine is a powerful medication used in hospitals primarily as an anesthetic, but recent scientific studies have shown significant promise with treatment-resistant depression and suicidal ideation.
From Chaos To Calm: A Life Changed By Ketamine
June 04, 2018
Ketamine’s story took a surprising turn in 2006, when researchers at the National Institutes of Health showed that an intravenous dose could relieve severe depression in a matter of hours. Since then, doctors have prescribed ketamine “off label” to thousands of depressed patients who don’t respond to other drugs.
Ketamine gaining popularity as a treatment for the severely depressed
February 02, 2018
Today, Ketamine is being provided legally off-label to treat depression at an estimated 250 clinics across the U.S.
‘The Fog is Gone’: How Ketamine Could Help Lift Hard-to-Treat Depression
January 31, 2018
William Jamieson is only 23, but he’s already spent almost one-third of his life battling severe depression.
Once a top student and athlete with a large group of friends, the young Ottawa man fell into a depression at age 16 that he couldn’t shake.
New Hope for Depression
July 27, 2017
There hasn’t been a major depression-drug breakthrough in nearly three decades, but a number of factors are conspiring to change that. Scientists are gaining a more nuanced picture of what depression is–not a monolithic disease, but probably dozens of distinct maladies–and they’re getting closer to learning what works for which kind of ailment.