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Frequently Asked Questions about Ketamine therapy
What does Ketamine Treat?
There have been 100's of thousand Ketamine infusions & injections administered for treatment resistant depression (TRD), bipolar depression, anxiety, postpartum depression, OCD, addiction and PTSD over the past decade and many of the clinical trials have shown upwards of 80% of clients receive significant relief from their suffering within one or two injections or infusions.
Ketamine Injections have also been shown to treat:
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Major Depression
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The depressed phase of bipolar disorder
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postpartum depression
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Anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
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post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
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Feeling numb and disconnected
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Addiction/Withdrawal
Our treatments will be tailored specifically to the uniqueness and severity of your condition in terms of frequency and dosing. Ketamine West can safely and effectively give therapeutic doses via Intramuscular Injections (IM). With a specific and tailored treatment plan that is unique to you, our goal is to offer you the best chance of success. By listening to your story we can create a treatment plan that is safe, flexible, and helps to rapidly relieve your suffering
How is ketamine different from traditional antidepressants?
A healthy functioning brain vs a depressed brain
Traditional antidepressants known as SSRIs like Prozac, Zoloft, Lexapro, and effexor are believed to work by altering levels of neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) in your brain such as serotonin and dopamine. These neurotransmitters play a major role in shaping our moods on a daily basis. These traditional medications may work well for some but can take months of guessing and waiting and still will only work for less than 36% of the population, who fail several med trials and then considered treatment resistant.
Treatment resistant depression (TRD) affects millions of people each year. Sadly, many of these people are still suffering with little to no relief and a deep feeling of hopelessness as they continue to struggle and isolate from family and friends.
With treatment resistant depression its likely we're targeting the wrong route to relieving one's suffering all the while their hope continues to shrink and their medication list and side effects continue to grow.
Ketamine's rapid antidepressant and anti suicide effects are unique and very different from traditional antidepressants in that it bypasses the traditional antidepressant route and works rapidly, within hours, on a super highway in your brain called the glutamate system. Researchers believe glutamate is the most abundant neurotransmitter ( super car) in your brain. glutamate is also responsible for creating new neuronal pathways and synapses (super highways) in your brain in the form of memory, emotions, and optimal brain functioning. Ketamine and glutamate can restore your broke down car (dopamine and serotonin) and repair your damaged freeways (neuronal synapses) in your brain in order to get you get you back on to the road of feeling happy, healthy, and excited about the direction of your life.
How many Injections will I need?
Much of the research done over the past two decades has shown that intravenous (IV) ketamine and Intramuscular ketamine (IM) at low to moderate doses has been shown to have rapid and remarkable benefits on about 70% of those suffering from severe depression or treatment resistant depression (TRD). There's no doubt that the benefits of ketamine are remarkable and very real when it comes to depression.
For our mood disorder clients (depression, bipolar depression, anxiety, PTSD Etc.), and during the acute phase of your symptoms, your treatment plan will include Approximately 4 office visits with 2 injection per visit for a total of approximately 8 injections over the course of 4-6 weeks. After meeting with the specialist and reviewing your unique case, we will establish a series of injections at your calculated ketamine target dosing with the goal of slowly increasing your dose with every injection to maximize your relief of symptoms. By giving intramuscular injections (IM) with our unique dosing protocol and schedule, we can safely administer ketamine with one goal of safely and effectively relieving your suffering
Some clients can see improvement the day after their first office visit but some may not see benefits until after their 2nd or 3rd office visit depending on the severity of their symptoms. On the first Injection, we want to get your body and mind used to ketamine by giving you a dose that feels safe to you. This will allow us to see how you respond and tolerate ketamine injections. However, our goal will be to safely increase your dose with every injection until you experience some relief or remission of your suffering.
If ketamine does improve your mood, outlook, and overall functionality right away please be patient and we strongly suggest you complete your series of injections to maximize ketamines ability to create new brain synapses and pathways while shedding the pathways that no longer serve you. By completing your series of injections you will have a much higher chance of repairing synapses and creating new neuronal pathways with a primary goal of remission as that the series is created with this goal in mind.
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It's important for you to understand that the greatest benefits of ketamine often occur at low to moderate dosing. For some people, these doses can come with some very short experiences of dissociation, anxiety, fear, worry, nausea, a short spike in blood pressure, or a sense of not being in control that only lasts about 10-15 minutes. On the other hand, others may feel more relaxed with a sense of wellbeing and a feeling of being more connected to self and others. It's impossible to predict how you will respond to ketamine until you actually experience it.
Regardless of the ketamine experience with each injection, you will most likely still obtain the full benefits of ketamine. Regardless of your experience, we will be there to help and guide you through this and offer support as needed.
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