A Breakthrough in Mental Health

Psychedelic therapy is a remarkable new treatment that has a high success rate in treating multiple conditions. We have attempted to compile an exhaustive list of these including the level of research that backs up these statements.

Common mental health disorders that can be treated with ketamine therapy include:

• Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD)
• Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
• Bipolar depression (the depressed phase of bipolar disorder)
• Post-partum depression
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Suicidal Thoughts (Suicidal Ideation)
• Anxiety disorders
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Sexual Abuse Trauma

Substantial research and clinical results show that ketamine may be effective for:

• Severe depression
• Suicidal ideation
• Severe PTSD

Significant research and clinical results show that ketamine may be effective for:

• Severe anxiety disorders
• Severe bipolar disorder
• Neuropathic pain
• CRPS or RSD
• Cancer pain syndromes
• Phantom limb pain

Some research and clinical results show that ketamine may be effective for:

• Fibromyalgia
• Trigeminal neuralgia
• Severe OCD
• Post-herpetic neuralgia
• Diabetic neuropathy
• Central pain syndromes related to stroke or trauma
• Chronic migraine headaches

Limited research and clinical results show that ketamine may be effective for:

• Chronic lyme pain
• Chronic pelvic pain
• Spinal cord injury pain
• Multiple sclerosis pain
• Eating disorders including anorexia, bulimia and binge eating
• Intermittent explosive disorder, for impulsivity and irritability
• Rett syndrome
• Social anxiety disorder
• Autism spectrum disorder, for social and depression symptoms. It may also increase verbalizations and decrease stereotypical and resistant behaviors.
• Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, for depression and memory loss
• Some forms of hearing loss and tinnitus

After your initial consultation, ketamine infusions are usually scheduled six or more times over 2-4 weeks depending on your schedule. After the initial treatment course, patients generally continue with maintenance doses on a monthly basis.

You will have a consultation to determine if ketamine infusion therapy will reduce your pain or mood disorder. Our team will then create a treatment plan tailored specifically to you for maximum results.

Depending on the severity of your condition and other medications you are on, you may be offered six or more consecutive sessions of ketamine treatment. Based on the treatment plan devised for you, you will relax from one to two hours per session while having the infusion, and then spend 20 minutes to one hour recovering afterwards.

Our team works hard to ensure you experience no more than minimal discomfort and side effects using best practice standards.

Everybody is unique and responds to treatment in their own way.  For mood disorder patients, some will begin to feel better within hours of their 3rd or 4th infusion.

Patients with thoughts of self-harm or suicidal ideation often notice those thoughts and feelings dissipate first. There is often a dramatic relief of dread and hopelessness, anxiety, dysphoria, physical fatigue, insomnia and much more.

Many patients report the increased ability to function and be productive immediately. Other patients may not notice any improvement in mood until after their 5th or 6th infusion. Some patients will require more infusions and more time following their infusions before feeling significantly better.

It is important to note that the results of ketamine can be sudden and dramatic, but they are not always. It is more common for patients to see gradual, subtle improvement. Sometimes function improves before mood does.

A typical treatment using a dosage for mental health will normally take around one hour. For patients seeking treatment for chronic pain, these infusions take around two hours due to the higher dosage involved.

You should ensure that you are accompanied to the treatment as you will not be able to operate a motor vehicle after ketamine treatment.

Ketamine produces very different effects depending on whether someone takes a little or a lot. 

Ketamine can give sensations of lightness (like walking on the moon), dizziness, and euphoria. It makes people’s thoughts flow randomly; ideas can seem special and important, or pleasantly or unpleasantly muddled. Things may begin to look and sound different or somehow unreal. 

At Nepenthe Wellness we have created a welcoming relaxing and safe environment for people to experience ketamine treatment and there is no reason to worry about the effects of treatment.

Patients commonly feel tired following an infusion. On rare occasion, some patients experience nausea after an infusion. If so, we have anti-nausea medication that can relieve this. If you are prone to nausea, we can administer anti-nausea medicine as a preventive measure before the infusion.

Side effects usually dissipate within a few hours and are completely gone by the following day. There are no known long-term or permanent side effects of low dose IV ketamine therapy when administered by a clinician in a medical setting.

Uncontrolled blood pressure, unstable heart disease, untreated thyroid disease, active substance abuse, current manic phase of bipolar disorder, active psychotic (hallucinations or delusions) symptoms, severe liver disease or pregnancy may preclude you from having ketamine infusions.

If you have questions about your specific medical conditions, give our office a call for more information on 512-986-7723.

Some patients achieve long-term relief after one series of infusions. Others find that infusions enhance the impact of antidepressants or provide initial relief that is then sustained by oral medicines, other therapies.

If ketamine therapy is the only solution that works for you, you may be able to space your infusions apart by 1-3 months. After the initial series of infusions restores the brain to a healthy balance, it is generally easier to maintain that balance than it was to attain it in the first place.

Follow-up or “booster” infusions are provided on an as-needed basis for maintenance.

In the dosages and frequency of administration we utilize for treatments at Nepenthe Wellness Center, ketamine does not pose any concerns for addiction. We carefully monitor all patients for tolerance and continually assess responses to treatment to optimize the benefits of ketamine in your care.