Ketamine is an anesthetic drug that was once only used for its potent anesthetic qualities, but now many clinical researches are providing substantial proof that at home ketamine treatment could be beneficial for patients with some mental disorders and suicidal ideation.
It does not take long to show results even with minimum doses, this makes it an excellent treatment for anxiety and depression.
How ketamine works?
Chronic mental health disorders weaken the nerve connections in the patient’s brain. The number of synapses in the brain is decreased in such patients.
Ketamine plays its role by directly improving and restoring the damaged neural connections in the brain. It conjugates with a brain receptor (NMDA) to release glutamate, which stimulates hormones such as brain-derived neurotrophic factors and other growth factors that help restore neural connections and form a healthier memory pattern in the brain.
How is Ketamine administered?
- A medical professional may administer into your vein directly with the help of an IV infusion set. This form of administration is widely used in clinics in the USA. Other than that, ketamine injections are also available that are injected intramuscularly by an experienced medical nurse.
- The FDA recently approved esketamine, an isomer of ketamine, which is available as a nasal spray. This nasal spray is often used with an oral anti-depressant for patients who do not seem to get better with oral medication alone.
- Ketamine is also available in the form of sublingual tablets. It also helps to treat depression symptoms in patients who are suffering from treatment-resistant depression and do not respond to any other standard method of treatment. You can get these tablets at your door step and take them according to prescribed dose. This method is known as At-home Ketamine therapy and is a good option for those patients who can not travel to the clinic due to any physical condition or who want to remain discrete about their ketamine therapy.
How does at home ketamine treatment work?
If a person is suffering from moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety, depression, or some chronic pain and his symptoms are not getting better with oral medications, he could be an eligible candidate for at home ketamine therapy.
- First, the patient has to make a video consultation call with the psychiatrist, who will assess the depth of his symptoms, and if the at home ketamine treatment is appropriate for him.
- At first, this ketamine treatment comprises four sessions. During each session, the patient has to put a sublingual tablet under his tongue, put on his eye covers, and listen to relaxing music for an hour.
- After one hour of every session, the patient has to write what he feels in a journal book which he has to share with his psychiatrist after completing his medication course.
This journal will help the psychiatrist to evaluate patients’ improvement and perspicacity after taking ketamine tablets.
Who will be monitoring the patient’s progress?
Although Ketamine is considered a safe drug to treat treatment-resistant depression and anxiety patients, but still, it is an anesthetic and has some addictive properties, and if given without check, there is a chance for drug abuse in the patients. That is why it also needs to be carefully monitored by HCP all the time.
It is only provided to the patient in the smallest doses for only one month at one time, and that too with a prescription. The rules are stringent if you need a refill again.
Also, the patient remains in touch with his HCP through video telephony and if he feels anything unusual related to his physical or mental health, this treatment is stopped instantly.
How will we know if the at home ketamine treatment is working effectively?
Many patients experience the same results with ketamine at a home program as they experienced with ketamine infusion therapy. The difference could be due to the bioavailability of the drug, which is 100 percent in the case of the infusion and remains 35-40 percent in the case of the oral ketamine treatment. Therefore, its results could take a while to show if symptoms of patient are severe.
The At-home Ketamine program consists of following steps:
- It starts with a video call for a consultation with our medical practitioner, where you will learn about our at-home ketamine treatment and how it works to treat treatment-resistant mental illnesses.
- If you have questions about this at home ketamine treatment, feel free to ask away. Our medical experts will satisfy your queries completely. Our team will ask you about your symptoms, medical history, and other necessary information to design a customized treatment plan for you.
- Making your experience notable is our priority. Our experienced HCPs will make the optimum effective dose for you. Our client support team will guide you at each treatment step, so you can gain the maximum benefit of this therapy.
- The goal of this treatment is to reach down to the root cause of the problem rather than just treating the symptoms. And if it is done right, you can develop a healthier insight and heal yourself more effectively.
Here are some notable benefits of At-home Ketamine therapy if you want to learn more!
Common Challenges with tracking the progress of At-Home Ketamine Treatment
Although it is a safe and effective treatment method, there are still some flimsy grounds where it could cause trouble for some candidates. There are many legal, ethical, and clinical hassles for the practitioner prescribing it and risks for the patient.
We would make a list of potential challenges that you could encounter during the at home ketamine treatment.
- First, at home ketamine treatment could not be as easy as it seems because many clinical psychiatrists and health care practitioners resist prescribing it and prefer alternative methods such as medication and CBT.
- This treatment is also not covered by health insurance as Ketamine therapy might be quite costly for some patients to get it at their own expense.
- A chance is that patient may experience a medical or psychiatric situation after taking one dose of ketamine, and it could require a sudden change of the dose or regimen of the drug. Which is difficult with just a video call consultation rather than visiting the clinic and see doctor in person.
- Ketamine and esketamine, both fall under the criteria of the REMS program (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy). Drugs with strict safety protocols can be prescribed only if their benefits are more than the risks.
- If the patient is taking ketamine doses at home, there is a chance of intentional or unintentional overdose of the drug. He could combine it with some other psychedelic substance such as alcohol, opiates, or some other anti-depressant. This situation could lead to drug abuse, which is a major concern.
Contact us:
At Nepenthe Wellness Center, the goal of our team is to help you get back to being a positive and active person. Our staff are experienced in dealing with mental health patients and have helped many to regain inner peace with ketamine therapy.
They have expertise in dealing with what’s troubling you and how to work through it together to get the best results.
If you need any information about our clinic and ketamine therapy, we are just one call away from you. You can book your free consultation here!
References:
- Berman, R. (2022, January 11). What 83 studies say about ketamine and mental health. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/what-83-studies-say-about-ketamine-and-mental-health
- Radcliffe, S. (2022, July 21). At-Home Ketamine Therapy: Largest-Ever Study Shows Mental Health Benefits. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health-news/at-home-ketamine-therapy-largest-ever-study-shows-mental-health-benefit
