What is ketamine?
Discovered in 1962, ketamine is a synthetic compound used as an anesthetic and pain relieving drug. It has also been used as a recreational drug and like many pharmaceuticals, can be dangerous if not administered properly under the care of trained medical professionals.
Is ketamine psychedelic therapy (KPT) safe?
Ketamine for therapeutic treatment is considered safe when administered in a clinical environment by medical professionals. While dissociative, or “psychedelic” properties may be present even at low doses, a number of studies show they are positive mediators of the molecule’s antidepressant effects.
How is ketamine administered/taken during therapy?
There are four ways to administer ketamine:
- Intravenously (IV)
- Intramuscularly (IM)
- Lozenge (oral)
- Intranasal spray (Spravato)
At Nushama, we primarily use IV as we believe it’s the most effective and safest method. The benefit of an IV infusion is that it is given as a gradual drip which can be adjusted at any time should you become uncomfortable or stopped if you request that we do so. Nushama does not offer lozenges or intransal spray. For group therapy, we use intramuscular injections.
What does a ketamine infusion feel like?
The effects of a psychedelic ketamine infusion are usually felt within a few minutes but every person has a slightly different experience. Initially you may feel deeply relaxed, calm, a heaviness in your body, and a change of your usual sensations. You may experience different colors or visual patterns. This may be followed by a separation from your usual state of thinking, and it may feel like you’re awake but on a different plane of consciousness. You may even feel a separation from your body and your verbal expression may become limited. Some patients revisit people, places, or events from their past.
Are there any side effects?
Increases in blood pressure and heart rate during a psychedelic ketamine infusion can occur but rarely require any medical intervention. Also rare at sub-anesthetic doses are slowed breathing and hypercapnia (elevated carbon dioxide levels in the blood).
What disorders can ketamine infusions treat?
Anyone diagnosed with major depression, bipolar 1 depression, postpartum depression, or dysthymia can benefit from ketamine infusions. Research has also shown ketamine to be effective in treating Fibromyalgia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicidal thoughts. In addition, ketamine shows promise in alleviating symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), alcoholism, opioid addictions, eating disorders, and a number of anxiety disorders.
Where is your ketamine produced?
Our ketamine is produced in the USA or Ireland. Given the shortage that exists today, it may be sourced from other places in the future.
Where is ketamine legal?
Ketamine is legal for medical use in the United States and select countries across the world. The use of ketamine is regulated, meaning it can only be administered or prescribed by licensed clinicians with the authority and expertise to support its effective use.
How long does ketamine stay in your system?
Ketamine can be detected in your urine for about 2 weeks, blood for 4 days, and hair follicles for 90 days.
What are the Various Uses for Ketamine?
Ketamine is most widely known and used as an anesthetic. You may be curious about the use of ketamine for treating off-label conditions other than depression and chronic pain, which includes: anxiety, addiction, trauma-induced mood disorders, trauma-related OCD, eating disorders, and IBS.
Dr. Elena Ocher is Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Nushama. As a neurosurgeon in Russia and later a board-certified anesthesiologist in the United States, Dr. Ocher has more than 30 years of experience working with ketamine as an anesthetic, analgesic, and at sub-anesthetic/psychedelic doses, as a treatment for mood disorders. It is the intersection between psychological disorders and physical pain that inspired Dr. Ocher to join the Nushama team.
According to Dr. Ocher, growing evidence points to glutamate, the excitatory neurotransmitter, in meditating response to stress and the formation of traumatic memories. Ketamine’s anti-depressant and anti-anxiety effects are presumed to occur through activation of the synaptic plasticity by increasing brain-derived neurotrophic factor translation, transmission, and secretion, which inhibits the glycogen synthesis and activates neuron signaling. This neurotrophic factor is responsible for human behavioral responses. Its impact on synaptic plasticity takes significant time with traditional anti-depressant treatment but may develop in a matter of a few hours with ketamine treatment.
This effect is shown in multiple clinical trials on patients with generalized anxiety disorder, OCD (trial), eating disorders (case report), and PTSD (trial). While the trials were small in scale, the effects were proved by the dose-dependent improvement in fear questionnaire scores and EEG changes (vs. conventional anxiolytics). The treatment results were long-lasting for varying periods.
How Were Off-Label Conditions for Treatment at Nushama Chosen?
The conditions Nushama treats is based on data from ketamine clinical trials for different conditions, combined with studied applications, clinical practice, and empirical medical experience. Ketamine has multiple applications, such as managing acute and chronic pain, and it also helps with atypical headaches and migraines. Ketamine also has off-label uses for anti-inflammatory treatments, neuroprotection, anti-depressant effects, and to treat substance use disorders and alcohol use disorders.
Dr. Steven Radowitz, Nushama’s Medical Director, believes all diseases related to the mind and body have the potential to respond to ketamine. Dr. Radowitz says the body reflects our overall health and wellness. In a mental wellness state without stress, our systems will be balanced, including the immune system, nervous system, endocrine, cardiac systems, and gastrointestinal systems. With stress and anxiety, our systems become imbalanced—for example, we may feel nervousness, have loose stools or suffer heart palpitations. Diseases often manifest from an emotional imbalance to a real, physical problem.
Left unresolved, behavioral dysregulation can manifest as physical dysregulation and disease. According to Dr. Ocher, oftentimes, they combine, such as anxiety and OCD. Dr. Ocher says she sees 80% of patients with anxiety and OCD or depression and anxiety together. Dr. Ocher and Dr. Radowitz believes there is a common source or underlying cause, which is why Nushama is treating depression, anxiety, PTSD along with underlying conditions such as OCD, IBS, addiction, and eating disorders.
Where can I read the relevant studies, trials, and data?
Learn More About the Related Studies and Trials Available:
