Ketamine is a derivative of phencyclidine, an anesthetic drug that was first developed in the 1960s. Ketamine has a history of being used in general anesthesia for more than 30 years and is listed on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines as an FDA-approved anesthetic. Most commonly, ketamine has been used to treat nerve-related pain in emergency rooms and outpatient centers.
Researchers have consistently found that low doses of ketamine infusions produce a rapid antidepressant effect, leading to an exciting new treatment option for mental health conditions.
Ongoing research is still underway on the many ways ketamine affects the brain. Despite this, scientists agree that by blocking the NMDA receptors, ketamine infusion treatments prompt the brain to increase the production of synaptic signaling proteins and glutamate in the prefrontal cortex, which is known to have a crucial role in mood regulation.
Brain imaging has also shown that ketamine promotes the growth of new synapses in the prefrontal cortex, resulting in greater connectivity in the brain. This combination of effects is believed to be the main reason for its rapid antidepressant result.
Ketamine was first used as an anesthetic in the Vietnam War and has since been used in emergency clinics. New Pathways Clinic can also personally attest that in the 1000+ ketamine infusions we have performed, ketamine has never been responsible for a serious medical issue.
Unlike other psychiatric medications, ketamine typically has no lasting side effects 24 hours past treatment, besides short-term drowsiness and fatigue. While ketamine has been shown to occasionally cause bladder issues for chronic users, it is typically from higher doses and frequency than what New Pathways offers.
Despite ketamine’s effectiveness in treating mental health conditions, it is not yet an FDA-approved treatment, largely because of its common use as an anesthetic. Like many medical discoveries, its effectiveness in treating mental health was stumbled upon inadvertently.
Despite this, the scientific literature over the past 15 years is just starting to fully show the promise of ketamine as a mental health treatment. As a generic drug that has outlived its patent, there is no financial incentive for pharmaceutical companies to pay tens of millions of dollars to fund an FDA-approved trial.
Ketamine infusions are a medical procedure provided by medical professionals. They are administered intravenously (IV) over the course of 45-60 minutes in a controlled and comfortable environment. Most patients report a relaxing experience during the treatment.
Please see our Patient Experience and Patient FAQs pages for more information. You can also read our blog post, Preparing for a Ketamine Infusion, for more helpful tips on what to expect.
Research and our personal experience have found that common short-term side effects include tiredness, confusion, dizziness, and nausea, though these rarely last longer than the day of the treatment. Less commonly, patients can experience headaches, anxiety, and a prolonged dissociative state beyond the treatment.
Yes, ketamine is listed as a Schedule III substance by the DEA. The use of ketamine without a prescription from a medical professional is illegal.
With experience working with insurance providers for ketamine infusion therapy, we will do our best to help maximize any available coverage for your treatment. In many cases, patients receive coverage; however, because ketamine is not FDA-approved for the treatment of mental health conditions, coverage cannot be guaranteed.
As an independently operated clinic, we require payment at the time of service for any co-pays, co-insurance, deductibles, or out-of-pocket costs. We accept HSA/FSA cards, credit and debit cards, money orders, and patient financing through Advanced Care.
See our Insurance and Payments page for more details.
When many physicians or patients experience treatment-resistant disorders, they consider resorting to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Since its findings within mental health, however, ketamine infusion treatments are found to be a less invasive and less expensive alternative for treatment-resistant conditions.
Following weeks of ECT treatments under general anesthesia, patients are often placed on one or several specific antidepressant medications and can experience lapses in memory and cognition. Ketamine infusions offer a simpler treatment with fewer side effects and should always be considered as an option before undergoing ECT.
Ketamine is not chemically addictive like other psychiatric medications. Though reports of recreational users being psychologically addicted to ketamine exist, given in a medical setting at infrequent intervals, there is little risk of addiction. In fact, research even suggests that ketamine may help with cravings and withdrawal symptoms of other chemically addictive substances.
For some patients, ketamine infusions are a temporary treatment to help them break free of patterns and set them on the path to mental wellness. More commonly, our patients find value in continuing ketamine treatments at some frequency as a reliable adjunct to their psychiatric treatments. Many of our patients continue to get a single booster infusion every one to six months to maintain maximum relief of symptoms.
Our typical patient is between the ages of 18 and 70 years old. We can only treat patients under the age of 18 if two separate pediatric psychiatrists and our medical director agree it’s appropriate. For patients over the age of 70, we take extra precautions to ensure the patient is physically healthy enough to start treatment.
Yes! New Pathways is working hard to expand our services and now offers Columbus and Cincinnati locations.
