On one hand, it is a common practice for health care workers to use ketamine as one of the most potent anesthetics while on the other hand, ketamine is also popular for being used as a “party drug” for a long time as it let the consumers experience a blissful mood.
But in the past few years, the use of ketamine has been completely transformed. Ketamine infusions are now used for therapeutic purposes for a variety of mental illnesses including depression.
Even today, patients are not aware that a ketamine infusion therapy can be easily performed in an in-office setting at a qualified and well-experienced ketamine clinic. The convenience, safety, and efficacy of ketamine therapy have been proven to be beneficial for patients who have not found effective results or have experienced unpleasant side effects with several other available conventional treatment options.
In-office procedure
Ketamine infusion therapy is performed in an outpatient office environment. The patient will have to be seated on a comfortable reclining chair to receive the IV ketamine therapy. Then the limited dose ketamine infusion will take around 1 hour to get completed. After that, a patient usually stays for around half an hour or as long as they want until they feel comfortable leaving.
The doctors who have provided the ketamine therapy will encourage patients to have a company for the first visit at least. Then during the procedure of IV ketamine therapy, the patient can rest comfortably, can even take a nap, or listen to his favorite music. So far, no discomfort or pain has been reported however, few patients might feel dissociation, not hallucinations, but an altered reality during the procedure.
Mostly, patients feel it is painless and pleasurable. In very few rare cases, if the feeling of dissociation makes the patient uncomfortable, the procedure of ketamine infusion can be stopped immediately or medications could be started to put a brake on these feelings within minutes.
Post-Treatment Experience
After the ketamine infusion therapy, the patient is ready to leave. The patient's overall condition will be normal. Some people will return to their normal routine immediately or return to their workplace. Some even prefer to go back home first too. It depends upon the patient’s preferences. The only limitation is that the patients are not supposed to be driving after the procedure of ketamine infusion therapy till 24 hours.
The 100% improvement in the mood will take some time. The earliest possible change of symptoms a person could expect is within few hours after they have left the clinic. The patient should get in touch with the treatment provider as soon he gets any concerns or any questions about the treatment.
Number of treatments required
If the positive response is achieved in the first 2 ketamine infusions, the patient should go ahead and complete the entire course of 6 IV ketamine infusion therapy over a period of few days.
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