Intravenous Ketamine Therapy Can Help with PTSD, Depression, and Other Issues

Chicago, Illinois -

Chicago, Illinois - IV Solution & Ketamine Centers of Chicago wants to point out that intravenous (IV) therapy using ketamine may help with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), treatment-resistant depression (TRD), anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), chronic pain, and fibromyalgia. Ketamine, despite having a reputation as a drug of abuse, is a safe drug when administered or used as anesthesia (FDA approved for use as anesthetic medication) and for the treatment of TRD, chronic pain, OCD, and other issues.

A major reason for the claim that ketamine is safe for the treatment of anxiety, TRD, chronic pain, and more is that the side effects in the low dosages they use at IV Solution & Ketamine Centers of Chicago have been observed to be minimal and only last for one to two hours. Typical side effects include nausea, mild drowsiness, and increased blood pressure. Some of the less common side effects include agitation or vivid dreams but these can be regulated by adjusting the dosage.

A key concern about intravenous ketamine therapy is that it may be addictive. However, there is no evidence to indicate that the infusion of ketamine at low doses and frequency for treating mood disorders can lead to addiction or dependence. Although the responses of patients to the treatment may vary, most patients experienced an immediate improvement in their symptoms after the first and second infusion. Patients with suicidal or harmful thoughts have been observed to have the strongest response to the ketamine infusions with more than 80 percent of them being able to completely eliminate those thoughts after just one infusion.

In contrast to conventional antidepressant drugs that were only effective in approximately 60 percent of patients, ketamine infusions were observed to provide relief from depression symptoms in up to 80 percent of patients. In addition, while antidepressant medications had several unwanted side effects, such as reduced sexual drive, weight gain, increased suicidal ideation, emotional and cognitive dulling, fatigue, and gastrointestinal problems, ketamine has minimal side effects that are usually gone in one to two hours.

PTSD is a chronic and disabling mental health disorder with only a few available pharmacotherapies, which even have limited efficacy. A randomized controlled trial of single-dose ketamine infusions indicated that people with PTSD had experienced quick and significant reduction of symptoms, 24 hours after infusion.

Ketamine infusions have also been observed to be effective for mental depression. This is because ketamine, which is a glutamate N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist has been observed to have a quick antidepressant effect. However, the mechanism of action for ketamine in major depressive disorder (MDD) has not yet been determined.

Ketamine infusions may also be used for anxiety by increasing the activity of glutamate in the brain. Glutamate functions as one of the messengers of the brain and plays an essential role in the regulation of moods, including memory and learning. Ketamine may also be used for the treatment of OCD, which is an anxiety condition that involves the presence of involuntary, recurrent, and intrusive thoughts, beliefs, urges, fears, doubts, sensations, feelings, and/or mental images and rituals and routines. Ketamine infusions may also used for chronic pain, which is pain that lasts for more than three months.

IV Solution & Ketamine Centers of Chicago provides IV ketamine therapy for fibromyalgia, PTSD, TRD, anxiety, OCD, chronic pain, and more. The ketamine center is led by Dr. Bal Nandra, who has almost 20 years of experience in a clinical setting and obtained his training from the University of Chicago Hospitals Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care. The team is composed of registered nurses who are experienced in ketamine infusion and licensed therapists and technicians who work closely with the patient’s mental health professional or primary care physician for continuity of care and to optimize the treatment.

Those who want to know more about IV ketamine therapy for PTSD and other mental health conditions can check out the IV Solution & Ketamine Centers of Chicago website, contact them on the phone or through email, or read their latest media story.