4 Questions to Ask About Ketamine Infusion Therapy

Ketamine infusion therapy is an alternative treatment method for certain mental illnesses, such as depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is also beneficial for treating chronic pain disorders, such as fibromyalgia. It works through either one or a series of infusions of ketamine that a doctor administers intravenously to the patient. More traditional methods of treating depression and other mental illnesses rely on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). These are based on the theory that a chemical imbalance causes mental illness like depression. SSRIs, like Zoloft or Prozac, attempt to treat depression by increasing the amount of serotonin and dopamine in the brain. On the other hand, ketamine infusion therapy focuses more on repairing neurons and synapses that depression causes to malfunction.

Moreover, the chemical imbalance theory is up for debate, even though it is the standard method for treating mental illness. In 2018, Blue Cross Blue Shield published a report on major depressive disorder. It found that positive diagnoses of the mental illness had increased 33% since 2013, despite the proliferation of SSRI medications prescribed by psychiatrists and doctors to treat depression. With this in mind, it is worthwhile to seriously consider alternative methods that have been successful in treating major depressive disorder, including ketamine infusion therapy.

There are several different conditions that ketamine infusion therapy has proven effective in treating! The following are some mental illnesses that ketamine infusion therapy can treat:

• Acute suicidality
• Anxiety
• Bipolar disorder
• Major depressive disorder (MDD)
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Personality disorders
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

As mentioned, ketamine infusion therapy is also helpful for the management of chronic pain disorders, such as fibromyalgia, spinal injuries, cancer, and postherpetic neuralgia, to name a few.

In the depressed brain, there is a build-up of cortisol and other stress hormones: this protein and hormonal overgrowth damage the neurons and synaptic responses in the brain. However, ketamine infusion therapy provokes a reaction in the brain that repairs the damaged neurons and synapses by stimulating and normalizing glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors in the brain. In doing so, ketamine can heal the depressed or anxiety-ridden mind far more rapidly than traditional treatment methods for depression and other mental illnesses. Patients have noted marked improvement within hours of ketamine infusion therapy!

Ketamine treatments are very cost-effective. For our pricing at Bay Area Ketamine Center, please check out our Ketamine Infusion Price page. We are committed to making ketamine infusion therapy affordable for all who need it. If you have any questions about the cost of ketamine infusion therapy at Bay Area Ketamine Center, please do not hesitate to call us at (415) 529-4559!

If traditional treatment has not worked for treating your mental illness, we welcome you to try ketamine infusion therapy at Bay Area Ketamine Center! Our medical professionals have the expertise and knowledge to deliver this excellent service to you safely. If you would like to book an appointment, please call us at (415) 529-4559. You can find Bay Area Ketamine Center at 746 Altos Oaks Drive in Los Altos, California. We serve patients from Los Altos, CA, Sunnyvale CA, Palo Alto CA, Stanford CA, Atherton CA, Cupertino CA, and BEYOND.