Ketamine is certainly making headlines as a groundbreaking treatment for treatment-resistant depression suicidality, PTSD, anxiety, OCD and even chronic pain.
Ketamine is a medicine that is in a completely different class than all the typical medications used for these conditions such as SSRI’s, anxiety medications, mood stabilizers and medicine for chronic pain. These medications are taken with regularity- every day- to have their effect. Ketamine is different. Its effects can last long after the medication has left your system. It does not have to be taken every day for effect.
Therefore, the treatment protocol with ketamine is different. To get the most out of your ketamine journeys and transformation, it is important to understand and follow this protocol. After completion of the initial series, occasional ‘booster’ or ‘maintenance’ treatments will still be needed to maintain efficacy and response.
Initial Series
The purpose of the initial series of 4-6 treatments is often necessary to bring relief or stabilization from serious symptoms. Many people we see in our center are experiencing extreme distress and severity of illness from years of ineffective conventional treatments and ongoing difficulties. They need the initial series within a short period of time, i.e., 2-3 weeks to shift the course of illness and/or obtain relief from immediate distress.
Very often, this initial series results in dramatic improvement and people tell us that they begin to feel like themselves, they begin to experience emotions that they haven’t been able to feel in years. This transformation can be profound, yet it is often not a ‘cure’. It is beneficial in terms of alleviating symptoms that are keeping a person stuck in cyclical dysfunction. The initial series of medicine will often lift this weight and allow a person to make significant changes in their life due to a perspective shift from ketamine-assisted therapy.
The Maintenance Phase
After the initial series of infusions, many people feel profound change. Many continue to work through the parts of their lives that still need work with effective therapy and lifestyle/health changes. These changes in combination with the initial ketamine therapy are tremendous, yet these effects can fade over time. This is where maintenance treatments are an important consideration. These are treatments that offer an ongoing reset and revival of the initial series of ketamine. The scheduling is not as fixed as the initial series. Some people may need a twice-monthly booster, some monthly, and some every 3-6 months. At ShaMynds, our clinical team will review your history, and your progress and response with the initial series and recommend subsequent series sessions for you. We recommend that you schedule these sessions as soon as you receive the plan of care. We are also committed to providing you a holistic and integrative approach to your overall wellness in addition to the ketamine sessions. Our goal is to help you continue utilizing UTHRIVE in your life and sharing your renewed sense of wellbeing with others.
