FAQs

Ketamine has shown strong results for a wide range of mental health and physical conditions, including:

• Depression
• Depression linked to bipolar disorder
• Severe anxiety
• PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder)
• OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder)
• Fibromyalgia
• Nerve pain (neuropathic pain syndromes)
• Severe asthma
• Acute pain

Ketamine belongs to a class of drugs called dissociative anesthetics. It was first made in 1962 and was used during the Vietnam War to treat wounded soldiers in the field. For decades afterward, emergency medicine relied on it for sedation, especially for children, because of its unusual safety profile and dependable results.

Researchers later found that ketamine could help with much more than physical pain. Over the last twenty years, studies have shown it can ease chronic pain, PTSD, anxiety and treatment-resistant depression, often in people for whom standard medications did not work. Many experts now see ketamine therapy as one of the biggest steps forward in mental health care in a generation.

At Columbia Ketamine Center, we keep pace with this growing field and pair decades of clinical experience with care that puts each patient first.

Ketamine acts differently from standard antidepressants. Those medications build up in your body slowly over several weeks. Ketamine prompts the brain to grow neurons quickly, and that speed sets it apart from almost every other treatment of its kind.

Much of today’s research centers on glutamate, a neurotransmitter involved in nerve signaling and in the brain’s ability to adapt. Ketamine acts on glutamate receptors and helps the brain build new connections, including pathways that depression, trauma or chronic pain may have weakened. Ketamine also has strong anti-inflammatory effects, which scientists are studying for their wider therapeutic value.

There is a personal side as well. Many patients say the dissociative state during an infusion brings fresh insight, a new emotional perspective and a deep sense of calm. For many people, that part of the experience means as much as the measured results.

Every patient experiences ketamine a little differently, and the same person can feel different things from one infusion to the next. That is completely normal, and no single experience is needed for the treatment to work. You might find yourself thinking about people or events from years ago. You might see colors. Others notice unusual body sensations, such as tingling or a feeling that their arms or legs have grown larger.

The gold standard is an intravenous (IV) infusion. The medicine goes straight into your bloodstream, which makes IV delivery the most precise, controlled and effective option available.

Ketamine can also be given in these ways:

• By mouth (oral)
• Under the tongue (sublingual)
• As a nasal spray (intranasal)
• As a shot into a muscle (intramuscular, IM)
• Rectally

Very safe. The World Health Organization (WHO) lists ketamine as an essential medicine and counts it among the safest and most effective medicines known.

Ketamine does not suppress the respiratory reflex the way other general anesthetics do, so patients keep breathing on their own during treatment. That safety profile is one of the main reasons it is used so widely around the world to sedate both children and adults.

At Columbia Ketamine Center, our clinical team gives and monitors every infusion in a calm, controlled setting, keeping you safe from beginning to end.

Every patient responds on their own timeline. Some people feel better early in their treatment series, but the strongest or fullest relief usually comes after 4 to 6 sessions spread over a few weeks. We track your progress the whole way and work with you to plan next steps based on how you respond.

We recommend a series of 6 infusions over two weeks to get the most benefit from the medicine. We advise against changing this protocol, though we can adjust appointment times to fit your schedule. Once the first series is done, the need for “booster” infusions is decided case by case. Most patients need one somewhere between every 2 weeks and every 3 months.

Most medications do not interact with ketamine, so you can usually continue your other treatments while you receive infusions. A small number of drugs, legal and illegal, can make ketamine less effective. Please tell us about everything you currently take so we can plan around any possible interactions.

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We are happy to help. Call our office at (803) 250-7171 or use our contact page to request a consultation.