Ketamine Resource Library

Ketamine got its start in Belgium in the 1960s as an anesthesia medicine for animals. The FDA approved it as an anesthetic for people in 1970. It was used in treating injured soldiers on the battlefields in the Vietnam War. Unlike other anesthetics, ketamine doesn’t slow breathing or heart rate, so patients don’t need to be on a ventilator to receive it.
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Understanding how ketamine works in your brain can help you understand how and why it’s so beneficial for uses other than anesthesia. Ketamine works on a very specific group of cells in your brain called NMDA receptors. These receptors interact with neurotransmitters such as glutamate to rev up your neurons.

Most of the time, this is a good thing. However, if your neurons stay in an excitatory state for too long, they begin to die off. This leads to a cascade of events, resulting in certain conditions such as depression or anxiety. These, along with other conditions, have been linked to NMDA receptor malfunction.
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Ketamine works directly on the brain to block the NMDA receptor signals. This allows the brain to create new pathways and synapses, which can aid the healing of past injury or illness. It also blocks glutamate, which is important for your memory and emotions. This allows you to feel calm and forget the moments before or after surgery (which is a common use for ketamine).

Since ketamine is used for surgery, it helps to calm your mind and also to relieve the pain associated with certain procedures. However, the benefits of ketamine have broken the boundaries of surgery and have shown success in treatment of many conditions, including Depression, Migraines, PTSD, Chronic pain, Obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Bipolar disorder.
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One of the benefits that ketamine offers is a decreased need for narcotic painkillers. This is a great advantage, due to the increased likelihood of tolerance and complications with long-term narcotic use. If you suffer from chronic pain, ketamine may be a great alternative to traditional treatments.

Another advantage is that ketamine works very quickly, and continues to work even after its metabolized by your body. This is especially true when it’s used for the treatment of depression symptoms. Typical antidepressants need weeks to build up in your body and start working, while ketamine can work in a matter of hours.
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Ketamine, when used properly, also doesn’t have a significant effect on your breathing rate or blood pressure. This makes it very safe for use in surgery, as many other drugs that produce a sedating effect can decrease your blood pressure, which can lead to complications. Although ketamine has shown very positive results for many psychological conditions, it may not be for everybody.

At FloLo Mind,  our primary focus is to help treat mental illness and provide an option to those who have not had success with traditional medicines or psychotherapy. Promising data has demonstrated robust effects in treating severe, chronic, treatment resistant depression.

Anyone diagnosed with major depression, bipolar depression, postpartum depression, or dysthymia could benefit from Ketamine infusions. Research has also shown that Ketamine can also be effective in treating Fibromyalgia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicidal ideation. In addition, ketamine shows promise in alleviating symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and a number of anxiety disorders.

Ketamine’s mechanism of action is completely different from that of any other antidepressant medication. The exact mechanism of action that allows ketamine to relieve depression is complex and still under investigation.

What we know is that it works on a neurotransmitter called Glutamate which leads to the production of an important growth factor that helps the brain repair damaged neurons affected by stress and mental illness. Thus, Ketamine, can improve mood within hours/days and also cause the regeneration of nerve cells over time.

According to research studies, infusions of Ketamine to treat depression can be effective for 60-80 % of individuals. Although the effects of Ketamine usually last for several weeks, some people can remain depression free for months.

The effects of a single treatment typically last up to two weeks. After a series of six treatments, some people could remain symptom free for several months. We also offer the option of booster treatments which can be given monthly or a few times per year, as needed.

At FloLo Mind, we see patients of all ages, including children under 18.

Ketamine infusion therapy is not indicated for patients diagnosed with psychosis. If you have high blood pressure, cardiac, and/or pulmonary issues it may be necessary for your primary care physician to provide a medical clearance before beginning your ketamine infusions.