Maybe you’ve heard the buzz. Ketamine for depression is in the headlines, the journals, and the chatter at Starbucks. If you or someone you love wrestles with the exhausting symptoms of depression, you’ve likely heard about it. Or maybe you haven’t. Either way, it’s the biggest news in psychiatry these days, and seems to be […]
Ketamine
Articles About Ketamine from Lori Calabrese, MD | The Ketamine Blog
Breakthrough anesthesia medicine proves life-changing for many who suffer from severe mood disorders.
In the last several years, a medicine began to emerge as a remarkable treatment for mood disorders. It was developed and FDA approved for anesthesia around 1970. Over 25 years later… it began to show its colossal hidden ability. What sort of ability? The power to relieve depression and other psychiatric disorders in a most dynamic way. Disorders like PTSD, bipolar depression, postpartum depression, addiction, social anxiety, and even eating disorders respond to this extraordinary treatment that involves a series of IV infusions. And perhaps the most remarkable of all, ketamine infusions can erase suicidal thinking in a few short hours. These articles about ketamine treatment are presented here to dispel stigma about psychiatric conditions and to give hope about treating them.
Early Testing was Cautious
Researchers tested it with trepidation 10-20 years ago. Then each study built upon the last. Their work revealed more insights about what actually causes depression, and how to treat it effectively. Never before has a medicine helped relieve symptoms in such a wide variety of people and their symptoms.
Researchers Still Learning All Ketamine Can Do
Ketamine works in multiple areas and systems of the brain. It improves the function of mechanisms that have been impaired by the stress of depression and anxiety. It helps the G proteins that pile up on lipid rafts in the cell membrane slide to off. This equips them so they can do their job enhancing signal transmission.
It also turns on the mRNA switch which in turn flips on DNA to build up brain-derived-neurotrophic-factor (BDNF). BDNF then causes synapse connections between neurons to proliferate in turbo mode, transforming and replenishing the connections between brain cells all around the brain, lighting it up with information, cognition, creativity, and insight.
There’s more that it accomplishes, like tamping down the cell bursting in the lateral habenula so you can experience the reward of pleasant moments. We don’t know what researchers haven’t discovered yet, but we look forward to hearing what’s next.
Ketamine Does More Than Bring Relief, It’s Transforming
The results of IV ketamine treatment are transformative. Those who have been weighted under a blanket of lethargic apathy and despair typically find they feel better and better after treatment. They often find they have the energy and motivation to dive into tasks they couldn’t face in recent memory.
More patients with treatment resistant conditions respond to ketamine than any other medicine available. It may sound odd, but the patients it helps the most are those who suffer the most from severe disorders. With continued research, neuroscience researchers and psychiatrists are learning methods of administration that help more and more patients enjoy a rapid and robust response,.
As a result, these individuals enjoy renewed hope. They express amazement at their energy for life and work, and an overall transformation in what they enjoy and are able to accomplish. They report a more balanced and joyful outlook, and the desire to rebuild and strengthen their relationships.
Ketamine is NOT for Everyone
With all the good IV ketamine treatment accomplishes, some people still don’t respond to it at all. The percentage of people who don’t respond is comparatively small, and we need to see more studies that can help explain why.
Why Ketamine Sometimes Doesn’t Work
There are others who have a significant response initially, then the response fades. One reason for that may be they have a deficiency of certain components in their blood. They may have a low folate level, or low testosterone, and some other deficiencies. In cases like this, sometimes replacing those nutrients helps that patient respond to ketamine treatment and experience resilience again. There are even cases where a patient’s blood levels are normal but the levels of certain components in their cerebral spinal fluid is low. By replacing that deficiency, the patient is able to enjoy a very positive and robust response to ketamine treatment.
Neuroscience is gaining knowledge by leaps and bounds in the 21st century. We hope to see more and more medicines that work as well as ketamine for those who have not yet been helped.
These articles about ketamine expand on those things we learn from neuroscience research in the labs, as well as those things we learn from research in our practice.
Can Inflammation Cause Suicide? What Can We Do to Stop It?
Really?? Can Inflammation Cause Suicide…? Or Suicidal Thoughts? Maybe you’ve just reached the end of your rope. The long dark days, the despair of watching everything always go wrong, the deterioration of your relationships, the exhaustion and inability to think well enough to do your job…and that feeling that you despise yourself. Loss of self-respect […]
Ketamine: PTSD and Depression Treatment For Veterans …and For You, Too
There’s No PTSD and Depression Treatment Like This Treatment: IV Ketamine Do sudden noises make you jump and feel like your heart just stopped? If someone pats you on the back while saying hello, does it take everything inside you to keep from beating them to the ground? Do you find yourself on edge, feeling […]
Reaching Out to Sad Dads: Can Men Suffer Postpartum Depression, Too?
Paternal Postpartum Depression In the last ten years, we’ve heard more and more about postpartum depression. Celebrities like Brooke Shields, Drew Barrymore, and Gwyneth Paltrow have stepped up to speak out about their own struggles with it. But, as much as we talk about postpartum depression in mothers, very little is mentioned about the same […]
Ketamine's Healing: Does Depression Run in Families?
Does depression run families? I didn’t ask if it runs in families. Does it run your family? Well, let me ask you this. Do you love someone who’s depressed … ? I mean really depressed. Someone who’s been withdrawn, listless, drained, and nervous for months — or years… Maybe you hear how they wish they […]
Get High and Kick Depression in the Process? Better Rethink That.
Get High and Kick Depression? Two birds – one stone, right? If you’re in the practice of using ketamine to get high and kick depression at the same time, you better take a step back. Let’s talk about it. The recent Time magazine article that touted ketamine as a hallucinogenic antidepressant highlighted the practice by […]
Esketamine: Ketamine Wannabe Copycat Drugs
Nobody likes a copycat. They’re boring. Tired from the get-go. Out to ride on somebody else’s coat tails. They want to steal some of the glory. Is esketamine just a ketamine wannabe copycat drug? You may have heard some things about it. Like it’s a nasal spray. Esketamine intranasal. It’s supposed to be an easier […]
A Little History: The Beginnings of Ketamine the Depression Dragon Slayer
The Legend of Ketamine the Depression Dragon SLAYER Doesn’t that sound exciting…? Conjures up images of kings, knights, dragons…and princesses. Ketamine the Depression Dragon SLAYER … the knight in shining armor, equipped with world-class weaponry … vanquishing the enemy. But this is no fairy tale. This is the real deal. The story of a tool…a […]
Who Should Provide IV Ketamine as Treatment for Depression?
If This is What You Picture When You Imagine IV Ketamine Treatment for Depression, Think AGAIN!! And nix that image. Because we’re going to talk about who should provide IV ketamine as treatment for depression. Ketamine treatment is getting more and more attention in the press as a paradigm shifter for effective treatment for psychiatric mood disorders. […]
Will My Doctor Give Me an IV Ketamine Treatment Referral?
Hoping for an IV Ketamine Treatment Referral? Recently, we talked about reasons some doctors may be reluctant to provide IV ketamine treatment for psychiatric mood disorders. We talked about how difficult it is to harvest all the information about ketamine for depression on the internet and become informed. No drug company spends millions of dollars […]