Contraindications for KAP
It is crucial for the client to discuss their medical history and any medications they are currently taking with their healthcare provider and/or psychiatrist or nurse practitioner before considering ketamine treatment
Medical providers may not recommend ketamine treatment for individuals with:
Under-managed hypertension (high blood pressure)
History of psychosis
Mania
Schizophrenia
Clients currently taking stimulants, benzodiazepines, or MAOIs
Active substance abuse
Severe liver dysfunction
Raised intracranial pressure
Stroke
Epilepsy
Acute Porphyria
Significant coronary disease
Pregnant, trying to get pregnant or are breastfeeding
Glaucoma or Acute Globe Injury
Thyroid disease
Respiratory Conditions (i.e. COPD)
Allergic to ketamine
Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic initially used to sedate patients and provide pain relief and has recently gained significant attention for its remarkable potential to improve mental health conditions. Unlike traditional antidepressants, which may take weeks to show effects, ketamine can often reduce symptoms in hours or days.
While research is ongoing, ketamine stands out as one of the most rapid-acting antidepressant medications currently available
When we feel anxious or depressed, this mental stress weakens the links between our brain cells, and ketamine helps restore the ability for new neural connections to occur to regain the ability to create healthier thought patterns, increase the ability for better mood regulation and most often have instant antidepressant effects.
Conventional antidepressants primarily target the serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine systems
Ketamine operates by blocking the NMDA receptor and triggers the release of glutamate, a neurotransmitter. This release activates pathways that promote the release of BDNF, which facilitate the growth of new synapses and establish healthier and stronger connections between neurons, resulting in neuroplasticity, or the brain's ability to change.
Ketamine can also help stop negative thought patterns. Neuroimaging has shown that the brain's Default Mode Network (DMN) gets suppressed by ketamine, which allows a break from the constant rumination of worry and doubt. This pause enables new insights to emerge, leading to personal growth.
One study involving mice, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, showed that when exposed to a stressor, the connections between brain cells were reduced, which contributed to depression-related behaviors. (As seen in the image below.) However, the study showed that even one dose of ketamine can restore connections between brain cells in the prefrontal cortex, a region associated with depression. The study also revealed that newly formed brain connections, called dendritic spines, play a crucial role in sustaining the antidepressant effects of ketamine. Deleting these spines led to the return of depression-related behaviors. These findings have paved the way for interventions promoting lasting depression remission in humans, offering hope for better management of mood disorders.
Information below is also available on the Science page in the menu for client’s review
The Science of Ketamine
Photo Credit: Science
In mouse nerve cells, dendritic spines (shown by red arrows in the top panel) vanished after a stressor of corticosterone treatment (middle panel). However, after the mice received a ketamine shot, some of these spines regrew (indicated by blue arrows in the bottom panel). Science 2019, DOI: 10.1126/science.aat8078
Ketamine Journey Experience
Although ketamine works on different parts of the brain than classic psychedelics the experience is very similar. One of the main perceived advantages of ketamine in treatment is it provides a sense of cognitive or bodily distance due to its unique dual nature as both a psychedelic and dissociative medication.
Psychedelic properties include visual imagery, altered sensory perceptions, enhanced memory associations, and access to mystical states of consciousness.
Dissociation is a temporary and altered state of consciousness allowing feelings of disconnection from sense of self, body, or surroundings.
The distance experienced during the ketamine infusion allows you to experience separation from your thoughts, feelings, or past traumas and provides a way to process and release them without feeling overwhelmed. It also includes instant increased neuroplasticity in the brain, which means it reintroduces the ability of the brain to create change and alter unhealthy emotional patterns of functioning.
Ketamine also includes instantly increased neuroplasticity in the brain, which means it reintroduces the ability of the brain to create change and alter unhealthy emotional patterns of functioning.
Oral ketamine
Tablet held in your mouth as it dissolves
You will swish the medicine and spit after several minutes
Onset of ketamine take place within 3-5 minutes
IM or Racemic Nasal Ketamine
Upon injection or spray the onset will begin in approx 1-3 min.
Effects of Ketamine
May feel a sense of warmth throughout your body and it may feel heavy or light
Most people experience a sensation of slight separation between themselves and their bodies, with hands and legs feeling distant.
Some report seeing vivid colors or hearing altered sounds while others do not
You might experience a change in your thoughts and emotions, feeling disconnected from your usual worries, with a clear and uncluttered mind, similar to meditating
Towards the end, you may feel fatigued or disoriented for a few minutes, but this typically passes quickly, leaving most people feeling calm after their ketamine session
Every ketamine experience is unique and each person will have their own experience so keep an open mind
There are no good or bad journeys as each is trying to help show you what you might need to process
Approaching each sensation, thought, event with curiosity will assist in the healing process