Ketamine Clinic & Treatment Center

Harbor’s Ketamine Clinic provides IV ketamine infusion therapy to Orange County, Ca communities. Intravenous (IV) ketamine has emerged as a promising treatment option for many chronic diseases, such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), fibromyalgia, and certain pain disorders.

Historically, ketamine has been used to induce and maintain anesthesia, including procedural sedation in both children and adults. More recently, a compelling amount of evidence suggests that in sub-anesthetic doses, ketamine infusions can restore the damaged brain pathways known to cause mood disorders.

Some patients achieve long-term relief after a single series of infusions, while others find that the infusions enhance their oral medications and complementary therapies. When administered in a monitored and controlled environment, studies show that ketamine does not exhibit addictive potential and may be administered on a consistent basis to sustain mental health.

Suicidal thoughts tend to subside within four to 24 hours, with 70% of major depressive disorder patients responding positively to the treatment. At our clinic, however, more than 80% of patients report improved symptoms. Our team of specialized physicians and mental health providers is paired with a health system dedicated to improving the mental and physical health of the community. If you feel you have exhausted all current treatment options, especially depression therapy, ketamine infusion therapy may be the next step for you.

IS KETAMINE RIGHT FOR YOU?

Ketamine as a Treatment for Depression
When antidepressants — such as Prozac, Zoloft, and Effexor — aren’t working, Ketamine treatment for depression may be exactly what you need. Many patients who have failed two or more medications are considered “treatment-resistant.” This is when Ketamine can be the most helpful. Ketamine injection therapy is appropriate for any patient who has met the criteria for treatment resistance or have thoughts of suicide with severe depression.

HISTORY OF KETAMINE
Depression: An Overlooked Condition

Once known as Melancholia, Major Depressive Disorder has been an understudied and overlooked medical condition for many decades since it’s scientific classification in the early 20th century. People suffering from this condition can have many varying degrees of MDD, such as Major Depression, Dysthymia, Postpartum Depression, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), Atypical Depression, Bipolar Depression, Situational, and Psychotic Depression. The categories of depression have often been treated with frustrating results that take months or years to see improvement. Yet, recently, studies support an anesthetic and commonly abused party drug called Ketamine that when used in calculated intravenous dosages, can in fact relieve long-term symptoms of depression in a short time period.

Hidden Properties of Ketamine

Ketamine is a medication developed in the 1960s that has been FDA approved for use as a surgical anesthetic. Anesthesiologists such as Dr. Scott have used ketamine for many years anesthetizing patients who have low blood pressure such as in trauma patients. Anesthesiologists found that ketamine use during surgery provided some patients with unexpected long term pain relief and mood enhancement benefits. Thus anesthesia -pain specialists began to try ketamine off label (used in a manner not specifically approved for use by the FDA) as a potential therapeutic option for people suffering chronic pain in whom little else has helped. Because chronic pain and depression are often linked, it is not yet known if ketamine benefit for chronic pain lays more in its mood-enhancing properties or on its effect on pain receptors in the body. What is known is that ketamine can provide effective and rapid pain and depression relief when given intravenously under strict medical supervision.

How does Ketamine Treatment work?

Researchers classify ketamine as an NMDA receptor antagonist, similar in some respects to the over-the-counter cough medicine dextromethorphan. Importantly, ketamine may play a role in neural activation, working on glutamate to stimulate neural growth as rapidly as in one hour. Ketamine also has anti-inflammatory effects.

What conditions does ketamine therapy help?

Depression:

•Depression (including postpartum depression)

•Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

•Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

•Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

•Bipolar disorder (manic with refractory depression)

Chronic Pain:

•Fibromyalgia

•Neuropathy (nerve pain)

•Refractory Headaches

•Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) / Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD)

To find out more about Ketamine Therapy or Pain Management treatments for fibromyalgia, chronic nerve pain, or low back pain, contact Newport Pain Management and H. Rand Scott, M.D.

WHAT TO EXPECT FOR YOUR TREATMENT

On your infusion day, you will arrive at our Mission Hospital Laguna Beach campus and be greeted by our receptionist who will direct you and your ride to the clinic. You will fill out a brief health assessment prior to your infusion. This assessment will help our team to determine your response to the infusion and to tailor the dose and timing of your subsequent infusions.

Our nurse will lead you to your room where she will start a small IV in your hand or arm. We will provide you with comfortable noise-canceling headphones and light relaxing music to listen to during your infusion, or if you prefer you may bring your own music.

The ketamine infusion is started and you are instructed to recline, relax, and close your eyes. The medicine is given slowly over 40 minutes (the infusion is longer for pain disorders). During that time, we will intermittently and unobtrusively monitor your vital signs. In the first 15-20 minutes, you may have no noticeable effects.

Halfway through the infusion most patients begin to experience feelings described as euphoria, floating, heightened perceptions, feeling disconnected, or in a dream. You are not asleep during the infusion and have full command of your faculties. Less commonly, patients may experience some anxiety, sweating, or a headache. Medications can be administered if those symptoms persist and/or become uncomfortable.

All of these feelings tend to subside approximately 10-15 minutes after the completion of the infusion. Most patients can expect to be with us for approximately 90 minutes from the time you enter the clinic when you leave, with minimal to no side effects at that point and none between treatments.

After the infusion, it is possible to notice the mood effects of the infusion as soon as 1 hour afterward, but typically those effects are noticed 4 to 24 hours post-infusion. If effective, there should be a perceptible difference in feeling less sad, more hopeful, with decreased thoughts of suicide, increased calmness, and improvement of mood. For pain infusions, relief and improvement of symptoms typically occur within hours of the infusion.