First synthesized by a Detroit chemist in 1962, Ketamine was primarily used in hospital emergency rooms and the battlefields of Vietnam as an anesthetic for pain relief, sedation and respiratory stimulation. However, it is now being administered as a powerful aid in depression, pain management and PTSD without the addition of other side effects that often accompany traditional therapies.

Common symptoms of depression include anxiety, hopelessness, loss of interest, sleep and appetite. Lack of concentration, suicidal thoughts and mood swings are also other symptoms that may accompany debilitating severe depression. While traditional anti-depression medication often take 2-3 weeks to start, studies show that ketamine treatment begin to work within a revolutionary 4-72 hours. Low dose ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety’s effects often last for a week, even after ketamine has left the system. A 2017 review by Lancet Psychiatry described ketamine as the single most important advance in the treatment of depression in over 50 years. It boosts the brain’s overall functional capacity and serotonin production, quickly and naturally.

As holistic doctors and science alike find the connection of gut probiotics and magnesium deficiency to depression, ketamine therapy has shown a successful improvement in the absorption of both. A study performed in Howard University, by the Department of Pharmacology, Microbiology and Anatomy in 2018 discussed both Ketamines anti-inflammatory and antidepressant capabilities. The study noted that ketamine amplified good gut bacteria such as Lactobacillus, Turicibacter and Sarcina. The lack of these bacteria’s are often associated with depression and absorption of vital brain-boosting nutrients.

Common symptoms of PTSD may include nightmares, flashbacks, distressful reminders of trauma, negative thinking, despair, shame and depression. Traditional treatment consists of a combination of psychotherapy and medication management which often takes weeks to manage symptoms and show improvement. However, ketamine infusion therapy may lead to rapid reduction of most symptoms within hours of a 40-minute intravenous infusion treatment. Doctors often recommended a series of six treatments spread over two to three weeks in order to achieve an optimal outcome and the deliverance of faster relief. Ketamine, acts like an antagonist to the NMDA receptor, a glutamate receptor and a major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain that plays a large roll with PTSD. Intern, ketamine acts by activating the receptor without damaging it with overactivation.

Ketamine acts as a neural growth stimulator. It resets nerves, it triggers growth of nerve pathways which may help with both nerve and inflammatory pain. Nerve Growth Factor has shown to play an important role in pain, cognitive function, depression and inflammation. Ketamine in low doses continues to display pain relief without the severe addictive qualities of opioids such as Vicodin and Codeine as well as the harmful affects of Ibuprofen. According to Dr. Charles F. von Gunten, “Its successful use as pain medicine is because of a very specific action in the spinal cord on a very specific set of receptors”. The future studies of ketamine on those receptors and how they further affect pain management without other debilitating side effects is crucial.

Although ketamine has been used in the medical industry for decades, its modern take on symptoms has many doctors and naturalist looking forward to its future reaching far beyond its newly approved depression healing capabilities. Ketamine is often administered intravenously, intramuscularly, orally and topically. Ketamine should only be discussed and considered with the help of a health care professional that is well versed in its effects and administration. Also be sure to discuss if ketamine is suitable with the presence of cardiovascular & liver disease, psychosis, substance abuse problems and glaucoma.

***THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN APPROVED OR REGULATED BY THE FDA. WE ARE NOT DOCTORS, THEREFORE ALWAYS CONSULT WITH YOUR DOCTOR FIRST.