Contact Us Today To Find Out More About Ketamine Therapy Infusions In Pocatello

Ketamine relieves pain for many patients and helps with treatment for depression and anxiety disorders.

Originally developed as an anesthetic agent in the 1960s that saw use on battlefields during the Vietnam War, ketamine is an NMDA receptor antagonist. The NMDA receptor plays a role in synaptic plasticity, memory, and learning. It also amplifies pain signals and increases opioid tolerance. 

As an NMDA receptor antagonist, ketamine offers many therapeutic benefits. Our ketamine therapy infusions in Pocatello can help with a wide variety of physical and mental-emotional health problems.

Ketamine Therapy for Depression

Ketamine therapy infusions for severe depression are usually administered through an IV or in the form of a nasal mist. We conduct this kind of therapy under strict medical supervision. You will not find ketamine at a pharmacy as its use as an antidepressant is young and research is still being conducted. That said, many studies and treatments have revealed ketamine’s ability to reduce depression symptoms within just a few hours. 

“Recent data suggest that ketamine, given intravenously, might be the most important breakthrough in antidepressant treatment in decades,” says the director of the National Institute of Mental Health Thomas Insel, MD.

Unlike conventional antidepressants, which take weeks of buildup in the bloodstream to take effect, ketamine seems to work as it leaves the body. This may be the result of ketamine’s ability to regrow certain brain cell connections that affect mood.

Ketamine Therapy for Anxiety & PTSD

Our Pocatello ketamine treatment can help with chronic and severe anxiety. Ketamine, being an NMDA receptor antagonist, is believed to activate synaptic plasticity by increasing brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) translation and secretion; the amount of BDNF is important for the proper development and maintenance of the brain’s neuronal circuits, and in people with chronic anxiety and depression, there is a reported loss of BDNF.

BDNF is a big part of behavioral responses to conventional antidepressants, however, the resulting benefits for synaptic plasticity can take weeks or months to occur. Ketamine’s effect on synaptic plasticity, on the other hand, seems to manifest in only a few hours following treatment.

Our Pocatello ketamine therapy can also help with PTSD. There is growing evidence for the role of glutamate (an excitatory neurotransmitter) in stress and traumatic memory formation. Ketamine is a glutamatergic agent, meaning it modulates glutamate receptors and in this case, it works as a glutamate receptor antagonist.

Ketamine Therapy For Alcoholism & Addiction

Ketamine’s use in the treatment of alcoholism often comes down to its ability to distort or overwrite certain memories that act as “triggers” that tempt alcoholics to consume alcohol. Certain environmental triggers can include:

• Passing a bar
• Getting home from a hard day at work
• Hearing glasses clink or seeing bottles of alcohol
• Reminders of stressful situations in their past that caused them to drink

NMDA (the brain receptor obstructed by ketamine) plays a crucial role in memory formation and mood regulation. Ketamine infusion can weaken certain alcohol-related triggers. 

As stated above, ketamine also aids in synaptic plasticity, helping promote learning. Addiction and alcoholism impair learning and memory formation. Studies back this theory up. Ketamine can help one open up to new information, improve planning skills, and overcome memories that trigger cravings for alcohol and other substances. 

Ketamine Treatment For Chronic Pain

The NMDA receptor plays a role in the amplification of pain signals as well as opioid tolerance. Many people who suffer from chronic pain don’t find adequate relief from opioids alone. As ketamine is an NMDA receptor antagonist, ketamine can amplify the effects of opioids as well as dampen pain signals. 

Our Pocatello ketamine treatment is often used in treatments for:

• CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Disorder)
• Fibromyalgia, neuropathic pain, spinal injuries
• And many other chronic problems

If you are living with chronic pain or mental-emotional disorders that are making your life difficult or impossible to manage, relief is possible. Contact us today about our Pocatello ketamine treatment.