Each ketamine infusion last approximately 45 minutes. Most patients will be able to experience the effects of ketamine after the first 10 to 15 minutes of infusion. Most patients describe the sensation as dream like, and introspective. There have been reports of patients experiencing nausea and headaches although that has not routinely been our experience to this point. We do have anti nausea medicine and other medicines to provide relief of headaches available if needed.
Our experience and research shows that 70% or more of patients experience beneficial effects of ketamine within hours of the first treatment. The improvements continue with subsequent treatments as evidenced by improved depression scores on our evaluations.