Ketamine IV Infusion
Your questions answered
What is Ketamine?
Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects. It distorts perceptions of sight and sound and makes the user feel disconnected and not in control. It is an injectible, short acting anesthetic for use in humans and animals. The drug induces a state of sedation (calm and relaxed feeling), immobility, pain relief, and amnesia.
What does Ketamine treat?
Under a controlled and supervised environment, Ketamine infusion can treat chronic pain - including Migraines, Fibromyalgia, and Neuropathic pain. Ketamine infusion can also treat mental health issues such as Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, and Bipolar depression.
What are the risks of Ketamine?
Ketamine infusion in a controlled environment is safe. Rare side effects may include hallucinations, nausea/vomiting, dizziness, vivid dreams/nightmares, blurred vision, and change in motor skills. These side effects are temporary, and can be managed during the duration of the treatment at the office. In the unlikely instance of allergic reaction, treatment is stopped, and allergy medication is applied to the patient.
How do I know Ketamine is right for me?
How many treatments are needed?
Typical treatment plans involve four to six treatments twice per week, followed by monthly maintenance visits. This may vary depending on patient's diagnosis and response to treatment.
How do I set up an appointment?
Patients require a qualified diagnosis for Ketamine Infusion treatment. The office will need the following documentation before an appointment can be made.
- Medical referral from a provider.
- Recent Blood test (within 3 months)
- Initial Drug test
- Medication List (each visit)
- Medical records or referral including your diagnosis and treatment history.
- Radiology Reports (ex: x-rays, MRI)
- Pregnancy Test (women)
When these documents are in order, please give the office a call at 504-513-2531 to schedule a consult.
What happens during the visit?
Please have a reliable ride to bring you to the appointment and pick you up after the appointment.
Please fast 6-8 hours (no solid food) before the appointment.
Patients will have an initial consult with Dr Lihua Zhang. When all documents and consults are in order, treatment may continue.
During the treatment, patients are constantly monitored by a registered nurse. Blood pressure, oxygen, and heart rate is constantly monitored during the treatment. The physician is on site for each treatment should problems occur.
What happens after the visit?
After treatment, trained staff will make sure you are stable and ready to go home. Do not operate heavy machinery, drive, or be around dangerous situations for 24 hours after treatment.
Usual recovery time is around 30 minutes. During, which time your vital signs are monitored and assessed for recovery. Patient should feel like they're waking from a relaxing nap.