The 5 Most Important Questions to Ask Before Starting IV Ketamine Therapy

IV Ketamine Therapy can be a powerful treatment for depression, anxiety, PTSD, addiction, and chronic pain. For maximal healing, you need to be confident in the doctors you chose for your journey. Here are 5 critical questions to ask before selecting your IV Ketamine Infusion clinic.

1) Ask to Meet Your Doctor - You Need to Know Who is in Charge

IV Ketamine Therapy involves healing your body and mind. As the patient, you are trusting your consciousness to your doctor. Trust and confidence in your doctor are critical to optimizing your healing journey. This is part of the "set and setting" that determines where your Ketamine experience takes you as you heal from depression, anxiety, PTSD, or chronic pain.

Knowing your doctor and trusting them is key to the Ketamine experience

Some clinics cut corners and make it challenging to directly meet with your doctor before starting your journey. You want to specifically meet with your doctor to ask several important questions:

• "What is your training?" - You want to make sure they are an anesthesiologist or emergency room trained physician if they are using IV Ketamine
• "What specific Ketamine training have you had?" - Ketamine therapy is not a part of standard medical education, and you want your doctor to have specialized training in how to use Ketamine for mental health and pain treatments.
• "How many patients have you treated?" - Your doctor team should have treated 100 patients to have gained experience in this new field of psychedelic medicine
• "How can I contact you throughout treatment?" - You want to make sure your doctor is available to you directly during your Ketamine journey to answer your questions and support you with their expert knowledge.

2) How Will Your Doctor Personalize Your Treatment?

There is no "protocol" approach to treating mental health, physical health, or chronic pain. There are numerous patient factors that must be considered, including:

• Past experiences with anesthesia or psychedelic drugs
• History of drug use, including alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, etc.
• Nutritional status
• Sleep and dream health
• Presence of neurologic or hypermobility disorders, like Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), Fibromyalgia, or Ehler's Danlos Syndrome (EDS)
• Desire for natural supplements and/or conventional antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications

Your doctor should be asking about these as they try to form your treatment plan. There is no "one-size-fits-all" approach.

3) Ask About "Protocol" Red Flags

If you find a clinic or doctor emphasizing "protocols" you should pause. There is no "protocol" for treating mental health because there are so many variables that influence our mind-body connection.

There is no such thing as a "protocol" for all patients - every patient needs their own individualized treatment plan

Protocols are shortcuts. They are easy to remember. You should be honest in asking yourself "can you be summarized as a protocol?"

At Clarus Health, patients have a thorough and holistic intake consultation prior to starting their first infusion of Ketamine or NAD. This is to ensure the treatment plan addresses the patient's specific goals. Dr. Kaveh's integrative medicine expertise allows for formulating personalized treatment plans instead of just using a "protocol."

4) Is a Doctor Present to Give the Right Dose of Ketamine?

IV Ketamine Infusions are very safe under the supervision of doctors trained in the physical and psychological aspects of Ketamine. When anesthesiologists and emergency room physicians supervise IV Ketamine Infusions, they can safely vary the dose significantly to ensure the patient receives the most therapeutic dose of ketamine.

When doctors are not immediately present, only limited doses of IV Ketamine may be used safely. Unfortunately, this may significantly decrease the effectiveness of the Ketamine if the right dose cannot be given.

5) Ask About the Booster Trap

Many patients wonder what the next step is after the initial series of IV Ketamine is over. You need to be confident asking your clinic what they recommend to patients before and after the IV Ketamine Therapy. Many patients are told they will "need" Ketamine boosters after their initial treatment. This is simply not accurate and is concerning for bad practices that put patients into a "booster trap."

Your expectation as a patient before your IV Ketamine Treatment heavily impacts the success of the Ketamine Therapy. When patients are told they will "need" Ketamine boosters, that is biasing the patient and fundamentally affecting their mind and body.

IV Ketamine needs to be part of a holistic healing plan that empowers the patient to uncover their inner healing potential. That inner healing capacity is the key to our mental and physical health.

Learn more from Dr. Kaveh

Dr. Kaveh educates professionals across the United States on the responsible and ethical use of Ketamine Therapy to help patients sustainably overcome depression, anxiety, PTSD, chronic pain, and other debilitating conditions. You can schedule a free consultation with Dr. Kaveh to learn if Clarus Health can help you on your healing journey.