IV Ketamine Therapy in San Francisco

What Is IV Ketamine Therapy?

1 in 3 people are affected by depression, anxiety, and PTSD in some populations. Traditional treatments help many, but up to 80% of patients experience side effects from antidepressants, and up to 80% don't respond adequately to conventional care. For patients with treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, or PTSD, IV ketamine infusion therapy offers a fundamentally different path.

At Clarus Health's ketamine clinic in San Francisco, IV ketamine therapy is a rapidly-acting, physician-supervised infusion treatment for depression, anxiety, PTSD, chronic pain, and other conditions where standard medications have fallen short — including treatment-resistant depression, OCD, traumatic brain injury, and postpartum depression. Ketamine has been used safely in medicine for over 50 years, and its power to promote neuroplasticity and rapidly relieve mental health symptoms has made it one of the most significant advances in psychiatry in decades. Serving patients throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Clarus Health takes a holistic, root-cause approach — pairing IV ketamine infusions with complementary therapies personalized to your biology, your genetics, and your history.

How IV Ketamine Infusions Work

Unlike traditional antidepressants that target serotonin or norepinephrine, ketamine works on a fundamentally different pathway. It blocks the NMDA receptor in the brain, modulating glutamate — the brain's primary excitatory neurotransmitter. This activates the AMPA receptor and triggers mTOR signaling, catalyzing neuroplasticity: the brain's ability to form new connections and rewire away from entrenched patterns of pain and suffering.

A hallmark of depression and PTSD is cognitive rigidity — the brain becoming "stuck" in loops of rumination and hyperarousal. IV Ketamine induces cognitive flexibility by physically rewiring these stuck patterns. This is why a single IV ketamine infusion can produce relief within hours, not weeks — it does not simply mask symptoms, it creates the neurological conditions for lasting change.

This rewiring opens a "critical window" of neuroplasticity after each infusion — a period when the brain is most receptive to forming new, healthier patterns. Working with a therapist during this window can rapidly accelerate the gains from treatment.

IV Ketamine vs Nasal Spray and Oral Ketamine

Not all ketamine is equal — the route of administration profoundly affects effectiveness, safety, and predictability, as the comparison above lays out. Because IV ketamine bypasses the gut entirely, it reaches complete bioavailability, delivering a precise, reliable dose every time, where oral ketamine is limited by extensive first-pass metabolism. That difference in delivery translates into substantially higher response rates for IV infusion than for nasal spray or oral formulations, and it is the reason the IV route outperforms the others on the metrics that matter.

Just as important, IV administration lets a physician titrate the dose in real time — reaching the levels sometimes needed for anxiety relief that can be difficult to achieve reliably by mouth — while at-home protocols offer no such precision or oversight. Physician presence means continuous monitoring, immediate dose adjustment, and real-time management of side effects.

Combining IV Ketamine with Complementary Therapies

IV Ketamine produces its most powerful, lasting results as part of a broader protocol addressing the root causes of your condition. Paired with the Stellate Ganglion Block, it helps reset a nervous system stuck in fight-or-flight — an approach especially effective for treatment-resistant depression and PTSD. Combined with NAD+, it can accelerate recovery from fatigue, brain fog, and Long COVID and extend the duration of ketamine's antidepressant effects. And because hormonal imbalances in thyroid, cortisol, estrogen, and testosterone are a frequently overlooked driver of depression, optimizing hormones alongside treatment can substantially improve outcomes — which is why advanced bloodwork and genomic testing are part of every Clarus Health intake.

Is IV Ketamine Therapy Safe?

Ketamine has been used safely in medicine for over 50 years. When administered by a board-certified physician at therapeutic doses, serious adverse effects are rare. Common temporary effects during infusion — dissociation, altered perception, mild nausea — resolve quickly and are managed in real time by your physician.

Concerns about ketamine addiction risk are often raised but rarely applicable at the low doses and infrequent schedule used therapeutically. Unlike at-home protocols, IV ketamine under physician supervision provides the precision and oversight that makes the therapy both effective and responsible. In patients with anxiety, relief is typically sustained — and even when symptoms partially return, they are not as severe as before treatment.

Begin IV Ketamine Therapy in San Francisco

Whether you are struggling with treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, anxiety, chronic pain, or fatigue — and whether you have tried many medications or are exploring IV ketamine infusion therapy for the first time — Clarus Health's San Francisco ketamine clinic offers a path forward. Contact us for a free 15-minute consultation with Dr. Kaveh or Dr. Shrestha. We serve patients throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

*The FDA has not approved intravenous ketamine for the treatment of any psychiatric or pain condition. This content references off-label use that has been practiced clinically for decades. Like all medical treatments, IV Ketamine carries risks and benefits that should be discussed with a physician. Speak with a doctor at Clarus Health to learn if this therapy may be right for you.