Intranasal Ketamine

What is Intranasal Ketamine?

Intranasal ketamine is a less invasive, affordable alternative to IV ketamine treatment for depressive symptoms.

Ketamine is a medication that has been prescribed to men, women and children since the 1960s when it was first approved by the FDA. In 2000, researchers discovered that ketamine exerts an antidepressant effect and recently was found to improve symptoms in those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). When used as a treatment for depression, patients often report improvement in mood in as little as a few hours without the side effects typically seen in traditional antidepressants.

Ketamine works differently than existing antidepressants. Rather than affecting one of the “monoamine” neurotransmitters (serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine), as standard antidepressants do, it acts on glutamate, the most common chemical messenger in the brain.