SPRAVATO®

Who can benefit from Spravato?

If you’ve struggled with depression and have tried two or more antidepressants in your current episode without adequate relief, talk with your current doctor or schedule an evaluation with us to see if Spravato may benefit you.

Also known as intranasal esketamine, Spravato is FDA-approved and typically covered by insurance, making it affordable for individuals with insurance. Spravato may only be administered by a trained provider in a certified office environment where patients can be monitored.

The Dallas Center for Advanced Depression Treatments (CADT) is a certified treatment center and Dr. Bennett was one of the first psychiatrists to prescribe it in the Dallas area following its FDA approval in 2019.

The Dallas CADT has quickly become the largest Spravato treatment center in North Texas and has been chosen as one of only four national training centers for Spravato-certified providers. We believe our deep experience with this drug is important in obtaining the best outcomes for our patients.

How does Spravato work?

Spravato is thought to work as a treatment for depression by acting as an antagonist to the NMDA glutamate receptor, a mechanism similar to that of ketamine.

By blocking the NMDA receptor, esketamine is hypothesized to lead to the formation of new neural connections and the restoration of neural plasticity. Patients often report symptom improvement within days instead of weeks as with traditional oral antidepressants.

Before you can be prescribed Spravato, your first visit will be a consultation with one of our providers to discuss your medical history and any other treatments you’ve tried for depression. There are also certain medical conditions that might mean you shouldn’t use Spravato, so it’s important to be aware of your medical history.

All patients are required to register with the Spravato Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) program, and most patients will require a prior authorization from their insurance company prior to initiating treatment. If it is determined that Spravato is a good treatment option for you, our staff will initiate the registration and request the insurance authorization. Generally this approval is received within 3-10 business days, but different insurance companies vary.

What happens during Spravato treatment?

Each treatment session lasts two hours, during which patients are monitored in a private, comfortable setting.

Like all medicines, Spravato can have side effects. Some patients report feeling a bit disconnected from themselves, dizzy, or sleepy. However, 99% of all side effects resolve before being discharged from the office after treatment. Patients are not allowed to drive after treatment and must be picked up by a friend, family member, or ride share service.

The initial phase of treatment, or induction, consists of twice-weekly visits for four weeks.

If a patient has shown satisfactory response to treatment after these eight treatments, they most often are treated with a maintenance course of once-weekly treatment for four weeks and then either once weekly or every two weeks depending on individual response.

Spravato has been shown to be safe and effective at preventing relapse with data now surpassing five years and over 800,000 individual treatments.