Ketamine Infusion Therapy Blog

Bipolar Depression Treatment with Ketamine Infusion Therapy

Written by ketamine@dmin | Aug 4, 2017 12:00:00 AM

Ketamine Infusion Therapy

Ketamine Therapy is a safe, proven and effective treatment for patients suffering from depression, bipolar depression, postpartum depression, PTSD, OCD, anxiety, and fibromyalgia. Many patients of bipolar depression have received relief from ketamine treatment when conventional antidepressants failed to address their condition.

Ketamine Clinics of Los Angeles, led by the focused and highly accomplished Dr. Steven Mandel, provides Ketamine Infusion Therapy to treat a variety of conditions, including bipolar disorder. Patients in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, California, and surrounding locations have an opportunity to receive ketamine infusion treatments from Dr. Mandel.  

 

What is Bipolar Depression?

Bipolar depression is only one half of the condition called bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is commonly called manic depression because the patient will suffer from bouts of mania apart from having depressive episodes. The patient may often go through an extreme mood elevation or mania and then plunge into the depths of a deep depression. The severity and length of these highs and lows will differ between two patients.

Clinicians sub-divide bipolar disorder into two categories: Bipolar I and Bipolar II. Patients of Bipolar I will go through manic phases that may last for at least a week. Symptoms include elevated mood, inflated self-esteem, decreased need for sleep, racing thoughts, difficulty maintaining attention, increase in goal-directed activity, and excessive involvement in pleasurable activities. Many patients will also have depressive phases.

Patients who are diagnosed with Bipolar II condition will experience bouts of major depression. However, instead of going through full blown manic episodes like Bipolar I, these patients will have low grade hypomanic swings. These swings are of low intensity and may last for less than a week. Patients of Bipolar II suffer from both hypomania and depression.

 

Treatment with Ketamine IV Therapy

While traditional medications such as mood stabilizers, anti-psychotics and antidepressants are used by many patients, Ketamine Infusion Therapy is now increasingly accepted as a more effective alternative. Over the last few years, psychiatrists and mental health providers have particularly started recommending ketamine as the treatment of choice for bipolar depression.

The patient will be typically administered ketamine infusion treatments in the dosage of 0.5 mg/kg IV over 40 minutes. Depending on the patient’s response, the dosage can be adjusted. As no two patients are alike, the treatment provider may increase or decrease the dosage as needed. One of the key benefits of Ketamine Therapy is that the patient will not experience any significant or unpleasant side effects between treatments.

This makes ketamine a preferred alternative over other commonly prescribed oral medications used to treat bipolar depression. Furthermore, for patients who have not achieved satisfactory outcomes with medications and have become treatment resistant, Ketamine Infusion Therapy is a better treatment options than electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and/or Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS).  

With ketamine treatment, the patient and the provider will know after just one or two treatments whether or not the treatment will be beneficial. Patients of bipolar depression have the fastest chance of recovery with ketamine when it works for them. Dr. Mandel receives patients from Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, California, and other cities and neighborhoods in this part of the country for ketamine infusion treatments.

For more information about treatments for depression, bipolar, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), fibromyalgia, pain syndromes and other conditions contact us at the Ketamine Clinics of Los Angeles in Southern California (Orange County) by clicking here or calling  310-270-0625 

Treating patients from LA, Beverly Hills, Orange County, San Diego, Palm Springs, San Francisco, Sacramento,CA,  Las Vegas, NV and many other cities from west to east coast.