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Ketamine Specialist

Ocean View Neuropsychiatry

Child Psychiatrists located in Newport Beach, CA

When you struggle with depression and aren’t responding to antidepressants, Ashraf Elmashat, MD, and Mohamed Yaser Elatrozy, MD, offers solutions to help. At Ocean View Neuropsychiatry in Laguna Beach and Irvine, California, Dr. Elatrozy and Dr. Elmashat provide comprehensive ketamine services to alleviate your symptoms of treatment-resistant depression. If you have questions about this innovative treatment option, call the office today for an appointment or book one online.

Ketamine Q & A

What is ketamine?

Ketamine hydrochloride is a fast-acting anesthetic often used as a general anesthetic. This medication is also effective in treating treatment-resistant depression.

Under close supervision, Dr. Elatrozy and Dr. Elmashat provide ketamine therapy to address chronic depression that other antidepressants can’t treat. They carefully monitor ketamine therapy to ensure your health and safety.

How does ketamine treat depression?

As many as one-third of people with depression don’t find relief of severe depression symptoms with antidepressants, which block certain neurotransmitters such as serotonin and norepinephrine.

Ketamine helps alleviate depressive symptoms by blocking a different set of brain receptors — NMDA receptors — than other medications.

What can I expect during ketamine therapy?

Dr. Elmashat and Dr. Elatrozy administer ketamine intranasally, or through the nose, with a drug called Spravato. The dosage and treatment timeline are based on your symptoms of depression and medical history.

Following treatment, you may feel immediate relief of your depressive symptoms. This is especially helpful if you have suicidal thoughts or behaviors, as many antidepressants take weeks to provide optimum benefits.

Symptom relief can last for several weeks at a time, requiring follow-up treatments Dr. Elatrozy and Dr. Elmashat established based on results.

What are the risks of ketamine therapy?

Because ketamine is a commonly abused street drug, it’s important that you only receive ketamine therapy by qualified medical professionals like Dr. Elatrozy and Dr. Elmashat. They carefully monitor dosage to prevent addiction or issues with abuse.

Will I be able to take ketamine at home?

No. You cannot take the nasal spray at home. You apply the spray through your nasal passages in the office under the guidance and supervision of a member of the Ocean View Neuropsychiatry team, as stipulated by the FDA. Then, you are monitored for a few hours by the team for side effects before you can go home.

After treatment, you may need to spend time relaxing. Use of ketamine can have an effect on the overall functionality of the body. Avoid strenuous activities and driving for at least 24 hours after treatment.

If you are struggling with depressive symptoms and other treatments have failed, book online or call the office to schedule a consultation and learn more about the benefits of ketamine therapy.