Ketamine for PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) causes recurring symptoms that disrupts your daily life and often makes it a struggle to enjoy time with family and friends or even hold a job. Many patients find that their PTSD doesn’t improve with conventional treatments, which is why Dr. Milind Tilak MD, offers PTSD treatment with ketamine. Ketamine is an innovative option with the potential to quickly improve your PTSD symptoms and produce long-lasting results. To learn more about ketamine, call one of our offices or request an appointment today.
What causes PTSD?
PTSD occurs after a terrifying or dangerous event. You may be directly involved in the event, but you can also develop PTSD after hearing about a traumatic event experienced by a family member or friend.
The top events responsible for causing PTSD include:
- Military duty
- Gun violence
- Severe accident
- Sexual or physical assault
- Natural or man-made disaster
- Recurrent emotional assault
The sudden death of a loved one, being robbed, and many other traumatic events can also lead to PTSD.
What symptoms develop due to PTSD?
You may experience symptoms right after the traumatic event, or your symptoms may be delayed. Once symptoms begin, they recur and cause significant anxiety.
PTSD symptoms include:
- Having flashbacks or dreams about the event
- Having extreme emotions
- Feeling on edge or angry
- Being easily startled
- Feeling depressed
- Avoiding the people and places that remind you of the event
Some patients find that they have a hard time remembering all the details about the event.
What treatment might I receive for PTSD?
Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy and other types of psychotherapy are the first treatments recommended for patients with PTSD. Unfortunately, about half of all patients continue to have symptoms after their psychotherapy is over.
You may receive medications to treat specific symptoms such as anxiety and insomnia, and there are FDA-recommended medications for PTSD. However, 20-40% of all patients fail to improve with these medications. You have another more effective option for PTSD treatment, and that’s ketamine.
How does ketamine support PTSD treatment?
Ketamine is a medication that treats PTSD through two pathways. First, it balances levels of glutamate, a brain chemical that regulates psychological conditions such as PTSD, depression, and anxiety. As ketamine directly and quickly changes brain chemicals, it rapidly improves PTSD symptoms.
The second way ketamine helps PTSD is by improving nerve connectivity. This action may be especially important for patients with PTSD because experiencing trauma disrupts nerve communication.
What should I expect during PTSD treatment with ketamine?
Dr. Tilak administers ketamine through an intramuscular or IM infusion.
While your symptoms may improve with one treatment, a series of IM infusions over the course of about 4-6 weeks produces optimal and long-lasting results.
Like other medications, each person’s response to ketamine is different. Dr. Tilak works closely with you to ensure you achieve the best possible results.
To learn if you’re a good candidate for ketamine treatment, call our Jacksonville or Middleburg clinic or request an appointment today.