Esketamine (SPRAVATO)
Find relief from your depression in a safe and healing space.
ABOUT ESKETAMINE
Relief is within your reach.
Spravato (Esketamine) therapy is a nasal spray that is FDA approved for Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). It is also approved for patients experiencing symptoms of acute suicidality, but do not need hospitalization.
If you have questions, or would like to schedule a consultation to see if esketamine (Spravato) is the right next step, do not hesitate to give us a call at 916-209-0533 or use the contact us form. Our team has helped many patients get their life back.
How does esketamine work?
Esketamine mechanism of action is currently undersood to include NMDA and glutamate pathway as well as increase in neurogenesis and neuroplasticity. Most traditional antidepressant medications work on serotonin and norepinephrine pathways. Esketamine is frequently used in conjunction with typical antidepressant medication. However, if antidepressant medications alone have not provided sufficient relief and depression is worsening, esketamine can be the right next step in your treatment plan.
One of the benefits of Esketamine is decrease in suicidal thoughts which is frequently associated with severe depression. For patients who are able to keep themselves from acting on these thoughts, but would like to experience relief and decrease in frequency and intensity for suicidal thinking, esketamine can be very helpful.
What is the difference between esketamine and ketamine?
Esketamine is the psychoactive component of Ketamine. Ketamine is primarily administered through the intravenous route (IV) as oral absorption of ketamine is variable and overall poor. Ketamine infusion therapy, while gathering more evidence in practice and literature, is not an FDA approved treatment for depression. Thus ketamine is not typically covered by insurance. Esketamine is a self-administered nasal spray, no IV access required. Esketamine received FDA approval under the brand name Spravato in 2019 and most insurance carriers have a policy that covers Spravato treatments.
Meet our expert physicians
Not sure if esketamine is right for you? Give us a call to discuss if you're a good candidate and to schedule an in-person consultation with one of our physicians.
Take the first step and complete our interest form below to connect with our esketamine coordinator.
What's involved
SPRAVATO is a prescription medication to be used alongside an oral antidepressant for best results. Patients self administer SPRAVATO nasal spray in-clinic and are monitored by staff for a two hour period of observation time.
Esketamine has the potential to distort one's perception of the world around then while under the influence of the medication. This is why we administer in the clinic and monitor patients for two hours.
Find Relief
Research studies show that FDA-approved Spravato treatment for depression is highly effective and rapid-acting.
Adults with treatment-resistant depression who were part of a clinical study were given either a nasal esketamine spray or a placebo spray.
Those who added esketamine, the active ingredient in SPRAVATO®, to their oral antidepressant experienced a greater reduction of depressive symptoms at four weeks compared to those who received placebo plus an oral antidepressant.
