Introduction 

The reliability and effectiveness of IV therapy have advanced significantly as a treatment for various medical conditions – such as depression. When combating hard-to-treat depression, its capacity to administer drugs straight into the bloodstream not only reduces symptoms but also instils hope. In this article, we will explore how ketamine IV therapy, in particular, may help those with depression.

Does IV therapy work for depression?

Administering medications intravenously through an IV catheter for depression can help symptoms and provide fast relief. While it isn’t usually the main way to treat depression, studies show IV ketamine therapy works quickly and well as a treatment for this condition. Ketamine given via IV is a new approach that may ease depression symptoms in just hours or days, but the effect doesn’t last long. Most research on the topic is from small studies. Still, some scientists think ketamine IV therapy could be beneficial for people with major depressive disorders who haven’t responded to other care. They saw big improvements happen fast when patients were given the drug intravenously (injected into a vein).

Benefits of IV Therapy for depression

The benefits of IV ketamine therapy for depression may include:

• Fast Relief: IV therapy has been proven to provide quick relief from depression symptoms, often within days of a single treatment. This compares favourably with traditional oral medications for depression, which can take weeks to work.
• Works When Other medications Don’t: IV therapy sometimes helps people who’ve had no luck with other treatments – including folks said to have “treatment-resistant” depression.
• Effects That May Last: While the effects of IV therapy vary, some research shows that when patients receive several ketamine treatments in a row, it can help produce an ongoing improvement in mood and functioning.
• Rare Side Effects Only: Ketamine infusion therapy is generally safe and well tolerated. Most side effects are not severe and do wear off quickly. These might include things like feeling strange or unreal (dissociation), dizziness, or a slight increase in blood pressure or pulse rate

Side effects of IV Therapy for Depression

Side effects of IV therapy for depression, particularly with ketamine, may include:

• Dissociation: feeling like you are not connected to reality or yourself – which many people find distressing when being treated.
• Dizziness: Some might also feel dizzy or light-headed during therapy sessions with the drug or directly afterwards.
• Nausea and vomiting: Nausea and sickness can be another unwanted outcome from ketamine infusion; it is something that affects some individuals.
• Increased blood pressure or heart rate: An increase in heart rate and/or blood pressure is also possible following ketamine administration; however, these effects only last for a short time after the drip stops.
• Headache: A few people have said they get headaches after having had ketamine infusions, although how often this happens varies between different reports, as does how bad the pain becomes.
• Blurred vision: Changes to vision such as double-vision or other visual disturbances which go away again once the treatment finishes up are sometimes reported too;
• Cognitive changes: Feeling tired or lacking in energy post-therapy with ketamine (for a little while) is something else that may happen to you. If used over time, there can be unwanted effects on the bladder from taking ketamine, including urgency or discomfort whilst passing urine more often than usual (or needing to do so). Still, it seems these problems mostly occur when higher doses than those normally prescribed therapeutically are taken long-term rather than during regular courses of treatment.

Frequently asked questions

How does IV therapy help with depression?

When people have depression, signals between certain parts of their brain can slow down or stop altogether. This happens when naturally occurring chemicals called neurotransmitters become unbalanced. One type of neurotransmitter is glutamate, which does many things, including making connections between nerve cells stronger. When someone has depression, there might not be enough glutamate in these areas for the cells to communicate properly. This affects circuits that control mood and emotions. To ‘fix’ this, doctors often try drugs that increase glutamate levels. Ketamine is one such medicine. It works on receptors in the brain that normally pick up glutamate messages (NMDA receptors). By blocking these receptors, ketamine raises glutamate levels around nearby nerve cells.

Why don’t antidepressants like ketamine usually work then?

They usually take a while to enter your bloodstream because they must go via your stomach. Once that’s happened, more travel to wherever they’re needed. Because of these processes, you may not notice any changes in your feelings for even a few weeks. IV therapy gets around this by bypassing the gut; instead, fluids go straight from a vein into your blood. Therapists think this could speed up onset times so patients experience symptom relief sooner than if they’d swallowed tablets.

Who can have IV therapy for depression?

Solutions like ketamine are newer and still being researched concerning depression treatment. Research is still ongoing to understand the enduring impacts of IV therapy on depression. However, early studies indicate that ketamine infusion could help some people feel and function better for longer periods.

If symptoms return, can IV therapy be given again?

It might be advised for individuals who have another bout of feeling depressed following an initial course of IV therapy: having more sessions could help uphold initial benefits and stop symptoms from coming back.

Sources

McInnes, L. A., Qian, J. J., Gargeya, R. S., DeBattista, C., & Heifets, B. D. (2022). A retrospective analysis of ketamine intravenous therapy for depression in real-world care settings. Journal of Affective Disorders, 301, 486-495. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.12.097

McInnes, L. A., Qian, J. J., Gargeya, R. S., DeBattista, C., & Heifets, B. D. (2022). A retrospective analysis of ketamine intravenous therapy for depression in real-world care settings. Journal of Affective Disorders, 301, 486-495. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.12.097

Mandal, S., Sinha, V. K., & Goyal, N. (2019). Efficacy of ketamine therapy in the treatment of depression. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 61(5), 480-485. https://doi.org/10.4103/psychiatry.IndianJPsychiatry_484_18

Yavi, M., Lee, H., Henter, I. D., & Park, L. T. (2022). Ketamine treatment for depression: A review. Discover Mental Health, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44192-022-00012-3

Phillips, J. L., Blier, P., & Talbot, J. (2023). Sustaining the benefits of intravenous ketamine with behavioural activation therapy for depression: A case series. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, 14, 100613. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadr.2023.100613