How long does Ketamine pain relief last?
Ketamine infusion and ketamine therapy have become more and more popular due to their pain-alleviating effects. It is a fairly new concept in pain management treatment despite the medication being used for decades. Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic that can produce analgesia-like effects and is often prescribed to treat various symptoms of chronic pain. Ketamine can produce a rapid onset of effects when entering the system. This also means the pain relief effects are not as long-lasting compared to other types of medications used to treat chronic pain.
The Schedule III Controlled Substance was first synthesized in the early 1960s. However, its use in treatment is very limited due to its psychedelic side effects that can cause agitation, hallucination and panic attacks. Ketamine works by targeting a chemical brain messenger, which plays a significant role in pain and depression. Ketamine acts on the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in the brain, which operate like switch channels throughout the body.
Ketamine infusion therapy is still a new type of pain treatment and the psychedelic effects often limit ketamine use in clinical practice. Its psychotropic effects are also the reason why many people use the drug recreationally. Some studies have shown positive correlations between long-term treatment of chronic pain with ketamine. However, these studies are still ongoing, in the early stages and are limited.
How does Ketamine work?
Under normal circumstances, a neurotransmitter known as glutamate reacts with the NMDA receptor. Ketamine is an NMDA antagonist and can prevent glutamate from activating the receptor and produce feelings of lethargy and sleepiness. It helps reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, symptoms of PTSD and allows the brain to rewire itself. Ketamine can also work by blocking sodium and potassium channels in the body, which is a similar chemical reaction to how anesthetics work. It can also help increase the amount of GABA neurotransmitters in the brain to induce relaxation.
What is Ketamine Infusion Therapy?
Today, ketamine infusion involves administering the substance intravenously over a period of time. Patients will be carefully monitored for safety and efficacy. Infusion effects can last anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours. This is depending on each individual and the type of therapy they are receiving. The average treatment plan consists of six infusions that last between 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Some research has found that its use in treating chronic pain is especially helpful when the condition has a neuropathic component. Examples of this include various therapy-resistant chronic pain syndromes such as complex regional pain syndrome type 1, post-herpetic neuralgia and neuropathic pain from peripheral nerve damage. Other types of chronic pain that have been studied with ketamine therapy include acute and chronic migraine, central neuropathic pain, chronic neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia and whiplash spinal cord injury.
According to data from Epic Research, the demand for ketamine prescriptions has increased more than 500% since 2017. Studies found that conditions associated with pain were the number one reason why the drug was being prescribed. In high doses, ketamine can interact with opioid receptors to activate them and reduce sensations of pain.
In clinical practice under the care of medical professionals, ketamine therapy is considered safe and the general side effects are very well tolerated. A 2019 review found that intravenous ketamine therapy provided significant pain relief for users who experienced chronic pain with the effects lasting up to two weeks.
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How long does Ketamine pain relief last?
The effects of ketamine are generally much shorter compared to other drugs. Because ketamine can quickly pass the blood-brain barrier, it produces a rapid onset of effects. In some cases, you can begin feeling pain relief within minutes after taking the drug. In general, the effects of ketamine such as pain relief can last between 4-8 hours. The full elimination of the drug from the system is between 1-3 days.
When the drug is administered intravenously, the onset of effects can begin within 1-2 minutes and last for 20-30 minutes. When the drug is administered orally, the onset of effects can begin within 20-30 minutes and last between 60-90 minutes. When the drug is administered intramuscularly, the onset of effects begins within 10-15 minutes and can last between 30-120 minutes.
The majority of studies on ketamine therapy show that short-term ketamine infusion is often associated with pain relief. In some studies, ketamine was found to provide pain-relieving effects for up to 3 months after initial treatment when used to treat chronic pain. Overall, the pain-relieving effects of ketamine can last anywhere between 15 minutes to several hours depending on the mode of administration, the dosage of the drug, the frequency of drug use and the user’s individual metabolism.
The Effects of Ketamine
- Hallucinations – causing both internal and external perceptions of reality to be affected
- Paranoid ideas
- Dizziness and drowsiness
- Anxious feelings and inability to control thoughts
- Dissociation with time and space
- Visual hallucinations that increase awareness of sound and color
- Blurred vision
- Slurred speech and difficulty speaking
- Vertigo
- Nausea
- Nightmares
- Impaired motor function
- Memory deficit – can persist after abstinence, dissociation, depression and the presence of schizotypal symptoms such as delusional thinking
- Cardiovascular – tachycardia systemic and pulmonary hypertension, increases in cardiac output
- Pain relief without respiratory and cardiovascular depression is often associated with other anesthetics
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Ketamine has been used in clinical medicine for decades and has now shown signs of promise for treating chronic neuropathic pain. Some studies have shown short-term effectiveness in treating chronic pain despite no overall consensus on the administration protocol of ketamine therapy for different types of conditions. Clinicians have found that under the right care and guidance, ketamine therapy can be beneficial for treating symptoms of chronic neuropathic pain.
Because the substance is a Schedule III drug with limited medical use, a significant amount of ketamine is sold illegally from places such as veterinary offices because of its use for general anesthesia. This has also caused a rise in illegal and recreational use. Ketamine has also been labeled as a club drug by the National Institutes of Health, for its desired psychedelic and calming effects. Abuse of ketamine can lead to dependence and addiction. An addiction to psychotropic substances can be treated at a behavioral health treatment program such as Hotel California by the Sea.
We offer medical detox from ketamine, inpatient residential treatment for mind-altering substances, a partial hospitalization program and intensive outpatient programming. Clients in our care will have the opportunity to engage in evidence-proven treatment methods such as cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, family therapy and group therapy. These types of treatments help clients to better understand how they can manage their triggers and drug cravings. Hotel California by the Sea is dedicated to helping our clients overcome their addictions.
References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4014022
https://www.healthline.com/health/ketamine-therapy-for-pain-management
https://apnews.com/article/ketamine-pain-drugs-psychedelic-fda-2c67eeac1932962a7b0affc07d24c09a
https://zinniahealth.com/substance-use/ketamine/duration
https://www.pain-spine.com/2022/11/09/ketamine-infusions-how-do-they-work-how-long-do-they-last
https://conciergemdla.com/blog/ketamine-pain-management