If you are seeking ketamine infusion therapy for mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, or other mood disorders, it is very possible you may be taking daily medications for these conditions. As ketamine continues to grow as a popular choice in treatment, it is important to be aware of medicines that can interfere with or decrease the effectiveness of the infusions.

Some medications compete with your ketamine infusions

There are a few medications prescribed for mood disorders that target the same pathways in the brain that ketamine infusion therapy works in. Mixing these medications with your ketamine therapy can decrease the efficacy of the treatment or how well it works.

• Benzodiazepines: are often prescribed to treat anxiety, sleep disorders, and more. High doses of benzodiazepines may reduce the effectiveness of the ketamines antidepressant effect. This means it may take a longer time to see an improvement in mood and most importantly, takes a longer time to feel better. In addition, boosters are needed much more frequently.
• Lamotrigine: Lamotrigine is prescribed to treat seizures, epilepsy, and bipolar disorder. This medicine works by decreasing glutamate in the brain, while ketamine works to increase glutamate. With this direct competition in medicine, studies have found that taking both treatments decreases the positive effects of ketamine therapy.
• Memantine: Memantine is an NMDA blocker. Since ketamine targets the NMDA receptors, the efficacy of the ketamine infusion decreases.

Some medications can improve your ketamine infusions!

Fortunately, some medications can work together to improve your ketamine infusions.

• Lithium: Lithium is a mood stabilizer used for bipolar disorder and can enhance ketamine infusion since they both stimulate the same signaling pathway in the brain. Lithium can help improve the antidepressant effects of ketamine and may prolonge the effects of ketamine therapy.

While some medications should be avoided with ketamine therapy, it is great to note that a majority of psychiatric medicines do not interfere with ketamine therapy. Antidepressant medications can be used with ketamine infusion therapy and are even sometimes used for patients who are waiting for their antidepressants to kick in. During your initial assessment, we will ask you to disclose any current medication or drug intake to ensure you’re safe to start ketamine infusion therapy.
If you have any questions or want to learn if ketamine therapy is right for you, you can call us at (773) 227-2687 or fill out our contact form here.