IV Ketamine infusions are a highy effective medication that reduces the frequency and severeity of chronic migraines
The American Migraine Foundation reports that 90% of migraine sufferers experience interruptions to their education, career, and social lives. These disruptions become more severe the more frequently you suffer migraine attacks, and for many people, traditional treatment plans don’t work, leaving them in pain without any options.
At Transcend Health Solutions, our ketamine infusions offer hope so you can experience your life free from pain.
Migraines are a type of headache with symptoms that may include severe throbbing pain, often on one side of the head. Other migraine symptoms include sensitivity to light or sound, nausea, and vomiting.
Most people experience episodic migraines, meaning they have fewer than 15 headache days per month. Often these can be treated with painkillers and prevented by avoiding migraine triggers, such as sensory overstimulation, extreme stress, and inconsistent sleep patterns.
According to the Migraine Research Foundation, 12% of Americans suffer from chronic migraines, meaning they experience more than 15 headache days a month. Often, conventional treatments, such as NSAIDs, are overused to the point that they are no longer effective, leading people to suffer from intractable migraines, which do not respond to treatment.
While not every migraine will progress through each stage, most people report a pattern to their attacks.
One to two days before the attack appears, some people experience the prodrome stage, which offers some warning signs of an oncoming migraine. These signs vary, but some people report constipation, frequent yawning, fluid retention, and mood changes.
Auras are often the next stage. Some people have an aura before the headache begins, while others experience a migraine with an aura. Auras are associated with nervous system symptoms like vision loss, a pins and needles sensation in extremities, or weakness and numbness.
A migraine attack itself can last anywhere from 4 to 72 hours if left untreated. During this time, the patient suffers severe head pain, often on one side of their head, and is highly sensitive to light and sound.
After the attack has receded, people often report feeling drained or confused for a day or two, which is referred to as the “postdrome” stage.
There is no clear understanding of migraine causes, although researchers believe they are associated with chemical reactions that constrict the blood vessels supplying blood flow to the brain.
Alternatively, genetics appear to play a role in causing these chemical reactions in some people but not others. If you have a family history of migraines, you are more likely to suffer from them as well. Research suggests that migraines may be related to the brainstem’s interaction with the trigeminal nerve, imbalances in serotonin, and estrogen fluctuations in women.
Environmental factors such as strong smells, bright lights, or weather changes are triggers for some people. Other people identify stress, changes in sleep habits, and consumption of alcohol and caffeine as triggers, while others report an attack after ingesting certain foods like aged cheeses or salt, medications such as birth control, or food additives like aspartame and MSG.
Patients with chronic migraines can also experience “medication overuse headaches.” Specifically, after taking powerful drugs for an extended period, individuals may experience a headache (an altogether different sequalae than a migraine) in response to the medication, further exacerbating their migraines. Making matters worse, they may also suffer migraines due to withdrawal when they stop taking these drugs, which leads to an insidious cycle.
Fortunately, there is hope for relief from your chronic pain. At Transcend Health Solutions, we perform ketamine infusions to treat chronic migraines in the office or at your home, and many people report immediate, long-lasting relief from pain.
Recent studies highlight the effectiveness of ketamine as a powerful treatment in patients who suffer chronic and intractable migraines. When admitted for a study, 61 patients rated their pain an average of 7.5 on a 10-point pain scale. After receiving 3-day and 7-day ketamine infusions, 75% of patients reported their pain at a 3.4. Better yet, this treatment continued to work over time, with 40% of participants still feeling relief 30 and even 100 days after completing the infusion.
Ketamine offers other advantages for migraine patients. Unlike other pain relief medications, it doesn’t lower blood pressure. Since it targets N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, it works even when traditional painkillers don’t provide relief. It also alleviates symptoms of depression, a significant struggle for patients with chronic or intractable migraines.
Importantly. Transcend Health Solutions also pairs ketamine infusion therapy with psychotherapy. Ketamine migraine treatment when paired with psychotherapy (also known as Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy or “KAP”) has proven effective at diminishing mood problems associated with migraines. Further, KAP can promote a healthier lifestyle that is so essential for long-term migraine relief.
Unfortunately, some unscrupulous ketamine clinics will deliver ketamine through oral and intramuscular injections that are uncontrolled and often poorly dosed. This can lead to a variety of negative side effects like severe anxiety and significant nausea. At Transcend, because ketamine is administered via a slow, low-dose infusion, most patients experience minor to no side effects when receiving a migraine treatment.
Transcend Health Solutions is a leader in ketamine treatments in the United States. If you suffer chronic, intractable migraines contact us today for a free consultation to learn more about our ketamine infusions for this type of severe, chronic pain.
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Your peace of mind is worth the time.
Ketamine Infusion Therapy/Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy is ideal for people suffering from treatment resistant depression, anxiety, suicidal ideations, OCD, PTSD and chronic pain conditions with no relief from other medications or therapeutic interventions.
Ketamine is a very short acting medication. Generally speaking, any side effect experienced from Ketamine will be short-term and will subside after the infusion has stopped. It can be normal to have slight increases in blood pressure and heart rate during an infusion. A small percentage of patients do experience some nausea during or right after the infusion. Nausea, elevated blood pressure and heart rate are easily managed through IV medications during the session should these arise. Most patients who do not eat for three hours prior to the session, and keep their eyes closed or use eyeshades during the session, will not experience any nausea.
In high doses and/or with very frequent administration Ketamine can be irritating to the bladder. For the purposes of facilitating KAP, doses of ketamine are low and most patients will only do one or two sessions per week. In this dosing and frequency there is an extremely low risk of developing bladder irritation caused by the administration of Ketamine. We have never had a patient develop bladder issues from this treatment at our clinic.
During your medical intake, we will determine if you need to alter your medication regime prior to treatment. There are only a few medications that should be altered prior to initiating treatment. For instance, stimulant medications, benzodiazepines, and medications like Lamictal may need to be held or adjusted prior to treatment.
We request that you don't eat a meal within 3 hours of the start of your appointment time.
After receiving a ketamine infusion, it is normal to feel slightly tired or loopy for several hours. It would be unsafe to drive after a session so we do require that you arrange a family/friend to pick you up or utilize a taxi or other ride service.
It is best to provide time to fully process the therapeutic content that may have been worked through in the session. We encourage our clients to journal and integrate in the time following the session.
At Transcend, it is our goal to have this treatment be a highly transformative, short term intervention for you.
One of the reasons to undergo the KAP process with a therapist vs. receiving Ketamine infusion or injection-only is because most people are more able to avoid needing maintenance treatment long-term with KAP. When symptom reduction has occurred through the chemical effects of ketamine only, there is often a need to re-administer ketamine every 20-30 days to keep symptoms at bay. With KAP, symptom reduction is more often secondary to therapeutic progress which does not dwindle in time, and therefore maintenance treatments are often not required.
The majority of our clients will reach sub-clinical levels of distress after an average of 5-6 sessions. Most of our clients will discharge from our care after these sessions and won't need any form of maintenance therapy. Some people do benefit from revisiting KAP intermittently throughout the year following the initial series as needed to continue therapeutic progress but this is not the most common treatment plan at Transcend.
For chronic pain treatment, it is more difficult to keep baseline pain levels down and flare-ups without maintenance infusions ongoing. The majority of patients with chronic pain will do sessions every 30-90 days to keep the baseline pain levels reduced.
You can expect to be at the clinic for approximately 2 hours. There are many factors that influence the length of the infusion but most patients will receive a 35-50 minute ketamine infusion. Your Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy trained therapist and a registered nurse will be by your side throughout your entire time during the infusion. Your therapist will be with you before to help set goals for the session, during for guidance and processing, and after for continued therapy, integration, and reflection.
Have another question? Don't hesitate to reach out to us.
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