Getting Started with ketamine therapy

Before getting started, we want to make sure we have answered all your questions. We highly recommend looking through our website, especially our FAQ page, but please don’t hesitate to give us a call, and Eli will be able to answer most of your questions right away, any time Wednesday through Sunday, from 8:00 AM until 5:30 PM : 425‑835‑2363

Intake Call

After we have answered your questions and you are ready to move forward, the first step is to schedule an intake phone call. During the intake call, Liana will ask you a series of questions about your health history to make sure there are no safety issues, as well as to give you a chance to ask any specific, clinical questions we were not able to answer earlier. While ketamine therapy is generally considered safe for most people, there are a few health conditions that would make ketamine infusions contraindicated. There are also a small number of medications that can interfere with the benefits of ketamine, so it’s important to know what medications you are taking to ensure the best chance of the treatment working. Liana is an anesthesia provider with decades of experience, and she will be the person administering your infusions.

Once Liana has determined that you are a good candidate for ketamine therapy, we will send you an email with a link to complete our intake forms online.

Documentation

We will also need documentation of your diagnoses. As a treatment center, we do not make diagnoses, so we will need something on file showing that you have been diagnosed with one or more of the conditions that we treat.

Usually the easiest method for obtaining your documentation is to ask your provider to complete this form (it’s a fillable PDF), and email or fax it to us. Be sure to let them know that our email is HIPAA‑compliant.

If you already have medical records that show your specific diagnoses and/or diagnosis codes, you can just email those to us as attachments (info@lhinfusions.com ). You may also be able to download records from your patient portal (eg. MyChart). Please be sure to “print to file” and email us the PDF as an attachment (no screenshots please).

If neither of those options work for you, we can send you a release of information form (ROI) to fill out online. Once that’s completed, we can request diagnosis information and/or medical records directly from your provider on your behalf.

Scheduling

When we have received documentation of your diagnoses and the intake forms have been completed, we can get you scheduled for your initial loading dose. For most conditions we treat, you will typically need a series of six infusions over the course of four weeks, with boosters (a single infusion) generally necessary every 1–⁠3 months thereafter.

To facilitate the scheduling of all six appointments in a manner that works well for you, Eli will give you a call to set up your initial loading dose. Following this, you’ll gain access to our 24/7 online scheduling portal, allowing you to book future appointments, as well as reschedule or cancel existing appointments at your convenience.

Boosters

After you have completed your initial loading dose, you will typically need boosters to maintain the relief from symptoms. Everyone’s brain chemistry is different, so while most patients need boosters every 1–⁠2 months, we do have a number of patients who are able to go as long as 3 months without a recurrence of symptoms. We usually recommend scheduling your first booster four weeks after you finish your loading dose. If you still feel good by the time you come in for your first booster, you can then increase the intervals between subsequent boosters (eg. 6-wks, 8-wks, etc.). If, at some point you experience a recurrence of symptoms before you come in for your next booster, then you know to decrease the interval between boosters. As the effects of ketamine are cumulative, we recommend not going more than 3 months between booster, otherwise you might require more than one infusion to restore efficacy.

Measurement Based Care

As part of our commitment to measurement based care, we utilize clinically-validated assessments to track your progress through each step of your therapeutic journey. We will periodically send you “assessment journals” to fill out online at your convenience, and the assessments you receive will be specifically selected according to your individual treatment needs. The results of these assessments will allow us to track your progress over time, as well as optimize your treatment for greater therapeutic success.