What is Spravato® Esketamine Therapy?

Spravato® (esketamine intranasal) is a safe, non-invasive prescription nasal spray that can help reduce the symptoms of treatment-resistant depression (TRD). It contains esketamine, which is a new form of the drug ketamine. Spravato® was approved by the FDA in 2019 to treat mood disorders in patients over 18 years of age who have not sufficiently responded to at least two different antidepressants. Spravato® is not a standalone treatment for depression. It is taken in addition to a daily antidepressant.

Spravato® treatments are highly regulated and are administered under the direct supervision of a healthcare provider in a comfortable setting within our Bloom Health Centers Spravato® clinics. The prescription is not available for use outside of the clinic.

There are a few common misconceptions about Spravato® therapy. Esketamine is the chemical cousin of ketamine, a powerful anesthetic that was misused illegally as a club drug referred to on the street as Special K. Due to the drug’s close chemical relationship with ketamine, critics had concerns about its potential for abuse, however, clinical trials have repeatedly shown those risks as unfounded.

Along with this, ketamine was once wrongfully classified as an opioid which caused stigma to be associated with its therapeutic use. In actuality, ketamine has the opposite effect on the brain as opioids and esketamine has been clinically proven to be a safe treatment for depression in both long-term and short-term studies.

Esketamine was designated as a breakthrough therapy for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) in 2013 after the medical community recognized its potential for providing quick relief to individuals dealing with the debilitating symptoms of depression. It works much faster than traditional antidepressants and some patients see a significant impact after only one or two sessions in our clinics. Used in conjunction with our integrative treatment plans, Spravato® can be a fantastic way to control symptoms so you can begin shaping more positive and constructive thought patterns and daily habits. Spravato® is covered by most insurance plans, making it an affordable treatment option.

Why Is Spravato®  Esketamine Used?

Spravato® esketamine is a neuro medication explicitly designed for the treatment of depression. It is the first FDA-approved prescription medication for patients who have used one or more antidepressants in their lifetime and are experiencing current episodes of depression. Though there are many effective treatments available for depression, there are times when the traditional approaches, such as therapy and antidepressant medications, simply do not work.

Studies show that between 29% and 46% of depressed patients fail to respond to antidepressants! For these individuals, each new oral anti-depressant medication attempted is typically found to be even less likely to work than the previous one tried, leading to the added frustration and hopelessness already being experienced by depressed patients. Bloom prides itself on offering innovative treatment options for mood disorders that are scientifically proven to be effective at treating symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Spravato® has been proven to be significantly more effective than other pharmaceuticals, has very few, if any, side effects, and is often reported to be life-changing for our patients. Esketamine has been shown to be highly effective when combined with oral antidepressants. Bloom provides this groundbreaking therapy for patients suffering from depression or anxiety who have had no luck with antidepressants alone to relieve their symptoms. It is an especially effective treatment for patients who are in an acute crisis state and need immediate relief to cope.

When traditional approaches such as psychiatric drugs and psychotherapy have not been successful, Spravato® achieves incredibly promising results when combined with oral antidepressants. In clinical trials, individuals who took Spravato® along with antidepressants experienced significantly fewer symptoms of depression than individuals who received antidepressants alone.

If you are experiencing treatment-resistant depression, lingering depressive symptoms, or if you want to supplement your current treatment plan, you may want to consider Spravato® therapy. Most insurance providers currently cover Spravato® for the relief of depressive symptoms.

Wondering if you may be a candidate for Spravato® therapy? Ask yourself the following questions:

∗  Have you ever been diagnosed with one or more of the following conditions?

• • Clinical Depression
  • Major Depressive Disorder
  • Peripartum Depression
  • Postpartum Depression
  • Chronic or Treatment-Resistant Depression
  • Persistent Depressive Disorder
  • Anxiety Disorder
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

∗  Have you tried medications to treat your depression?

∗  Have you experienced unwanted side effects from your depression medication?

∗  Are your depression symptoms interfering with your daily life?

∗  Are your symptoms negatively impacting your relationships with your family and friends?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, contact Bloom if you want to find out more about Spravato® and see if it may be right for you!

How Does Spravato® Esketamine Work?

Spravato® is a low-dose, ketamine-based treatment for depression that works differently than oral medications to fight depression fast. Ketamine is a synthetic drug that is a chiral and is typically produced as an equal mix of two mirror-image ketamine molecules. These mirror images, or enantiomers, are referred to as the S-image and the R-image. Spravato® is based exclusively on the S-image that is often referred to as S-ketamine or esketamine.

While traditional antidepressants boost the levels of neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine) in the brain, Spravato® works differently by blocking a type of glutamate receptor called the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. By doing so, Spravato® boosts the activity of the neurotransmitter glutamate in brain regions that are important for mood. Since glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter, the increased glutamate activity begins exciting cells in the brain and throughout the central nervous system, which encourages learning functions, boosts your memory, and trains the brain to become comfortable with this new state, which helps to battle the symptoms of depression.

The exact mechanism of how esketamine works in the brain to relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety is not known. It is thought to increase neuroplasticity (which allows the brain to cope more effectively with stress) and reverse depression-related brain changes. Since impaired neuroplasticity is linked to depression, the current understanding is that a patient’s depressive symptoms improve as the neuroplasticity increases. In turn, this enhances resiliency by strengthening or repairing damaged or weakened neurotransmitters, thereby potentially helping the development of cell connections in the brain. Research has shown that Spravato® can allow a patient to create new, more positive thought patterns, behaviors, moods, and cognition, and it lowers the frequency of suicidal thoughts and ideations.

Spravato® takes approximately five minutes to administer through a nasal spray at a Bloom Spravato® Clinic. Patients then receive two hours of personalized care and monitoring from our psychiatric professionals. One significant benefit of Spravato® is that clinical trials have shown that patients can see results within 24 hours, which has never been the case for any other antidepressant. In a clinical study of adults with depression, individuals who took Spravato experienced a greater reduction of depression symptoms after 24 hours and 4 weeks compared to those who received a placebo.