Producing feelings of hopelessness, fatigue, irritability, and sadness, depression affects some 17.3 million adults in this country — or 7.1 percent of all U.S. adults. Despite the prevalence of depression, many sufferers do not seek treatment. What’s more, of those who do seek treatment, 10-15 percent do not experience improvement with traditional approaches of therapy and oral antidepressants. Some 30-40 percent notice only partial improvement with these methods.
Now there’s new hope for those who suffer from treatment-resistant depression, also known as TRD. This ground-breaking solution is the recently FDA-approved Spravato™ (esketamine) nasal spray. The highly-regulated prescription nasal spray has been hailed as one of the most significant advances for mental health in the past 50 years. It is not only effective at treating depression that has not responded to other drugs, but it’s fast-acting.
Spravato is derived from ketamine, a 50-year-old anesthetic that has long been used off-label to treat depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and chronic pain. One of the major benefits of Spravato is that it’s fast-acting. Traditional antidepressant pills can take 2 – 4 weeks to take effect, and for a significant percentage, they do not help. Spravato can deliver an improvement of symptoms within hours or days. The nasal spray helps esketamine get absorbed faster than taking a pill. It is given in our office twice per week for the first month, and then every week or every other week after that.
Spravato can only be administered at a certified treatment center, under the supervision of a health care provider. Bowman Medical Group, located in Beverly Hills, CA, is a certified treatment center for the administration of Spravato. Our experienced medical professionals have helped numerous patients lift the cloud of TRD with this innovative treatment. It must be used in conjunction with an oral antidepressant.
After receiving Spravato, patients need to remain under our care and observation for two hours so the doctor can monitor for any potential side effects. Patients should also arrange for transportation home, and refrain from driving or operating heavy machinery on the day of treatment.
To learn more about Spravato and whether it may be right for you, book an evaluation with Bowman Medical Group by calling 310-982-7003.
