Frequently Asked Questions
Where Science Meets Nature
Ketamine FAQs
Ketamine is an established medication that has new possibilities to treat mental health.
Ketamine combined with a psycho-therapeutic approach, supports individuals to address what is troubling them. Ketamine works by binding to various receptors in the brain to promote regrowth and connections between brain cells that help regulate one’s mood.
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) utilizes ketamine in conjunction with psychotherapy and can enable the healing wisdom within us to be more easily accessed.
No.
Our team will work with you to determine the best approach and options based on your medical history as well as where you are at in your healing journey. Creating an environment of compassion, wisdom, growth, and safety.
Our trained medical professionals ensure that ketamine sessions are safe, comfortable, and meet safety requirements outlined by the Government of Alberta.
KAP is for individuals looking for new tools to support their mental health healing journey.
Studies have shown, Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) is a great option for adult patients with:
• Refractory Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
• Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD)
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
No, you do not need a referral.
We recommend a minimum of 4 sessions. Scientific guidelines affirm evidence that clients who have tried Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy may benefit the most from these sessions over a period of 6 weeks.
The most common experience from ketamine is short-term dissociation. The medication can often distort your perception of sight and sound while producing illusions of detachment from your environment or yourself.
You may feel separate from your thoughts and feelings. You may temporarily experience headaches, nausea, dizziness, blurred vision, drowsiness, elevated mood, anxiety, and elevations in blood pressure and heart rate.
A licensed provider will be with you to assist and assure you throughout your session. All experiences are short-lived and resolve quickly.
Please do not come to your session if you have a cold or feeling unwell.
When leaving your ketamine sessions, you must be driven home by a family member or a friend.
No driving, operating hazardous equipment, or engaging in hazardous activities for the next 12-24 hours.
Avoid making critical decisions for 12-24 hours.
Avoid consuming alcohol or other recreational drugs for 24 hours before and 24 hours after your ketamine sessions.
Ketamine can be safely administered in four ways; intramuscular (IM), intravenous (IV), intranasal or orally. At Cena we offer Ketamine intramuscularly.
The KAP program consists of a combination of ketamine treatments and psychotherapy sessions over 6 weeks. We will require you to provide your medical history, participate in psychometric screening and meet with our psychiatrist to determine if Ketamine therapy is right for you.
Research has shown an individual’s personality and mood are improved in the days to weeks following therapy.
Many individuals have reported experiencing lasting improvement in their condition within hours of a treatment session.
The Ketamine sessions and your care plan are designed to enable personal healing to help you achieve clarity and understanding of your experience.
Ketamine allows you to separate or disassociate from your thoughts, enabling you to look back at those thoughts from a healthy distance.
This new perspective you experience, coupled with the support and guidance of our team members is very different from the current medications that regulate brain chemistry.
At Cena Life we are a private pay service. Your insurance agency may cover a portion of the cost. We do not directly bill insurance companies but will gladly provide you an invoice.
rTMS FAQs
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain to improve symptoms of depression and other conditions, such as anxiety, PTSD, OCD and pain.
Individuals who cannot tolerate or have limited response to medications and other mental health treatments.
There is recent evidence that rTMS helps with pain disorders, and mild cognitive impairment (pre-dementia). It can also be used when other treatment (such as medications) have failed.
In patients with depression who have failed multiple antidepressants, approximately 30-40% can be completely free of depressive symptoms with rTMS, and up to 70% will have some improvement in symptoms. rTMS may even be more effective in patients who are not treatment-resistant. Recent systematic reviews confirm rTMS to be significantly beneficial in anxiety disorders and PTSD.
Minimal. Most people tolerate rTMS without any significant side effects. Common side effects may include: Headache Scalp discomfort at the site of stimulation Tingling, spasms or twitching of facial muscles Lightheadedness Very rare side effects can include Risk of seizure during treatment (1 in 1000 theoretical risk) Risk of mania in patients with bipolar disorderSide effects are generally mild to moderate and improve shortly after an individual session and decrease over time with additional sessions.
6 weeks. Generally, an index course of rTMS is 5 days a week for 6 weeks. The first session will be a longer 90-minute session. Each following session will be 10-25 minutes.
If you have any type of ferromagnetic metal in your head, you are not eligible for TMS therapy. This includes aneurysm clips or coils, stents in the neck or brain, implanted electrodes, deep brain stimulators, metal plates, or metallic implants. Braces, dental fillings, or titanium are OK. To discuss other eligibility requirements including history of seizures or substance use, please contact us.
There are no medications that interact with TMS therapy. This includes caffeine consumption, alcohol use, and sleep. Let your provider know if your medication regimen changes at any time during treatment.
