Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic that is increasingly misused for its hallucinogenic and euphoric effects. While physical dependence on ketamine is less common than with opioids or benzodiazepines, psychological dependence can be intense, and withdrawal symptoms may include cravings, anxiety, depression, cognitive difficulties, and insomnia upon cessation.
Ketamine detox is best managed in a medically supervised setting where staff can monitor psychological symptoms and provide supportive care. Following detox, treatment typically includes cognitive behavioral therapy, dual diagnosis support for any underlying mental health conditions, and a structured aftercare plan. Catalina Behavioral Health in Tucson provides accredited ketamine treatment with insurance accepted.
Overcome Ketamine Addiction by Seeking Evidence-based Care
Ketamine detox and withdrawal can impact each person differently. While many people experience psychological symptoms, others may have additional health concerns that should be evaluated before beginning addiction treatment.
Ketamine addiction starts in different ways. Any medical use of ketamine should require close monitoring from medical professionals and nominal usage. However, now that the drug is easier to access through online or take-home prescribing, ketamine abuse often starts innocently and with a prescription.
Withdrawal symptoms may make it difficult to stop using ketamine for good on your own. Treating ketamine dependence caused by either medication treatments or self-medication for a mental health condition must involve addressing underlying mental health disorders.
That’s where Catalina Behavioral Health comes in. We have medical detox available through local facilities, followed by inpatient treatment programs, and outpatient programs for people facing substance use, dual diagnosis, and mental health conditions.
Let’s talk about common ketamine withdrawal symptoms and the detox process first. Then, we’ll talk about dual diagnosis treatment for mental co-occurring disorders and how comprehensive treatment at Catalina Behavioral Health after ketamine detox can support long-term addiction recovery after detox.
Get Effective Detox and Rehab Options
What are the Most Common Ketamine Withdrawal Symptoms?
Catalina Behavioral Health does not provide on-site medical detox. If ketamine withdrawal support is needed first, our admissions team can help callers understand options for detox or medical support before treatment begins at Catalina. After detox or withdrawal-related needs have been addressed, Catalina provides ketamine addiction treatment in Tucson through residential care, PHP, IOP, outpatient services, and support for co-occurring mental health concerns. The information we’re sharing on ketamine detox is to provide accurate information for anyone struggling with ketamine.
Withdrawal experiences are not the same for everyone. The timing and severity of symptoms can vary based on individual health factors, patterns of ketamine use, and whether other substances are involved. General timeline information should be viewed as educational rather than predictive for any individual person.
Psychological Withdrawal Symptoms from Ketamine
You might experience new or worsened mental health issues when detoxing from ketamine. Psychological one may endure during the ketamine withdrawal process can include but aren’t limited to the following:
- Intense cravings for ketamine.
- Anxiety.
- Depression.
- Thoughts of suicide.
- Confusion.
- Agitation.
Psychological symptoms can be just as serious as physical symptoms for people who detox from ketamine. Detox services can be necessary even for those who experience primarily psychological symptoms, especially if they are severe.
Physical Withdrawal Symptoms from Ketamine
Some people going through ketamine withdrawal will experience more severe withdrawal symptoms than others. The severity of symptoms you experience can depend on multiple factors, like how long you’ve been using ketamine and how much ketamine you used prior to the detox process.
Physical symptoms of ketamine withdrawal can include, but aren’t limited to the following:
- Double vision.
- Insomnia.
- Tachycardia (increased heart rate).
- Blood pressure changes.
- Rapid breathing.
- Nausea.
Undergoing ketamine withdrawal alone can be scary and, in some cases, dangerous. When ketamine is combined with other drugs, detox from ketamine can be increasingly severe. The risks associated with ketamine use, including the potential for overdose, also heighten when it’s mixed with alcohol or another drug.
How Ketamine Detox Can Help
Our detox programs can help you get through uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms with medical supervision and support. When you go through medically supervised detox, staff will monitor your withdrawal symptoms and may offer medications and other treatments to reduce the severity of ketamine withdrawals.
In addition to the fact that ketamine withdrawal can be uncomfortable, the detox stage comes with a high risk of relapse when individuals try to get off of substances on their own. This could be something you’ve experienced if you’ve tried to get through ketamine withdrawal symptoms on your own in the past.
Ketamine detox is just the first step of ketamine addiction treatment. Ongoing treatment programs, whether inpatient or outpatient, are highly recommended following a detox program.
That’s why we offer more than just medical detox.
Catalina Behavioral Health treats standalone mental health disorders, addiction, and dual-diagnosis disorders, which can be common in people with ketamine addiction and other substance abuse problems.
Dual Diagnosis Treatment at Catalina Behavioral Health
With trauma-informed approaches and mental health specialties, Catalina Behavioral Health can support clients in overcoming trauma, anxiety, and major depression. Often, these are the reasons people seek out ketamine in the first place.
If you have co-occurring mental health concerns, whether that’s a trauma disorder, mood disorder, or something else, we can help. We have also assisted clients in overcoming psychosis symptoms from psychedelics and other forms of drugs known to include mental health disorders.
It is strongly recommended that people with an addiction and co-occurring mental health concerns get dual diagnosis treatment. In dual diagnosis treatment, addiction and any other mental health concerns a person has are addressed at the same time, which is important for helping clients achieve the best possible recovery outcomes.
Prescription Drug Medical Help – Get Help Now!
What to Expect in Treatment for Ketamine Dependence
Our addiction treatment facility provides individualized treatment plans to help you reach a successful recovery. Here’s a little bit of what to expect in treatment at Catalina Behavioral Health once the ketamine detox process is over.
While treatment is not a requirement, save for cases of court-ordered rehab for a substance, proper support can help you overcome addiction and may even save your life.
Evidence-Based Therapies and Treatments
Catalina Behavioral Health has a full team of medical and mental health professionals. Our inpatient and outpatient programs all involve a combination of group therapy, individual therapy, and other services outlined in a client’s treatment plan. Therapies and treatments offered at our center include but aren’t limited to the following.
- Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET).
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).
- Supportive Recreation Activities (exercise, yoga, etc).
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
- Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).
- Medication Management.
- Process Groups.
The specific therapies and treatment activities you engage in at Catalina Behavioral Health largely depend on underlying concerns (e.g., trauma), other treatment needs, and the level of care you’re in.
The Levels of Care in Behavioral Health Treatment
Catalina Behavioral Health has a full continuum of care. Our full continuum of care gives clients the option to use a step-down approach or pick the treatment option that fits their needs without switching to another facility. Here are care levels at Catalina Behavioral Health.
- Helping you find detox before therapy
- Catalina Behavioral Health does not provide on-site medical detox. If ketamine withdrawal support is needed before admission, our admissions team can help callers understand options for detox or medical support before treatment begins at Catalina. After detox or withdrawal-related needs have been addressed, clients may be able to begin the appropriate level of care at Catalina.
- Residential treatment.
- In residential treatment, clients live on-site in a structured, substance-free setting while participating in therapy, recovery-focused programming, and support for co-occurring mental health concerns. Residential care may be appropriate for clients who need a higher level of support before stepping down to less intensive care.
- Outpatient rehab.
- Catalina Behavioral Health offers outpatient options, including partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient programming, and outpatient care. These levels of care may support clients stepping down from residential treatment or adults who are clinically appropriate for treatment while living outside the facility.
Catalina Behavioral Health’s admissions team will give you an intake assessment before you start treatment with us. After that, we can recommend a starting level of care and help you select the right treatment option for you.
Relapse Prevention and Aftercare Planning
Before you’re discharged from your program at Catalina Behavioral Health, we’ll help you make a relapse prevention or aftercare plan. Support groups, ongoing therapy, medication management, and other services, like job and education planning or sober housing, can all be helpful. Like treatment, your aftercare plan will be unique to you.
We can provide referrals to external providers and services in your area to help support you after treatment. Catalina Behavioral Health’s alumni support offerings also help you stay in touch with us through check-in calls and other services.
Does Health Insurance Cover Ketamine Detox and Treatment?
Catalina Behavioral Health accepts most forms of insurance to help make treatment accessible. While we don’t provide detoxification services, we do accept an extensive range of private insurance plans as an in-network provider.
Call us to check on your health insurance coverage for addiction treatment. It’ll take a few minutes or less.
What are the Typical Signs of Ketamine Abuse?
Ketamine is a dissociative drug or dissociative anesthetic. Usually, ketamine is used to induce dissociative effects, which can make you feel disconnected from your mind, body, or the world around you.
Understanding the signs of ketamine abuse can help you determine whether or not your ketamine use has become a problem. The following symptoms may indicate ketamine dependence or abuse.
- Obtaining ketamine illegally (e.g., stealing, lying, or obtaining ketamine as a street drug)
- Using ketamine in ways other than prescribed (e.g., more often or in larger doses)
- Problems at work, school, home, or in interpersonal relationships that present as a result of using ketamine
- Enduring physical or emotional ketamine withdrawal symptoms when unable to use or obtain ketamine
- Decreased interest in activities one used to enjoy due to ketamine use
- Behavioral, mood, or personality changes
- Loss of consciousness
- Cravings for ketamine
You can also look out for signs that a person is high on ketamine. Mental and physical signs of ketamine use include but aren’t limited to impaired motor function and thinking, salivating, dilated pupils, loss of coordination, inability to control eye movements, confusion, derealization, depersonalization, or dissociation, amnesia, and drowsiness.
Get Help for Ketamine Addiction at Catalina Behavioral Health
If ketamine use is affecting your health, relationships, work, or daily life, Catalina Behavioral Health can help you explore treatment options.
For adults who are medically appropriate for admission, treatment may include residential care, PHP, IOP, outpatient services, therapy, dual diagnosis care, relapse prevention, and continuing recovery planning.
At Catalina Behavioral Health, we know that everyone is unique and will respond best to different treatment options. Call our admissions line today to learn more about ketamine detox and treatment at Catalina Behavioral Health.
Many Forms of Insurance Accepted for Treatment
FAQs Regarding Ketamine Detox Programs
What does ketamine detox feel like?
Experiences with ketamine withdrawal symptoms can vary. Detoxing from ketamine can come with mood swings, suicidal thoughts, and trouble sleeping, as well as physical symptoms like shaking or trembling, rapid heartbeat, and gastrointestinal distress.
Attending ketamine detox programs can be vital for chronic users who experience uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. Medical professionals working in detox centers can help you get through ketamine detox with less physical and psychological discomfort.
What are the risks of using ketamine?
First, it is possible for ketamine use to lead to physical and psychological dependence. Alongside potential side effects from the drug, people who use ketamine outside of medical settings can risk overdose. Signs of ketamine overdose include slowed breathing, loss of consciousness or coma, unresponsiveness, hallucinations, paralysis, nausea, vomiting, and seizures.
What are the delayed effects of ketamine use?
Possible long-term or delayed effects of ketamine use include but aren’t limited to bladder damage, kidney problems, memory problems, and new or worsened mental health problems.
References
- https://www.dea.gov/factsheets/ketamine
- https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/psychedelic-dissociative-drugs
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541087/ https://www.samhsa.gov/co-occurring-disorders
