Esketamine is a new treatment of depression and is now available in Canada. The usual treatments for depression are psychotherapy and antidepressants. Unfortunately, antidepressants don’t always work completely. Many patients need to try many different medications or combinations of medications to get better. Often, antidepressants are hard to tolerate with their side-effects. Common side-effects are weight gain, sexual dysfunction or sedation.
Esketamine is now available for treatment-resistant depression since the summer of 2020. HeadWay needed to undergo quite a bit of training because of the strict rules set by Health Canada. Esketamine works in a completely different way than any other antidepressant because it acts on the glutamate system. Esketamine is a self-administered nasal spray that can improve depression very rapidly, sometimes as quickly as the very first week. It is administered as per this schedule:
| Time Period | Frequency of treatments |
|---|---|
| First 4 weeks | Twice a week |
| Next 4 weeks | Once a week |
| Up to 5-6 months | Once every 2 weeks |
| Thereafter | Once every 4 to 6 weeks |
It is also possible to combine both Esketamine and TMS Therapy for an even higher chance of remission.
Call us at (705) 670-2000 in Sudbury or (705) 474-6000 in North Bay for a free consultation to determine if you are a candidate for this state-of-the-art treatment.