6 Things To Tell Your Ketamine Patients To Expect After Their Infusion
In this blog, discover essential post-infusion expectations to share with your ketamine patients, including potential physical and emotional responses, to ensure a supportive and informed psychedelic therapy experience.
As a ketamine doctor, you may be so focused on preparing your patients for the actual infusion that you may end up forgetting about what happens post-infusion. How are they going to feel after? What expectations should you set for them so that they don’t get taken aback? In this blog, we’ll cover some of the things you should tell your patients to expect after their infusion.
Depending on several factors, your patients may feel more tired after their ketamine infusion.
Expectation #1: Feelings of Fatigue or Tiredness
If your patients have a very profound or challenging experience during their ketamine infusion, they may feel more tired after their journey.
As their doctor, you control the dosage, which affects their chances of having these types of experiences. There are also other several factors that affect how they feel during and after the infusion. The higher the dose, the more tired they may feel and may experience other side effects.
Also, do note that if they feel extra tired or nervous before the infusion, they may feel even more tired afterwards. This is why it is important to encourage your patients to have a good rest days before the infusion so that they feel more relaxed and will have a more pleasant experience.
Do you want to learn more about this topic? If so, check out Why Your Patient Feels Tired After A Ketamine Treatment where we explore why this happens, and overview on what the research shows.
If your patients are given a higher dose, the chances of them feeling dizzy after the infusion may increase.
Expectation #2: Feeling Nauseous or Dizzy
Depending on how your patient responds to the ketamine plus how much ketamine they were given, they may feel dizzy or nauseous after the infusion. Do note that if your patients are given a higher dose, they may feel a slightly floaty feeling well into several hours after the infusions.
Be sure to let them inform you if their nausea doesn’t go away so that you can prescribe them the proper medications.
During the infusion, your patients may experience near-death experiences or other ins
Expectation #3: Feeling Vulnerable
Ketamine infusions can make your patients feel vulnerable at times, especially when they have near-death experiences or are confronted with some painful old truths. Inform them about the possibility of this beforehand so that if they feel emotionally raw after the experience, they can immediately let you know about it.
It may be hard for them to process this experience themselves so they need to have someone to talk to such as an integration coach or therapist. Even encouraging them to do something as simple as journaling after their treatment will allow them to unpack all of their emotions and process everything better.
To learn more about how you can help your patients integrate after their ketamine infusion, read our blog post here.
There are chances that your patients may see or experience things that are hard for them to comprehend and this will leave them feeling confused after the infusion.
Expectation #4: Feeling Confused or Uncertain
During the infusion, your patients may see or experience some things that they don’t understand. This can include speaking with a deceased loved one or seeing psychedelic geometrics. This will leave them feeling confused or uncertain.
Reassure them that this feeling is OKAY and that their experiences have a purpose in their lives. It may take days to unpack, which is why they speak with someone they can trust such as an integration coach or therapist. Remember that they should never keep their emotions bottled up after their treatment!
Your patients may experience insights that will leave them feeling inspired and peaceful after their infusion. Encourage them to make the most out of this positive feeling.
Experience #5: Feeling Inspired and Peaceful
Apart from all the negative feelings that your patients may experience, there are positive ones as well. Such as them feeling a sense of calmness and peace that they have never felt before!
Encourage them to savor those positive feelings and be grateful! And to make the most of those good emotions, you can even recommend them to instill good habits into their lifestyle.
When your patients experience or see things they’ve never seen before during their infusion, they may have some lessons learned. This may leave them feeling introspective afterwards.
Experience #6: Feeling Introspective
Sometimes during the infusions, your patients will have a lot of “downloads” or lessons. Experiences such as near-death experiences or out-of-body experiences can let them have epiphany after epiphany.
They may end up feeling introspective afterwards and realize things that will make them see life differently. Do note that as mentioned above, their chances of these types of experiences will depend on the dosage you give them.
As a ketamine doctor, you get to set the expectations and tone of how your patients will feel as they approach their treatment.
You Set The Tone
Do remember that each patient’s experience is different and will depend on many factors such as dosage, setting, and mindset.
Although it is impossible to tell how they will feel during the treatment, remind them to trust in the process and that everything is as it should be. Encourage them to be open to whatever happens and that they will experience exactly what they need to experience.
Need more advice when it comes to guiding your ketamine patients? Join our email list and be notified about the next free webinar and open registration for Ketamine StartUp.
Related Questions:
What are some strategies to help patients manage any confusion or uncertainty they may experience during or following a ketamine infusion?
Preparation for the ketamine infusion journey can help minimize or provide grounding for confusing and challenging infusion experiences. You can prepare them by telling them what to expect during the infusion. They can personally prepare their mindset for the infusion by meditating, journaling, and creating an intention. Also you can support the patient in scheduling an integration coach or speaking with a therapist, if you don’t have someone to do so in-house.
How can I incorporate an integration coach or therapist into my ketamine infusion clinic's care plan?
Supporting your patient in integrating their psychedelic ketamine infusion experience is important. We argue it is equally if not more important to have a container in which they can make sense of what they experienced. This is where having someone to talk with is essential. The question is whether you personally want to do it, have someone in your clinic provide the integration services, or refer out. There is a growing number of places you can train to become an integration specialist if this is something you want to pursue. Some patients may already have a therapist who is supportive of their ketamine therapy, so you can encourage them to follow up with them.
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Why Your Patients Should Set An Intention Before Their Infusion
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How To Help Your Patients Through Challenging Ketamine Infusion Experiences
As a ketamine clinic owner, you will deal with patients who face negative experiences during their infusion. In this blog, you will learn how to help them through these challenges.
How To Help Your Patients Integrate After Ketamine Infusions
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