Spravato (Esketamine) Treatment in West Hartford, CT: Who Qualifies and What a Session Looks Like

If you have tried two or more antidepressants and are still depressed, you have probably searched for ketamine treatment for depression. What the FDA has actually approved for that purpose is esketamine, sold as Spravato. New Horizon Behavioral Health gives Spravato at its West Hartford, Connecticut office, with a clinician present for every dose and the two hours of monitoring the federal REMS program requires.

What Spravato is

Ketamine is a mixture of two mirror-image molecules. Esketamine is one of them. As Spravato, it carries an FDA indication for treatment-resistant depression in adults, either on its own or together with an oral antidepressant. It is a nasal spray, not an infusion, and it may only be given in a certified healthcare setting under the Spravato REMS, a restricted distribution program. Because it is approved for this use, insurance plans have a defined coverage pathway for it.

Who qualifies

The label indication is treatment-resistant depression in adults. In practice that generally means all of the following are true:

• You are 18 or older.
• You have a diagnosis of major depressive disorder.
• You have tried at least two antidepressants at an adequate dose and for an adequate length of time without an adequate response.
• You can arrange a ride home after every session.
• You can commit to twice-weekly visits for the first four weeks.

Spravato is not a fit if you have aneurysmal vascular disease, an arteriovenous malformation, a history of intracerebral hemorrhage, or a past allergic reaction to esketamine or ketamine. Those are contraindications in the FDA label. Pregnancy, or planning a pregnancy, needs a separate conversation first. Eligibility is confirmed at a clinical evaluation, never from a web page.

What a dosing session looks like

Plan on about two and a half hours door to door.

• Before you arrive: no food for two hours and no liquids for 30 minutes. Take your other morning medications unless your prescriber says otherwise. Have your ride lined up.
• Check-in: blood pressure is taken before dosing. You settle into a private room with a recliner and low light.
• Dosing: you spray the medication yourself while a member of the clinical team is present. Blood pressure is rechecked about 40 minutes after the dose.
• Recovery: at least two hours of monitoring. Most people rest, listen to music, or doze. You leave when the clinician confirms you are ready.

You cannot drive or operate machinery until the next day after a restful sleep.

The schedule

The FDA label sets the intervals. Weeks one through four are twice weekly, at 56 mg or 84 mg as your prescriber directs. Weeks five through eight are once weekly. From week nine on, treatment is weekly or every two weeks, at the least frequent interval that holds your response. Treatment continues only as long as it is helping.

Risks, stated plainly

Spravato carries a boxed warning for sedation, dissociation, respiratory depression, abuse and misuse, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Common side effects include dissociation, dizziness, nausea, sedation, raised blood pressure, numbness, anxiety and headache. These are the reasons it is only given in a certified setting with monitoring. Read the prescribing information before your evaluation and bring your questions to it.

Getting started in West Hartford

The first visit decides candidacy, not dosing. No medication is given that day. The office verifies your benefits and files the prior authorization before you are scheduled, so you know your cost in writing first. No referral is needed. Read more on the Spravato West Hartford page or request an evaluation.

New Horizon Behavioral Health
10 Princeton St, Ste N, West Hartford, CT 06110
Phone: (860) 838-8799
By appointment, Monday through Friday. In person only. Adults 18 and over.
In a crisis, call or text 988, or call 911.