Patients suffering from chronic pain, fatigue and mental health conditions sometimes feel they’ve run out of treatment options. Now, novel infusion medical treatments such as ketamine therapy and micronutrient therapy may be able to help where others have failed.
Montanans can now benefit from these intravenous (IV) therapy options at Helena-based clinic Luvita. One of the state’s most diverse IV therapy centers, the clinic delivers innovative, evidence-based medical treatments for a range of conditions.
Ketamine Infusion Therapy
“Ketamine is such an amazing drug. I’ve used it for years when administering anesthesia not knowing about its life-changing benefits for those suffering from chronic mental health and pain conditions,” said Patrick Davidson, a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthesiologist who co-founded Luvita. “When I think about the people we have already helped since opening our doors, I get so excited knowing we’ll be helping many more, and I wish we could offer it to everyone in need, especially our veterans.”
Ketamine is an FDA-approved dissociative anesthetic developed in 1962 to assist with pain during surgery. Today, when professionally administered off-label at lower doses as an intravenous (IV) drip, ketamine can positively affect regions in the brain that control behavior, mood and pain. “Because ketamine helps regrow connections in the brain, it can enhance an individual's sense of well-being and promote long-lasting healing for those with treatment-resistant conditions,” Davidson explained.
Ketamine infusion room
Research published by Biological Psychiatry, a peer-reviewed scientific journal of psychiatric neuroscience and therapeutics, found that participants living with treatment-resistant depression experienced rapid relief when treated with ketamine. The 14 participants in the study were administered up to six IV infusions of ketamine over 12 days. Also, in a study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, participants with generalized anxiety and social anxiety disorders reported significant improvements in functionality and their personal lives following weekly ketamine doses.
“Many established ketamine clinics are seeing an 80% success rate with treatment resistant depression, with patients typically seeing results in hours, not weeks to months like traditional medications,” Davidson said.
He added that he has seen similar results in treating chronic pain. Generally, he said, ketamine is most effective in alleviating pain that is neuropathic and not mechanical, such as arthritis.
Success story
Davidson said he recently saw IV ketamine therapy offer a life-changing outcome to a patient with complex regional pain syndrome.
“She tried everything over the last seven years,” he said. “She’s had implanted stimulators, multiple types of injections and many medications. Nothing was effective. She started her first infusion with a baseline pain of 8 out of 10. Within two infusions, half of her pain was gone. By the fourth and fifth infusions, she was at a 0 out of 10.”
Micronutrient Infusion Therapy
Luvita also offers IV micronutrient therapy. By delivering vitamins, minerals and antioxidants straight into the bloodstream through an IV catheter instead of through the digestive tract, the results can be far more effective.
Many of the compounds in the treatments offered by Luvita are well known for their positive effects, such as B vitamins, vitamin C and vitamin D. Some of them are produced by the body but naturally decrease with age. “Glutathione and NAD+ are powerful compounds that our body makes that are involved with virtually every process in the body; their decrease has been associated with aging. Unfortunately, oral supplements of these compounds are destroyed in the stomach, so the best way to dramatically increase your levels is to get an IV infusion,” said Davidson. The clinic has more than a dozen micronutrient treatments available to choose from aimed at improving immunity, energy and overall wellness.
Relaxing ambience puts patients going through IV therapy at ease
Integrative psychiatry
In conjunction with ketamine, Luvita also offers Integrative Psychiatry. Their Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioners offer a holistic patient-centered model that combines evidence-based pharmaceutical and conventional medicine with other nonpharmacological approaches like supplements, diet and lifestyle coaching to promote long-term wellbeing
Achieving harmony between the body and the brain is essential to whole-body wellness, and the dedicated staff at Luvita strives to identify and treat the underlying causes, not just the symptoms.
