Ketamine-Assisted Therapy
What are ketamine troches?
Ketamine troches are small, medicated lozenges designed to dissolve in the mouth. They are a form of sublingual (SL) ketamine or buccal ketamine, meaning the medication is absorbed through the tissues under the tongue (SL) or along the inside of the cheek.
When used this way. a portion of the medication is absorbed directly into the bloodstream through the oral mucosa, which helps reduce first-pass metabolism through the stomach and live and can improve overall absorption and effect.
Is SL ketamine effective for depression?
Several small randomized controlled trials (RCTs) suggest that oral ketamine may help improve symptoms of depression, often with a faster onset of effect:
A daily dose of 150 mg showed greater improvement compared to placebo after 6 weeks
Dosing at 1mg/kg three times weekly showed improvement compared to placebo by 3 weeks.
A 50 mg dose used alongside sertraline helped accelerate antidepressant response, with benefits seen as early as 2 weeks.
Overall, early research is promising and suggests that oral ketamine may provide faster relief of depressive symptoms.
References:
• Jafarinia et al., 2018
• Domany et al., 2019
• Arabzadeh et al., 2018