r/Spravato

Ever since I got an injury a few years ago & my insurance saw that I made a smidge of progress in physical therapy and made the decision for me that I no longer needed it, despite the fact I was still reporting debilitating pain but it was still enough for my score on their PT questionnaire to improve, I've been very intentional about how I fill out insurance questionnaires now.

After a year of trying countless meds, I am able to FINALLY TELL A NOTICEABLE IMPROVEMENT in my depression with Spravato. Like, almost immediately. But I've been filling out the PHQ9s the exact same as I always have, because I worry my insurance will see that I've "improved" and decide for me that I no longer need it.

But now that I've been continuing treatment for a while with "apparently" no progress, I'm starting to worry they'll decide it doesn't work for me and end my coverage anyway.

Any long-term Spravato users want to chime in on how they "quantified" their progress in a way that kept insurance happy?

I’ve been on Spravato for almost two years now. For about two months, I’ve been taking it once every three weeks, after being on a once-every-two-weeks schedule for a long time in terms of dosage.

However, since switching to once every three weeks, I’ve noticed that I’ve become depressed again. I constantly feel like crying, I don’t want to get out of bed, and I have very little motivation or interest in anything. I’m starting to feel like I can’t cope with everything anymore.

A few days ago, I had my treatment again, but this time I also haven’t noticed the effect that I normally experience.

How is it possible that I still feel the same a few days after having my dose and haven’t experienced any improvement? You would think that the Spravato would have given me a bit of a boost again, but unfortunately, that hasn’t happened.

Could you explain why this might be happening and give me some advice or tips?

Well, I don't know how to really explain what I feel but, after taking spravato for just like, 3 times, I genuinely don't know what I feel about life when sober. Life feels better, sure, but I don't know what to feel or do in terms of my beliefs and understanding of life as a whole. It genuinely feels like normal life is an illusion sometimes or a play that we all act out for some reason and real life is being in that altered state.

It's like if being in a dream felt more me or "real" than real life, to the point I kinda wish to go back to it in daily life (in a more stable way of course, I don't wanna abuse hard drugs). Everything feels so small compared to the vastness of things I think. My identity feels small. My personhood feels small. Existence feels like something bigger and, I don't really know what God is anymore. How can I say that God is the God in organized religion if it feels like every week I meet Him and He feels... Like a lot, just a lot.

My understanding of life feels muddled. I feel like I have or need a new perspective, but I don't know what that is. Everything is vast, everything is a lot and I just... Gotta go back to studying and shi? I guess this is ego death/confusion/dissolution. Idk how to explain it. If anyone understood this ramble and has some advice (especially if you're more experienced with spravato or drugs and trips in general) lemme know.

Recently I've been struggling a lot more with my mental health, I have trialed multiple drugs and seen no progress and relief of symptoms only side effects over many years. I reached out to my therapist and he said I should consider looking into other treatments such as spravato which I already had some prior interest in.

I reached out to my psychiatrist about possible other treatments including spravato and other treatments. His response was that spravato was not an approved treatment that has proven benefits for my diagnosis (MDD, Anxiety, PTSD) and that IV ketamine is only offered during hospitalization IF insurance would approve it.

He also shot down every other treatment I asked about and had one thing to offer .. IOP which I told him would only make things worse for me, I have done years of CBT and DBT which their program is based on and I don't enjoy group settings even my therapist agrees there's nothing I would get out of half a day of group therapy and being "taught" laundry and doing the dishes can be fun.

I am entirely at a loss here. He just left me at that, basically told me understandable let's schedule a follow up in a month. I can't afford to pay it of pocket but I'm likely losing my insurance at the beginning of the year anyways so all of this feels like it's for nothing if i can't follow through an entire treatment. My therapist said my best option to get treatment now is to go to inpatient which I also can't afford to do. I don't even know what im saying all this for but I guess I don't understand why my therapist and everything I've read says spravato is approved for treatment resistant MDD but my psych says no... Is it just insurance?

I did my first treatment last week in a small room by myself and right now they put me in a much larger room for my second session with 3 other people currently in here as well. What is the usual social etiquette for this kind of situation? Do I just keep to myself or am I supposed to talk to the other patients? It just feels sort of awkward (now there's a 4th person). Anyways my question still stands. Do most of you usually share a treatment room with other people after your first session and if so how am I supposed to interact with the other people (if I'm supposed to interact with them at all) Thank you

at your own discretion of course. i just wanted to come here and confirm the advice on here works in comparison to how i first started without shaking the bottle and sniffing right after spraying in your nose. when i started doing both i was sent to another stratosphere. idk how but it works!

does anyone else hate the feeling of dissociation with spravato? i’ve been on it for 6 months and always get super anxious once it hits me, i hate the feeling of not being in control

Today’s session was intense. When I sprayed, this time I feel like I really got it up there because I felt like water had just gone up my nose. When I put my eye mask on I felt the world around me fall away and suddenly I was transported elsewhere. I didn’t feel like I was in that room and on that chair anymore. It was so weird. I felt really relaxed and calm finally. This is the type of session I wish I had every time, but I think I’ve only ever felt it one other time. Just wanted to share.

After 4 months of the most ridiculous amounts of hoops to jump through, I finally had my first treatment today.

I was well prepared for it because of my 4 months of being in here.

This is the nicest and most supportive subreddit I've ever been in.

So, when I started Spravato earlier this year, the person who brought me in to the practice here had no issue with me being prescribed Vyvanse and doing Spravato as long as I wasn’t taking my Vyvanse on the same day as my session. Yet, a new physician that replaced the old one, is now telling me that she will not allow me to do Spravato sessions altogether unless I completely stop Vyvanse. Is this malpractice? If so, what should I do? Because, I’m pretty sure she’s the only physician at that office that works with Spravato.

I'm 70 years old and have lived with depression for most of my adult life. Been on numerous anti-depressants. Did psilocybin treatment in Oregon a couple of months ago - it was definitely helpful. I'm scheduled to begin Spravato tomorrow. Question: I'm not severely depressed right now but feel like it's always lurking around the corner. Is there any downside to beginning the treatment?

Before starting Spravato, I was terrified. I had so many questions about what it would actually feel like, whether I would feel out of control, and what the treatment days would really be like.
What ultimately helped me take the leap was finding another person on YouTube who shared her personal Spravato experience. Seeing someone actually talk about what she was experiencing made it feel a little less scary.
I just finished my induction phase and am 8 treatments in, and that experience is actually what inspired me to start documenting my own journey. I figured if watching someone else’s experience could help me take that first step, maybe sharing mine could help someone else who is sitting where I was.
I’m still early in my journey and definitely don’t have all the answers, but I’m sharing the good, the weird, and everything in between as I go. ❤️
If anyone is interested, I’m documenting the journey on YouTube and I’m happy to share the channel.

I've been doing my Spravato treatments for a little more than a month now, and for some reason it's making me very anxious to go back. I do not enjoy the treatments at all, the taste is awful, the high is awful, and I feel bad afterwards for hours. The thing is, the treatments are actually helping, I feel less anxious and depressed but I haven't been back in two weeks because I keep cancelling and the depression is back. Has anyone else dealt with this, I want to be able to go to these appointments and actually stick with it because it's helping me in the long run.

I have been on Spravato maybe 6 months and this past 3 weeks I’ve been hallucinating visually, physically and hearing. Anyone else? No changes in meds or anything new happening. I’m at my psychiatrist appointment now so I’ll let him know just wanted to see if anyone else has experienced this.

EDIT: The past 3 weeks I have been having hallucinations at my house specifically only in my room. Doesn’t matter if I had treatment that day or not. My psychiatrist asked a million questions and the answer was always nothing has changed at all. My stress levels are down, I don’t do overtime at all now(I was working 80 hours a week), I am sleeping more than I ever have before but now this happens. I’m just happy I know they are hallucinations and not believe they are real. I dont know I just wanted to see if anyone else had the same experience or it’s something else

I just did my 3rd session and 56mg I think? Im only taking two doses right now. I'm feeling any different, Im still overwhelmed, i get randomly sad throughout the day. I cant even imagine a future where I dont end up killing myself tbh. Im so miserable, and im addicted to my phone cuz I cant handle these constant negative thoughts. Im just hoping it kicks in soon, i have no will to do anything. I look forward to my appointment though ! I dont dissociate, I just get really happy and dizzy and time goes by really fast. I was scared too start it because I used to dissociate but im not really having that problem!

Trying to get a feel for what Spravato is like since I am really nervous about it. I do well with laughing gas (Nitrous oxide) at the dentist and wondered for people who've had both, if it's anything like that? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

I just had my 10th IV ketamine session on thursday, and it was a really rough one, similarly to the session before. My doctor upped the dose a bit because my tolerance increased, and i have felt a little less depressed all the time. However, my last two sessions felt like a fight, because I was so anxious. I was feeling it quite a lot so it was hard to move and talk, which made me feel super vulnerable and exposed. This made me feel super anxious that something bad might happen to me, like someone might come into the room. It’s not like i’m weary of the nurses, (they’re so supportive and kind) and I wasn’t feeling anxious before my appointment. Wondering if anyone else has felt like this or has any advice? Thanks

It's me again. After 4 months now my first treatment is scheduled for Tuesday (though I won't believe it until they hand it to me).

This clinic requires a urine test for every visit. Twice a week. That means I'm going to have to go into each session annoyed and grossed out from having just gotten pee on my hand.

They had me do one for my intake, and the metal box in the wall they told me to put my sample in was FULL of other peoples' urine samples too. We're given little white paper bags to put the cup in, so the actual pee wasn't showing, but I looked it up and the fact that I could easily look in the bag and see someone's name is a HIPAA violation. It's gross and it looks like they make every who walks in the door take a test, even those not coming for Spravato.

And it doesn't even make sense to do a urine test. They told me I can't have THC (for the entire duration of being in treatment, not just right before a treatment) even though I'm in a legal state. But they haven't told me explicitly what they're looking for and why.

Has anyone had to deal with this before?

Edit to add: This is actually the second clinic I've tried, I wasted 3 months dealing with a different clinic that were never able to get their shit together and let me start treatment (I even got scheduled, showed up, and was told there's still a problem with them and my insurance and I had to go home).

I don't think there's any other clinic around me. And I couldn't handle having to start the process of them needing to "decide if I'm a good candidate for Spravato" and then deal with the insurance prior authorization again 🫠 I've been trying to get treatment since April.

2nd edit: Ok so this clinic is clearly up to some fuck shit. How do I get out of having to do this unnecessary and stressful thing that would have an actual negative impact on my treatment (without it doesn't like I'm not wanting to do it because I'm hiding something)?