Learn More About SPRAVATO
What is SPRAVATO?
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SPRAVATO is the only FDA-approved nasal spray for adults with treatment-resistant depression that can be taken with or without an oral antidepressant. SPRAVATO can help reduce depression symptoms when traditional antidepressants haven’t worked well for you.
How does SPRAVATO work?
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Unlike traditional antidepressants that work on serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine, SPRAVATO acts on glutamate, a chemical messenger in the brain that is thought to regulate depression.
Who is SPRAVATO for?
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Depression treatment can involve different approaches, such as talk therapy, lifestyle changes, and medication. Many people are treated with oral antidepressants—like SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs, atypical antidepressants—which work by affecting brain chemicals such as serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine. These medications can take several weeks (often around 4–6 weeks) before some people notice potential relief.
For some people, even after waiting for a response and cycling through multiple oral antidepressants, symptoms may continue. If you’ve tried two or more antidepressants and still don’t feel better, you may have treatment‑resistant depression.
Is SPRAVATO safe?
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Serious side effects of SPRAVATO include feeling sleepy (sedation or loss of consciousness); feeling disconnected from yourself, your thoughts, feelings and things around you (dissociation); breathing problems (respiratory depression and respiratory arrest); abuse and misuse; increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior; increased blood pressure; problems with thinking clearly; and bladder problems.
To help ensure your safety, SPRAVATO has a program called SPRAVATO REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy), which requires close monitoring of patients during and after they take SPRAVATO nasal spray.
SPRAVATO can only be administered at healthcare offices certified in the SPRAVATO REMS Program. Patients treated in outpatient healthcare offices (eg, medical offices and clinics) must be enrolled in the program.
Our Process
Your first appointment will be a consultation. We’ll review your medical history and treatment goals to determine if SPRAVATO is right for you. Next, we will work with you to get insurance approval before starting treatment. After you are approved, SPRAVATO will be delivered to our office.
You will take SPRAVATO at our office twice a week for four weeks. After that and throughout treatment, we’ll determine together if it should be continued and decide on your treatment frequency. If continuing, you will take SPRAVATO once a week during the second month. After that, some people continue once a week, while others might switch to every other week.
Each time you take SPRAVATO, you will stay in our office for at least two hours, where you will be monitored for any serious side effects. Because of serious side effects affecting mental alertness and motor coordination, you won’t be able to drive, operate machinery, or do anything where you need to be completely alert until the next day, following a restful sleep.
Our office provides a calm, peaceful environment with medical grade recliner chairs for your comfort during your observation period. We will also provide blankets, pillows, eye masks, and provide headphones and curated playlist suggestions for each patient as needed.