You’ve made the decision. After years of struggling with fibromyalgia or chronic migraine, you’ve scheduled your first ketamine infusion at Tri-Cities Infusion and Wellness Clinic. You’re hopeful this innovative treatment might finally provide the relief other approaches haven’t delivered. But you’re also nervous. What will the experience actually feel like? How should you prepare? What should you bring? This practical guide will walk you through everything you need to know to feel confident and prepared for your first ketamine infusion treatment.
Before Your Appointment: The 48-Hour Preparation Window
Preparing for your ketamine infusion actually begins two full days before your scheduled appointment. The most important preparation involves your diet. You should not eat anything for eight hours prior to your infusion. This fasting period is crucial for your safety—having food in your stomach during the infusion increases the risk of nausea and, in rare cases, could lead to aspiration if you were to vomit while experiencing the dissociative effects of ketamine.
However, you can drink clear liquids or black coffee (no sugar or cream) up to two hours before your infusion. Clear liquids include water, apple juice, clear broth, and plain tea. These fluids help keep you hydrated, which can actually reduce some of the side effects like headache or dizziness during recovery. At Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, one of the nation’s leading medical institutions offering ketamine therapy, their patient education materials emphasize the importance of this clear liquid diet in the hours leading up to treatment (Memorial Sloan Kettering, 2024).
Important medication note: Take all of your regular medications on the day of your infusion with small sips of water, with one critical exception—do not take benzodiazepines (medications like Xanax, Ativan, Valium, or Klonopin) on the day of treatment. Benzodiazepines can interfere with ketamine’s effectiveness and potentially increase sedation to unsafe levels. If you’re diabetic, we’ll provide specific instructions during your consultation about managing your blood sugar and insulin during the fasting period.
The night before your infusion, prioritize good sleep. Being well-rested helps your body respond better to treatment and can reduce anxiety. Set out comfortable, loose-fitting clothing that allows easy access to both of your hands and arms for IV placement—think of soft sweatpants or yoga pants and a comfortable t-shirt or button-up shirt.
What to Bring to Your Appointment
Pack a small bag the night before to ensure you don’t forget anything important. Here’s your essential checklist:
Required items:
- A responsible adult driver (non-negotiable—you cannot drive yourself home)
- Your insurance card and photo ID
- A list of all current medications, including dosages
- Comfortable, loose-fitting clothing (you’ll wear this during treatment)
Recommended items for comfort:
- Headphones and a playlist of calming music (many patients find this enhances relaxation)
- A cozy blanket from home if you want something familiar
- A sleep mask if you prefer complete darkness
- A book or tablet loaded with movies or shows, though many patients simply close their eyes and rest
- A water bottle for after the infusion
- Snacks for your recovery period
What to leave at home:
- Jewelry (especially rings, watches, or anything that might feel constricting)
- Heavy meals (remember the fasting requirement)
- Work laptops or materials requiring concentration (you won’t be in a state to work during or immediately after)
At Tri-Cities Infusion and Wellness Clinic, our Kennewick facility is designed specifically for your comfort. Each private infusion room contains a comfortable recliner, adjustable lighting, and a peaceful atmosphere. Our team wants you to feel like you’re in a relaxing spa environment rather than a clinical medical setting.
Arrival and Check-In Process
Plan to arrive on time for your appointment. If you’re running late, call us at 509-637-7730 after 6 a.m. to let us know. Arriving late may require rescheduling your treatment, as we have carefully timed appointments throughout the day.
When you arrive at our office at 5373 W. Canal Dr., Suite 120 in Kennewick, you’ll be greeted by our friendly front desk team. They’ll verify your information, collect any necessary paperwork, and answer any last-minute questions you might have. If this is your first visit, a member of our clinical team will conduct a brief pre-treatment assessment.
You’ll be escorted to one of our private infusion rooms where you’ll meet your nurse for the day. At Cleveland Clinic’s comprehensive pain program, which has treated over 1,000 ketamine patients, they’ve found that having consistent nursing staff throughout treatment significantly improves patient comfort and outcomes (Tankha et al., 2025). We follow a similar model, with our experienced nursing team led by RNs Emily Cox, Kait Cox, Rasheal McNabb, and Tomi Liefke.
Your nurse will review your medical history once more, checking for any changes since your consultation. They’ll take baseline vital signs—blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation, and temperature. This initial assessment helps us track how you respond throughout the infusion.
The IV Placement and Initial Monitoring
The infusion requires intravenous access, so your nurse will place an IV line in your arm. If you’re anxious about needles, let your nurse know—they can use numbing cream or distraction techniques to minimize discomfort. Most patients report that the IV placement is the only mildly uncomfortable part of the entire experience, and it takes just a moment.
Once the IV is placed, your nurse will connect it to the infusion pump that delivers the ketamine at a carefully controlled rate. The pump is calibrated to deliver your prescribed dose over the planned infusion time—typically one to two hours for chronic pain protocols. Throughout this time, your blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen levels will be monitored continuously. Your nurse will check these vital signs every 15 minutes initially and may adjust the frequency based on how you’re responding.
Tyler Thornock and Ben Clark, our certified registered nurse anesthetists who have collectively provided thousands of anesthetics throughout Central Washington, have designed our monitoring protocols based on consensus guidelines from the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine. These evidence-based safety parameters ensure that ketamine is delivered in a controlled, medically supervised setting (Cohen et al., 2018).
What the Experience Feels Like
This is the part that causes the most anxiety for first-time patients. What will ketamine actually feel like? Will you be unconscious? Will you lose control? Will the experience be frightening?
First, let’s be clear about what ketamine at these doses does and doesn’t do. At the subanesthetic doses used for chronic pain—typically 0.1 to 0.5 mg/kg/hr—you’ll remain awake and able to communicate throughout your treatment (Orhurhu et al., 2023). You’re not being put to sleep. You won’t be unconscious or unaware of your surroundings.
What you may experience is a state of dissociation—a feeling of separation from your body or surroundings. Many patients describe this as feeling:
- Relaxed and floating, almost weightless
- Slightly detached from physical sensations
- Time moving differently (the session may seem to pass quickly or slowly)
- Mild visual changes (colors might seem brighter, patterns more noticeable)
- Dreamlike thoughts or vivid imagery when eyes are closed
Some patients experience what StatPearls, a comprehensive medical reference guide used by healthcare professionals, describes as “mild dissociation” where you might feel like you’re observing your body from the outside or that sounds are somewhat distant (Orhurhu et al., 2023). These sensations are temporary and completely reversible—they fade within minutes to an hour after the infusion ends.
At the start of your infusion, you might feel some nausea. Your nurse can administer medications through your IV like Zofran (ondansetron) to prevent or quickly resolve this. Some patients feel a slight tingling sensation or warmth spreading through their body as the medication begins working. If any sensation feels uncomfortable, tell your nurse immediately. We can adjust the infusion rate or pause briefly to let your body acclimate.
Most patients find that after the initial few minutes, they settle into a relaxed state. Many choose to close their eyes and listen to music. Some watch movies or shows. Others simply rest. There’s no “right” way to experience your infusion—whatever helps you feel most comfortable is what we encourage.
During the Infusion: Communication and Safety
Your nurse will check on you frequently throughout the treatment. They’ll ask how you’re feeling, check your comfort level, and ensure you’re not experiencing any concerning symptoms. Don’t hesitate to use your call button if you need anything while your nurse is out of the room helping other patients.
It’s important that you can communicate during the infusion—this is one of the safety features that distinguishes therapeutic ketamine from anesthetic use. Your nurse needs to be able to assess your responses, ask about side effects, and ensure you’re tolerating the medication well. This means that while you might feel relaxed or slightly “disconnected,” you should still be able to answer simple questions and report any concerns.
If you experience any of these symptoms during your infusion, alert your nurse immediately:
- Severe nausea or vomiting that doesn’t improve with medication
- Chest pain or significant difficulty breathing
- Severe anxiety or panic that feels unmanageable
- Extremely high blood pressure (you won’t know this, but your monitor will alert the nursing staff)
- Any symptom that feels alarming or wrong to you
These situations are uncommon, but being aware of them helps you advocate for yourself during treatment. Michelle Perez and Cherry White, our board-certified family nurse practitioners, supervise all infusions and can make real-time adjustments to your treatment plan if needed.
After the Infusion: Recovery and Going Home
Once your infusion is complete, the medication will be stopped, but you’ll remain in our facility for a short recovery period. Your nurse will continue monitoring your vital signs until they’ve returned to stable baselines. You’ll likely feel somewhat groggy, fatigued, or disoriented—this is completely normal and will resolve over the next few hours.
Before you leave, you’ll be given something light to eat or drink, since you’ve been fasting. Many patients feel quite thirsty after the infusion, so we’ll ensure you’re adequately hydrated. Your nurse will assess your ability to walk safely with assistance to your driver’s vehicle. You should not attempt to walk alone immediately after treatment.
Critical safety requirement: You cannot drive for at least 12 hours after your ketamine infusion. You also should not operate heavy machinery or make major decisions during this period. Plan to go home and rest for the remainder of the day. Most patients describe feeling tired and wanting to sleep—honor that need. Your body has just undergone a neurochemical intervention; rest is part of the healing process.
The day after your infusion, most patients feel significantly more clear-headed and can return to normal activities. However, pain relief often builds gradually over the course of the initial treatment series rather than being immediately apparent after the first infusion. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t feel dramatically different after session one—the benefits typically accumulate across multiple treatments.
Three Ways to Maximize Your Treatment Success
- Commit to the full initial series: Ketamine works best when administered as a series rather than as isolated treatments. Our typical protocol for chronic pain involves four to six infusions over four to seven days. Clinical research consistently shows that completing the full series provides more significant and longer-lasting benefits than single infusions (Gupta & Bhar, 2021). Even if you don’t notice major changes after the first one or two sessions, continue with the planned series.
- Continue your other supportive therapies: Ketamine is most effective when integrated into a comprehensive pain management program. Continue physical therapy, mindfulness practices, appropriate medications, and any other treatments that provide some benefit. Research from Cleveland Clinic’s pain program demonstrated that ketamine combined with behavioral therapies and patient education produced the best outcomes (Tankha et al., 2025). Don’t abandon other helpful approaches just because you’re trying ketamine.
- Track your symptoms systematically: Before starting your infusion series, rate your pain levels, sleep quality, physical functioning, and mood on a simple 0-10 scale. Re-rate these same measures after your series is complete and at regular intervals afterward. This gives you objective data about whether the treatment is providing meaningful benefit. Many patients are so accustomed to constant pain that they don’t notice gradual improvements unless they’re tracking systematically.
Scheduling Your First Infusion
If you’re ready to take this step, scheduling your first ketamine infusion begins with a free consultation. During this consultation, one of our providers will conduct a comprehensive review of your medical history, a short physical examination, and a thorough discussion of your pain condition and previous treatments. Together, we’ll determine whether ketamine infusion therapy is appropriate for you and develop a personalized treatment plan.
You can schedule your consultation by calling 509-637-7730 (our number is text-enabled, so you can also send us a message) or by visiting our website. Our office hours offer flexible scheduling options:
- Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
- Tuesday and Thursday: 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (extended hours)
- Saturday: 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
We also offer online self-scheduling for added convenience.
Our team is passionate about helping patients throughout Kennewick, Richland, Pasco, and the surrounding Tri-Cities area reclaim their lives from chronic pain. We’ve seen patients who had given up hope discover that relief is possible. If other treatments have failed and you’re ready to take back control of your life and start living again, we’re here to support you every step of the way.
Contact us today to schedule your free consultation and begin your journey toward better pain management and improved quality of life.
References
Cohen, S. P., Bhatia, A., Buvanendran, A., Schwenk, E. S., Wasan, A. D., Hurley, R. W., Viscusi, E. R., Narouze, S., Davis, F. N., Ritchie, E. C., Lubenow, T. R., & Hooten, W. M. (2018). Consensus guidelines on the use of intravenous ketamine infusions for chronic pain from the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, the American Academy of Pain Medicine, and the American Society of Anesthesiologists. Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, 43(5), 521-546. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6023575/
Gupta, R., & Bhar, S. (2021). Systematic review of the use of intravenous ketamine for fibromyalgia. Ochsner Journal, 21(4), 387-394. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34984054/
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. (2024). About your ketamine infusion treatment [Patient education resource]. https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/patient-education/about-your-ketamine-infusion-treatment
Orhurhu, V. J., Roberts, J. S., Ly, N. K., et al. (2023). Ketamine in acute and chronic pain management. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK539824/
Tankha, P., Tankha, H., et al. (2025). Low-dose ketamine infusions for chronic pain: Real-world evidence from Cleveland Clinic. Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine. https://newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/2025/10/06/cleveland-clinic-study-demonstrates-safety-effectiveness-of-ketamine-for-chronic-pain
