How to Prepare for Ketamine Therapy: A Practical Checklist
What to sort out before a ketamine session, and why: fasting, your medications, a ride home, what to wear, and how to plan the rest of your day.
To prepare for ketamine therapy, follow the fasting and medication instructions your clinical team gives you, arrange for a responsible adult to drive you home, wear comfortable clothing, and keep the rest of the day free. Before your first session at Clear Ketamine Therapy, the team walks you through each of these steps. Plan on roughly 90 minutes to two hours at the clinic, and no driving until the next day.
How do you prepare for ketamine therapy?
Preparation is mostly logistics, and the clinical team goes over it with you before your first session: fasting guidance, your ride home, what to wear, and which medications to take or adjust. Getting these right makes for a calmer session with fewer surprises, and it lets the team focus on monitoring you rather than solving problems on the day.
Your own instructions always outrank anything general, including this page. They are based on your health history and current medications, so two people with appointments on the same afternoon can receive different guidance.
Fasting: why an empty stomach matters
Nausea and vomiting are recognized effects of ketamine. The FDA prescribing information, written for anesthetic use, notes that vomiting and aspiration can occur and states that ketamine is not recommended for patients who have not followed fasting guidelines. That is why you receive a specific window for food and drink before each session.
- Follow the exact timing you are given for solid food and for drinks.
- If you are not sure whether something counts, ask the clinic the day before rather than on arrival.
- If you eat or drink outside the window by mistake, say so as soon as you arrive; the session may need to move.
- Avoid alcohol and recreational drugs around treatment, and tell the team honestly about anything you have taken.
Medications: follow your clinical team's instructions
Do not stop, start or change a medication on your own to get ready for treatment. The clinical team reviews everything you take, including over-the-counter products and supplements, and tells you what to take as usual and what, if anything, to adjust. This matters because some drugs interact with ketamine: the prescribing information warns that combining it with opioids, benzodiazepines or other sedating substances, alcohol included, can cause profound sedation and dangerously slowed breathing.
If something changes after your evaluation, such as a new prescription, a dose change or an illness, call the clinic at (656) 269-4567 before your appointment so the team can update your instructions.
Arrange your ride home
After every session, a responsible adult has to drive you home, and you should not get behind the wheel yourself until the next day. The prescribing information advises against driving, operating hazardous machinery or doing anything hazardous within 24 hours of receiving ketamine, because drowsiness and residual effects can linger.
Confirm your driver a day or two ahead and give them a realistic pickup time based on the 90 minutes to two hours you will spend at the clinic. If your ride falls through, call the clinic as early as you can.
What to wear and what to bring
Wear comfortable clothing you can rest in for an hour or more; soft layers let you adjust if you feel warm or cool while the medicine takes effect. Keep what you bring simple:
- Any paperwork the clinic asked you to complete or bring
- An updated medication list, if the team requested one
- Your driver's name and the best way to reach them
Getting ready mentally, and planning the rest of the day
Feeling nervous before a first session is common. Ask the team to describe what the session may feel like, including dissociation, the sense of being detached from your body or surroundings. In a 2023 trial of ketamine injections under the skin, acute effects such as unusual perceptions and rises in blood pressure resolved within two hours. Knowing what to expect can make the experience less unsettling.
Keep the rest of the day light: no work commitments, no important decisions and no driving. Have something simple ready to eat at home for later, and plan for an ordinary, early night.
Request a consultation
A conversation, not a commitment. Please don't include medical records, diagnosis details, or anything urgent — this form is not monitored for emergencies.
In person or by telehealth
You can be seen both ways. Consultations, planning conversations, and follow-up visits happen in person at our Tampa clinic or by telehealth — whichever works better for you.
Ketamine itself is always administered in person, at the clinic, with a clinician monitoring you throughout. We do not prescribe ketamine for use at home.
Telehealth visits require you to be physically located in Florida at the time of the visit.
How telehealth works here
- Telehealth is available to patients who are physically located in Florida, and the clinicians providing that care hold active Florida licenses.
- Your location is confirmed at the start of every telehealth visit. If you are not in Florida, the visit does not go ahead.
- Ketamine is never prescribed for you to take at home. It is administered only at our clinic, in person, with a clinician monitoring you throughout — a telehealth visit does not change that.
- You are seen in person before any treatment session, because every session happens at the clinic.
- A telehealth visit never guarantees that treatment will be offered, any more than an in-person evaluation does.
- Telehealth is not for emergencies. If you are in crisis or having thoughts of self-harm, call or text 988, or call 911.
Common questions
Your clinical team gives you the exact window, and it can differ from one patient to the next. Fasting matters because nausea and vomiting are known effects of ketamine, and the prescribing information advises against giving it to people who have not followed fasting guidelines. Follow your written instructions rather than a rule you found online.
Only as your clinical team directs. They review every medication and supplement you take and tell you what to continue, what to time differently and what, if anything, to hold. Do not stop an antidepressant or any other prescription on your own to prepare for a session; sudden changes can cause problems of their own.
No. Someone else, a responsible adult, has to take you home after each session, and you should not drive until the following day. Drowsiness and other lingering effects can last for hours, which is why ketamine's prescribing information advises against driving or operating machinery within 24 hours of a dose.
Call the clinic at (656) 269-4567 before you come in, and the team will tell you whether to keep or move the appointment. If you are having thoughts of harming yourself, call or text 988, or call 911 in an emergency; ketamine therapy is not an emergency treatment.
Plan on roughly 90 minutes to two hours. That covers getting settled and checked, the treatment itself, and monitored recovery before you leave with your driver. Keep the rest of the day free rather than scheduling work or errands for later that afternoon.
Sources & further reading
- Ketamine hydrochloride injection: FDA prescribing information (label revised March 2026) — U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Accessed 2026-11-02. Sections 2.1 (vomiting, aspiration, nil per os), 5.9 and 7.3 (CNS depressants including alcohol), 6 (nausea, vomiting), 17 (no driving within 24 hours).
- Efficacy and safety of a 4-week course of repeated subcutaneous ketamine injections for treatment-resistant depression (KADS study) (Loo et al., 2023) — British Journal of Psychiatry, via PubMed. Accessed 2026-11-02. Acute adverse effects (psychotomimetic, blood pressure increases) resolved within 2 hours.
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Accessed 2026-11-02.
Links point to external organizations. Clear Ketamine Therapy does not control their content.
Reviewed by Editorial team. Last reviewed 2026-11-02. Educational information only — not medical advice or a substitute for care from your own clinicians.
Keep reading
- What to ExpectA plain-language walkthrough of the full treatment process at our Tampa clinic — the evaluation, the sessions themselves, and the follow-up — including the parts that vary from person to person.
- AftercareHow people may feel after a ketamine session, what to do for the rest of the day, how follow-up works, and which symptoms mean you should get help right away.
- Safety & Side EffectsThe full safety picture: common short-term side effects, who should not receive ketamine, the FDA's compounded-ketamine warning, and our monitoring practices.
- Referrals for Ketamine TherapyYou can contact us directly, with no referral. Here is why we still ask about your other clinicians, which records help, and what a first evaluation looks at.
Talk with our clinical team
A consultation is a conversation, not a commitment. Ask questions, share what you are comfortable sharing, and learn whether ketamine therapy may be worth considering for you.
Not for emergencies — call or text 988 or 911 if you are in crisis.