An Omaha doctor who served in the battlefield is now helping patients battle anxiety and depression. Dr Leslie Koenig opened Waybridge Clinic in October. The people who walk in there are not the people we see three weeks later. Theyre entirely different smiling and laughing, said Koenig, an emergency medicine physician. Koenig is a U.S. military veteran who served as a Navy doctor in Afghanistan where she used ketamine as a sedative to treat people on the battlefield. Later, in emergency rooms, she encountered mental health crises, daily.If someone is suicidal, a panic attack, where do they go: the emergency room. That was me, said Koenig.With additional training, shes now administering low dose Ketamine infusions to treat people with medication resistant anxiety, depression, chronic pain, PTSD and OCD. Each patients vital signs are monitored during the intravenous infusion and they must continue seeing their therapist and family practice doctor. Koenig is also a meditation coach and takes a holistic approach to health, encouraging people to continue seeing their therapist, eating healthy food and taking part in exercise.The clinic is located in west Omaha: Waybridge Clinic.I liken it to a gym session. You come here and do some serious work, but then you have to go and support that gym session after. You need sleep and you need the nutrition, she said. Low dose Ketamine infusions are considered an off-label use for mental health. A handful of clinics in the Omaha area offer the treatments.There are so many medications used off label. Its totally safe. Ketamine is an old medication with a new purpose. When it was first FDA approved, it was for anesthesia and what were finding out is that in low doses, it has neuroplastic benefits where you can grow new brain connections, said Koenig. With new connections, Koenig said perspective changes. "You can change your thinking," she said. She said Ketamine works on different receptors in the brain than traditional meds which are used to treat anxiety and depression. She said the new connections created by Ketamine help the brain bypass prior triggers to mental health issues, so that they no longer impact an individual. Jay Allen visited Koenig recently to talk about his life-changing recovery. He jokingly told her his face now hurts from smiling so much.I missed feeling happy. I missed laughing with my friends. I missed the positive person I used to be, said Allen, who recalls that he started feeling better after the second treatment.Allen is a military veteran and mechanical engineer who said hes excited to live again, instead of just existing from day to day. Now I can look forward and see hope, said Allen.His positive recovery and story is repeated by Jack Christian, a husband and father of three who loves creating music with his two local bands.He believes his life-long anxiety was rooted in childhood.I pretty much exhausted all my options, said Christian, who tried many prescription medications over the years and nothing seemed to pull him out of the funk.Hes had 7 low dose Ketamine treatments and after the baseline 6 treatments, some patients never need another dose. Some have an occasional booster dose. To me, its ground-breaking. Its been a godsend for me, said Christian, who now journals and practices yoga. Patients describe the infusion itself as calming and they find themselves in a place between wakefulness and sleep as the drug helps them sort through issues in their mind.Youre conscious, but youre watching your subconscious open up to you like a movie, said Christian. Allen describes the infusion as surreal.I liken it to being in a rowboat in the ocean. You can change the direction but at the end of the day, youre at the mercy of the medicine, said Allen.Both said they noticed positive changes days and weeks after the infusion and the changes are lasting. Koenig is working on trying to get health insurance companies to pay for the treatments and shes considering options for employers and non-profits to chip in. Right now, infusions are $500 a treatment, with a baseline program of 6 infusions, or $3,000.We need to destigmatize this and really make lasting change happen, said Koenig. Allen said hes forever grateful that his mom found the clinic and got him in for a consult.Im excited for whats next and I cant thank you guys enough for that, he said, hugging Koenig in her office lobby. Click here for the latest headlines from KETV NewsWatch 7

An Omaha doctor who served in the battlefield is now helping patients battle anxiety and depression. Dr Leslie Koenig opened Waybridge Clinic in October.

The people who walk in there are not the people we see three weeks later. Theyre entirely different smiling and laughing, said Koenig, an emergency medicine physician.

Koenig is a U.S. military veteran who served as a Navy doctor in Afghanistan where she used ketamine as a sedative to treat people on the battlefield. Later, in emergency rooms, she encountered mental health crises, daily.

If someone is suicidal, a panic attack, where do they go: the emergency room. That was me, said Koenig.

With additional training, shes now administering low dose Ketamine infusions to treat people with medication resistant anxiety, depression, chronic pain, PTSD and OCD. Each patients vital signs are monitored during the intravenous infusion and they must continue seeing their therapist and family practice doctor.

Koenig is also a meditation coach and takes a holistic approach to health, encouraging people to continue seeing their therapist, eating healthy food and taking part in exercise.

The clinic is located in west Omaha: Waybridge Clinic.

I liken it to a gym session. You come here and do some serious work, but then you have to go and support that gym session after. You need sleep and you need the nutrition, she said.

Low dose Ketamine infusions are considered an off-label use for mental health. A handful of clinics in the Omaha area offer the treatments.

There are so many medications used off label. Its totally safe. Ketamine is an old medication with a new purpose. When it was first FDA approved, it was for anesthesia and what were finding out is that in low doses, it has neuroplastic benefits where you can grow new brain connections, said Koenig.

With new connections, Koenig said perspective changes. "You can change your thinking," she said.

She said Ketamine works on different receptors in the brain than traditional meds which are used to treat anxiety and depression. She said the new connections created by Ketamine help the brain bypass prior triggers to mental health issues, so that they no longer impact an individual.

Jay Allen visited Koenig recently to talk about his life-changing recovery. He jokingly told her his face now hurts from smiling so much.

I missed feeling happy. I missed laughing with my friends. I missed the positive person I used to be, said Allen, who recalls that he started feeling better after the second treatment.

Allen is a military veteran and mechanical engineer who said hes excited to live again, instead of just existing from day to day.

Now I can look forward and see hope, said Allen.

His positive recovery and story is repeated by Jack Christian, a husband and father of three who loves creating music with his two local bands.

He believes his life-long anxiety was rooted in childhood.

I pretty much exhausted all my options, said Christian, who tried many prescription medications over the years and nothing seemed to pull him out of the funk.

Hes had 7 low dose Ketamine treatments and after the baseline 6 treatments, some patients never need another dose. Some have an occasional booster dose.

To me, its ground-breaking. Its been a godsend for me, said Christian, who now journals and practices yoga.

Patients describe the infusion itself as calming and they find themselves in a place between wakefulness and sleep as the drug helps them sort through issues in their mind.

Youre conscious, but youre watching your subconscious open up to you like a movie, said Christian.

Allen describes the infusion as surreal.

I liken it to being in a rowboat in the ocean. You can change the direction but at the end of the day, youre at the mercy of the medicine, said Allen.

Both said they noticed positive changes days and weeks after the infusion and the changes are lasting.

Koenig is working on trying to get health insurance companies to pay for the treatments and shes considering options for employers and non-profits to chip in. Right now, infusions are $500 a treatment, with a baseline program of 6 infusions, or $3,000.

We need to destigmatize this and really make lasting change happen, said Koenig.

Allen said hes forever grateful that his mom found the clinic and got him in for a consult.

Im excited for whats next and I cant thank you guys enough for that, he said, hugging Koenig in her office lobby.

Click here for the latest headlines from KETV NewsWatch 7

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Omaha emergency medicine doctor uses drug in new way to treat anxiety and depression - KETV Omaha