BrainHealth Solutions provides FDA-approved Spravato® nasal spray for treatment-resistant depression to Newport Beach adults at its Costa Mesa clinic beside John Wayne Airport, in a quiet, psychiatrist-supervised setting led by Dr. Robert Bota and Spravato® specialist Dr. Dragos Serseni.
Spravato® (esketamine) is an FDA-approved prescription nasal spray for adults with treatment-resistant depression and for major depression with suicidal thoughts. It works on the brain’s glutamate system rather than serotonin, which is why it can help people who have not improved on standard antidepressants, and why some patients feel a difference within hours or days rather than weeks. It is given only in a certified clinic under medical supervision. You cannot get it online or take it home, so every dose for a Newport Beach patient is taken at our Costa Mesa clinic.
Esketamine blocks NMDA receptors, which increases glutamate signalling and promotes new synaptic connections in mood-regulating regions. Because the mechanism differs from SSRIs and SNRIs, earlier medication failures do not predict failure with Spravato®.
You self-administer the spray in the clinic, then stay for at least two hours while blood pressure and alertness are monitored. Dissociative effects, when they occur, peak in the first hour and resolve before you go home.
Treatment starts twice a week for four weeks, then weekly, then weekly or every other week for maintenance. Spravato® is taken alongside an oral antidepressant, and your psychiatrist manages both.
Spravato® is approved only under a REMS safety program: it must be given in a certified clinic with monitoring, never at home. At BrainHealth Solutions the program is led by Dr. Dragos Serseni, whose focus is treatment-resistant depression and neuromodulation, inside a psychiatric practice that also offers TMS and SAINT®. Every dose is given at our only clinic, 3151 Airway Ave, Bldg R, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, on Airway Ave beside John Wayne Airport, which borders Newport Beach. There is no Newport Beach office; most Newport Beach patients are about 10 to 20 minutes from the clinic, a short ride home after each monitored visit.
Share your name, contact information and a callback time. The team confirms whether you have tried two or more antidepressants without enough relief, the usual eligibility criterion, and explains the visit schedule.
Your psychiatrist reviews symptoms, prior medication trials, medical history and blood pressure, and decides whether Spravato® is appropriate. Insurance authorization begins here.
You learn what the monitoring period involves, arrange a driver for the ride home, and avoid food for two hours and liquids for 30 minutes before each visit, as the label requires.
You self-administer the nasal spray in a quiet room while the care team monitors you. Each visit lasts at least two hours from dosing to discharge.
Twice weekly for the first month, then weekly, then an individualized maintenance schedule. Symptom scales track your response, and your psychiatrist adjusts the oral antidepressant as needed.
Most patients feel some detachment, dizziness or altered perception within 40 minutes of dosing, usually fading within one to two hours. The room is kept calm and private, and the team checks on you throughout.
Blood pressure is measured before dosing and about 40 minutes after, because esketamine can raise it temporarily. You leave only once readings and alertness are back to baseline.
You cannot drive until the next day, so someone needs to take you home after every visit. Newport Beach patients often book a late-morning or early-afternoon visit, protect the rest of the day, and plan around the induction month’s two visits a week before returning to a weekly rhythm.
The Spravato® schedule follows the FDA label:
Spravato® side effects are expected, short-lived and the reason for in-clinic monitoring. Most resolve before you leave the clinic.
Common during the monitoring period
Because of sedation and dissociation, you must not drive or operate machinery until after a restful night’s sleep.
Less common
Your evaluation screens for these risks, and a clinician is present for every dose.
In the clinical trials behind approval, roughly half of patients with treatment-resistant depression responded to Spravato® plus an oral antidepressant, with some improvement measurable within 24 hours. Longer-term studies show that continued maintenance dosing lowers relapse compared with stopping.
Response is individual. BrainHealth Solutions tracks symptom scales at each phase, and if Spravato® has not helped by the end of induction, the same team can move you to TMS or SAINT® without a referral elsewhere.
Spravato® may be appropriate for Newport Beach adults who:
Spravato® is not appropriate for people with aneurysmal vascular disease, arteriovenous malformation, a history of intracerebral hemorrhage, or during pregnancy. Uncontrolled blood pressure needs to be treated first.
Alternatives we offer when Spravato is not the fit
For people who have tried many antidepressants, Spravato® offers a different mechanism without starting from scratch. Patients describe a doctor who “talks to you, and takes his time on every visit,” which matters when each visit lasts two hours.
Esketamine acts on glutamate, not serotonin, so it can help when several SSRIs or SNRIs have not.
Some patients notice change within days, and the twice-weekly induction month gives a clear read on response.
With the clinic about 10 to 20 minutes from most of Newport Beach, the ride home after monitoring is brief for you and for whoever drives.
Every dose is taken in a quiet room with a clinician present, so side effects are managed on site rather than at home.
Spravato® is covered by many commercial plans and Medicare for treatment-resistant depression, and the manufacturer offers savings programs for eligible commercially insured patients.
If Spravato® is not enough, TMS, SAINT®, medication management and psychotherapy are available from the same team.
Spravato® is one of the few treatments FDA-approved specifically for treatment-resistant depression, and one of the few that can act within days. If you have been through two or more medications and are weighing esketamine against TMS, the screening call compares both for your situation instead of steering you to the only option a clinic happens to offer.
At our Costa Mesa clinic, self-pay Spravato® ranges from $600 to $1,200 per session, depending on dosage and clinical monitoring requirements. Because induction involves twice-weekly visits for the first month, early costs are higher before visits taper to a maintenance schedule. Many insurance plans cover Spravato® for qualifying patients, and the manufacturer’s savings program can reduce cost for eligible commercially insured patients. We review your benefits and give you a clear estimate first.
Insurance and financing
BrainHealth Solutions accepts insurance and self-pay. Many major plans are accepted, including Medicare and Anthem, and CareCredit financing spreads self-pay costs over monthly payments. Submit your plan through the insurance-check form on our site, or ask on your 15-minute screening call, and our team confirms what your plan covers before you commit to anything.
Dr. Robert Bota, MD, MSG, DFAPA is a board-certified psychiatrist and Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He trained in TMS at Harvard University and the University of South Carolina, founded and directed the first TMS program at UC Irvine, and has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications.
Dr. Bota has been principal investigator on more than 20 clinical trials in depression, schizophrenia, PTSD and Alzheimer’s disease, and the practice participates in brain-imaging research with Kernel neurotechnology. Treatment plans are informed by that research and reviewed as your symptoms change.
Care at BrainHealth Solutions is delivered by a team that includes psychiatrists Dr. Tina Allee and Dr. Mahtab K. Yousefi (child and adolescent care in English and Farsi), Spravato® specialist Dr. Dragos Serseni, TMS technician Anna Venezio and office manager Peter Bota.
Many plans are accepted, including Medicare and Anthem, and CareCredit financing is available for self-pay. One parent wrote that the team “even helped get insurance coverage when others said it wasn’t possible.” Use the insurance check on our site or ask on your screening call.
BrainHealth Solutions has no Newport Beach office. Spravato® is given at our only clinic, 3151 Airway Ave, Bldg R, Costa Mesa, beside John Wayne Airport, which is about 10 to 20 minutes from most of Newport Beach.
No. Spravato® is approved only under a REMS safety program, so it must be self-administered in a certified clinic and followed by at least two hours of monitoring. Telehealth or home use is not permitted.
Plan for a family member, friend or ride service after every visit. You cannot drive until the next day. Because the clinic is close to Newport Beach, the trip home is short.
At least two hours: dosing, then monitoring of blood pressure and alertness until you are cleared to leave with your driver.
Spravato® was studied in adults whose depression had not responded to at least two antidepressants, the same group most patients here belong to. In those trials roughly half responded when it was added to an oral antidepressant.
Many commercial plans and Medicare cover it for treatment-resistant depression, usually after documentation of two failed antidepressant trials. Many plans are accepted at BrainHealth Solutions, and the team handles authorization.
The same practice offers TMS and the accelerated SAINT® protocol, so a non-response leads to the next option with the same clinical team instead of a new search.
Schedule a 15-minute screening call to find out whether Spravato® is the right next step for your depression.
BrainHealth Solutions, 3151 Airway Ave, Bldg R, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 · (949) 441-5542 · Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Same-day appointments may be available. The screening call asks only for your name, contact information and a callback time; there are no long intake forms before you speak with us.
