Ketamine

[Dancer2020]

Has anyone used Ketamine? And if so what was your experience?

[primrose81]

I would be very interested to read replies to this - I had two general anaesthetics within a fortnight a couple of years ago. I was depressed and had been for years(I am bipolar) before I went into hospital and was on a real high when I left hospital. Somebody said there was ketamine in the anaesthetic and that it would account for the dramatic shift of mood. If so, I would love more of it as it helped me more than antidepressants. I don’t think it is available on prescription though here in the UK. Do you know anything about it?

[designguy]

There are two types available, one is a nasal spray and the other is direct infusions. Supposedly, the nasal spray is questionably effective so I did a series of four infusions a year ago and went into it with no expectations. It's a hallucinogen and I had very vivid strange images and felt like i was on a psychedelic roller coaster ride through strange lands and at times felt like I was flying. For me it was a kind of spiritual journey and a glimpse into the connectedness of life. You lose all sense of reality and time. i did not find it relaxing and calming and if I had not done a lot of work on accepting anxious thoughts and feelings it would have been very anxiety provoking. It's also physically taxing and I had to take anti-nausea pills for it and I would be physically drained the rest of the day. You also can't drive afterward so my wife had to take me and pick me up. I stopped after the 4 infusions because i wasn't getting any real gain from it. Supposedly one of the benefits is that you can address old traumas with it but none of mine came up for me. My main issue has been social anxiety and mild depression and supposedly it's good for both but I understand that it is primarily for treating previously untreatable depression. I think it did help decrease my rumination and I have very little social anxiety anymore and occasional depression so maybe it helped that. Years ago, the few times I smoked pot. it made me anxious so I don't know if it's related to my ketamine experience. It's also expensive at around $500. per infusion and insurance won't pay for it. My drug of choice was cocaine and I was hoping ketamine would give me a boost and clarity like it did but it didn't. Personally, i'm not sure what the big deal is about it. But as i'm sure you know, we are all different and react differently to meds.

[Dancer2020 in reply to designguy]

Thanks for the info. My therapist said it helps to "reset" your brain. I thought it might be worth a shot but also scared to try it.

[Dancer2020 in reply to designguy]

Thanks for the information.

[designguy]

You're welcome.