Ketamine is an NMDA antagonist, and there are other drugs in this class being developed as antidepressants. AXS-05 was granted "breakthrough therapy" status by the FDA and combines the NDRI bupropion with dextromethorphan which has effects similar to ketamine's. We really are in exciting times for antidepressants.
When I was younger, I've done dextromethorphan quite a bit, and while I was mostly doing it for the dissociative effect, it always had the side effect of lifting my mood for a couple of weeks afterwards
Well yeah, DXM is the drug people are drinking cough medicine for. Its called "Robotripping" when you take it. I believe most people just try to drink the cough medicine that is straight dextromethorphan, like robitussin, when taking it. The other ingredients, like the expectorant, in stuff like Nyquil would probably just make you sick drinking a lot of it... and i doubt the amount of alcohol in it is enough to have any noticeable effect.
I wish I could feel what others feel when they try a certain drug. I've taken ketamine recreationally and I mostly just feel a numbing sensation similar to having a couple drinks that wears off fairly quickly. I don't totally get the appeal as a party drug from that perspective.
I did professional ketamine treatments twice. The first session was over four weeks, with weekly injections given for an hour each session.
It helped tremendously for about 4 months. Then my depression kicked in again, and I enrolled again. This second round I cut off after only two sessions. It was too intense. The first one was exciting and psychedelic. The second was psychedelic but... uncomfortable? It’s hard to describe. I didn’t enjoy it, and stopped after only two.
I can see the possibilities for it, and it did help, if only for a while. But that brief respite from the constant “you’re a shit, James, no one loves you and they never will,” that voice was silenced for a while.
I know this sounds strange, but recently I ended up with a prescription for Suboxone, and it has completely cured me of lifelong debilitating depression. I really hope more research is being done. Within the span of one year my career has gone from being on the rocks to skyrocketing success, all because the crushing weight of depression has been lifted from my shoulders. YMMV.
Ketamine is among common psychedelics the most likely to lead to "bad trips", unfortunately. My anesthesiologist friends don't have much good to say about it (but of course they're not concerned with the anti-depressive effect).
SWIM always has very pleasant claymation visuals with K, as opposed to the usual soul-shredding ego death from LSD.
However prolonged use can cause bladder damage and (for the extreme mainliners) k-holes seem correlated to suicidal ideation, so as always tread carefully.
I've said this before in regards to other substances on this board.
Please, please, please do your own research or talk to a professional before embarking on such things. Think for yourself and don't take advice from random people on any forum. You're too important.
Zarate is quoted in the article and is one of the authors of Ketamine for Treatment Resistant Depression. A great book that will give you quite a bit of background.
I take ketamine with a prescription at home. If anyone here knows someone who is going to an IV clinic I can give out my doctor's information. He's taking new patients and is okay with me giving out his e-mail.
When you're depressed it's easy to overlook the financial implications of spending $500 for an IV. And then you end up in financial trouble. I tried to contact Brooke, but I think I may have been too late...
That is amazing, I've read quite a bit about this and did not know that anyone was prescribing for home use. Roughly how much does it cost? Did you receive initial treatment in a clinic and then transition to home use?
The prescription costs $80-$100 a month but since I'm out of state and there are other costs like flights, shipping, etc it's more expensive. If you live near Maryland you have an advantage here. I am paying under $3000 a year.
Before I found my doctor I was being mercilessly ripped off by IV clinics. I've been to 3 different clinics around the country. My doctor agrees that IV clinics are spreading pseudoscience.
Any doctor can prescribe ketamine off label. It's one of the safest drugs out there and has a lower addiction potential than Adderall (according to DEA scheduling).
I take 50mg weekly, insnuflation, but suddenly considering sublingual. It's rid me of a lifetime of persistent ideation that had become a daily burden. It seems like I need way less than clinics give people
250mg seems exceptionally high (in reference to the OP's response below). The esketamine nasal spray that was just approved contains only 28mg per dose (1-2x/week). I don't know if that's because you need more if you take it sublingually. Snorting/nasal is almost certainly the most efficient/most effective way to take it.
It's not just about the expense, ketamine can damage liver and kidneys, and reduce iron uptake. Efficiency, in this case, is more about harm reduction than expense
Are you concerned about potential long term side effects of the drug?
Like MDMA, which has also garnered attention from researchers for potential medical benefits, I was under the impression K had nontrivial neurotoxic potential if abused.
Yes, and that's why I take small doses infrequently. I took a few months off because I was doing that much better, but the intrusive thoughts came back. But overall. No, my brain is fucked and tells me to kill myself every day; I don't need that abuse. Those brain cells deserve to die. More serious take: my quality of life is improved by an order of magnitude. I didn't want to survive another decade in that condition, but now I do. That's worth the risk
Can you describe your experience with it (how resistant your depression was, how effective ket is, what the short and long term effects you’re noticing are)?
It's a function of anatomy. The sublingual veins drain into the jugular and then vena cava. For drugs this avoids the first-pass effect, which is exploited when giving nitroglycerin for angina pectoris. Other ways to achieve this are suppositories (rectal veins) and intravenous (i.v.) or intramuscular (i.m.) injection.
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2018/08/ketamines-ant...
The linked scientific American piece only mentions the glutamate system.
Does anyone know whether the opioid link ended up being valid?