5 ms·

If someone finds ketamine helpful for depression, I'd just recommend they buy it on the street themselves. Of course this isn't the best solution (the best sol

by smabie 5y ago

If someone finds ketamine helpful for depression, I'd just recommend they buy it on the street themselves. Of course this isn't the best solution (the best solution would be for drugs to be legalized), but if you're strapped for cash and ketamine is having a seriously positive impact on your life, then I think it probably makes sense.

pmoriarty 5y ago
How would you know if you're getting real ketamine?
- akiselev 5y ago
  Reagent testing [1]. Dance Safe sells a kit that would last a heavy drug user years [2]. It's not fool-proof by any means and it does require some practice when reactions overlap. Ketamine is a relative easy one to test for though, since most of the reagents should not produce a visible reaction. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagent_testing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagent_testing [2] https://dancesafe.org/product/complete-set-of-all-8-testing-kits/ https://dancesafe.org/product/complete-set-of-all-8-testing-...
  - smabie 5y ago
    +1 to dance safe, those guys are awesome. Probably saved more than a handful of lives over the course of their existence. Great product too
coef2 5y ago
I'm not familiar with ketamine at all, but it just feels unsafe to decide by ourselves. Do psychiatrists have to monitor patients closely and determine the amount and frequency of doses? I wouldn't mind taking medicine for a cold or other common diseases. but could this be a lot risker?
sneak 5y ago
This is also a halfway decent way to become addicted to ketamine, a fate that has befallen many of my close friends, as well as a former partner. A perfect, near-instantaneous solution to depression button is a compelling button indeed. Take care.
0x008 5y ago
Since Ketamine is severely addictive, I would not recommend this.
- bookofjoe 5y ago
  Retired anesthesiologist here, many years using daily IV ketamine in burn wards for dressing changes, oftimes same individual for weeks (this treatment was used in burn wards when I first got there in the 1970s, BTW). As a rule, daily dose requirement increased about 10-25% each week. I don't think anyone back then noticed any effect of ketamine on mood; it was all about relieving the excruciating pain of 3rd degree burns. I can't speak to the addiction potential.
  - 0x008 5y ago
    Of course, I am talking about "recreational" Ketamine usage (not controlled by a physician or similar), but: I have lost two friends to it and another one went to the hospital multiple times. Considering that I am just one data point, I find that these are a lot of connections to people who had fatal events due to ketamine usage. This is not including the people I know who had a mild and severe addiction. Since you mention daily dose requirements, I would add that that is really the health risk here, since you would need double or triple the dosage (to get the psychoactive effects) after just a couple weeks of daily usage and it keeps increasing. This really puts a strain on your body until it will just fail to work anymore. Also if you use it in sub-anasthetic doses it can really fuck your head after a while and lead to dissociative episodes or even disorders as well as anxiety and paranoia and a loss of the `sense of reality` (like most other drugs do). Additionally it should be mentioned that - the neurotoxicity of Ketamine is not really explored - most street `Ketamine` is not that at all but often research chemicals which are even less explored health and addiction wise

by smabie 5y ago

pmoriarty 5y ago

How would you know if you're getting real ketamine?

akiselev 5y ago
Reagent testing [1]. Dance Safe sells a kit that would last a heavy drug user years [2]. It's not fool-proof by any means and it does require some practice when reactions overlap. Ketamine is a relative easy one to test for though, since most of the reagents should not produce a visible reaction. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagent_testing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagent_testing [2] https://dancesafe.org/product/complete-set-of-all-8-testing-kits/ https://dancesafe.org/product/complete-set-of-all-8-testing-...
- smabie 5y ago
  +1 to dance safe, those guys are awesome. Probably saved more than a handful of lives over the course of their existence. Great product too

coef2 5y ago

I'm not familiar with ketamine at all, but it just feels unsafe to decide by ourselves. Do psychiatrists have to monitor patients closely and determine the amount and frequency of doses? I wouldn't mind taking medicine for a cold or other common diseases. but could this be a lot risker?

sneak 5y ago

This is also a halfway decent way to become addicted to ketamine, a fate that has befallen many of my close friends, as well as a former partner. A perfect, near-instantaneous solution to depression button is a compelling button indeed. Take care.

0x008 5y ago

Since Ketamine is severely addictive, I would not recommend this.

bookofjoe 5y ago
Retired anesthesiologist here, many years using daily IV ketamine in burn wards for dressing changes, oftimes same individual for weeks (this treatment was used in burn wards when I first got there in the 1970s, BTW). As a rule, daily dose requirement increased about 10-25% each week. I don't think anyone back then noticed any effect of ketamine on mood; it was all about relieving the excruciating pain of 3rd degree burns. I can't speak to the addiction potential.
- 0x008 5y ago
  Of course, I am talking about "recreational" Ketamine usage (not controlled by a physician or similar), but: I have lost two friends to it and another one went to the hospital multiple times. Considering that I am just one data point, I find that these are a lot of connections to people who had fatal events due to ketamine usage. This is not including the people I know who had a mild and severe addiction. Since you mention daily dose requirements, I would add that that is really the health risk here, since you would need double or triple the dosage (to get the psychoactive effects) after just a couple weeks of daily usage and it keeps increasing. This really puts a strain on your body until it will just fail to work anymore. Also if you use it in sub-anasthetic doses it can really fuck your head after a while and lead to dissociative episodes or even disorders as well as anxiety and paranoia and a loss of the `sense of reality` (like most other drugs do). Additionally it should be mentioned that - the neurotoxicity of Ketamine is not really explored - most street `Ketamine` is not that at all but often research chemicals which are even less explored health and addiction wise