Ketamine: The thin line of medicine or drug abuse

[Bitchniggaz]

I have a chronic pain issue which is caused by herniated discs and nerve impingement.

Im very educated in fitness and physical therapy theory.
I workout alot and eat super clean.

However i still struggle with episodes of intense pain.
Ive made a regimen of Ketamine injections a few times a month.
I usually use 0,5-1g spread out on 1-2days.
Basicly i binge and just block the pain signal for awhile.

Most of the times it works very well and im totally pain free afterwards.
I would be lying if i said i didnt enjoy the experiences aswell.
Its really nice actually


Anyway does anyone know if im doing any permanent damage by this?
I never use more than 1g in a binge and i always space the binges by at least 1week but usually 2-3weeks.

Nothing else helps with the pain like this.
Ive tried heavy opiates but they make me feel really bad.

 

[Solipsis]

Hmm yeah very hard to weigh the positives and the negatives. I do think that 1 gram is quite a lot and probably does have health effects, permanent - well probably yes in the sense that if you keep it up long enough you may start seeing consequences in bladder, gallbladder or kidneys. A few times a month is almost once a week, not insignificant.

K doesn't act extremely long so it's no surprise that it is not a functional remedy, especially to do acute high doses rather than more frequent lower doses. But, doing the latter may be even more habit-forming and K isn't that functional to do too often.

Opiates are definitely one of the worst options you have, I think.

K is at least as psychologically addictive for me, but at least it is not physically addictive like opiates are - been there.

I can't really recommend this, but other dissociatives that are more potent and long-lasting may act as analgesic without necessarily causing a trip - and may be effective for days on end. There are other risks involved though. But yeah I have used 3-MeO-PCP for this kind of purpose.
With all K, MXE and 3-MeO-PCP I have gotten cognitive issues from too much use - but 3-MeO-PCP is the only one that doesn't necessarily affect me functionally (I do have tolerance) but still is analgesic. However it's easier to screw up the dosage with something like that and OD, I guess - although I never have.

Before you do anything unhealthy though, maybe talk to your pain specialist (I hope you have one??) and see if drugs like pregabalin are effective for the nerve pain? But I don't know if such medications only work for neuropathic pain at a cellular level, or if that also includes 'mechanical' nerve issues like the 'impingement'.

 

[Bitchniggaz]

Its something with Ketamines short duration that helps.
All the longer acting dissios actually makes the pain worse.

With K i can hole and then get back into my body and readjust my posture before redosing.


But what would the side effects be from sporadic use like this?
I always stay very hydrated and load up on good food and vitamins/minerals.
The bladder issues i always thought was from heavy chronic use?

Other then my K habit i dont really do much drugs.
Barely any alcohol, maybe 1g of weed a week and a few trips a year.(lsd,mesc,shrooms or ayahuasca usually)

Im not trying to defend the habit, im truly curious to know how my body reacts to it.

Is there any markers i could get checked out with blood tests etc?

 

[Solipsis]

I don't know why other dissociatives don't work for you or which you tried, but generally they can do interesting things like basically resetting your proprioception / body image and I guess that can include pain. There is a lot more to be discovered about the significance of serotonergic effects and the learning effects that are thought to give the anti-depressant effects.

Yeah bladder issues become more and more likely the bigger the doses and/or the more frequent you use. You may notice early stages or if not intermediate... so I don't think huge bladder damage will come as a big surprise.

Kidney issues can be tested for by markers in the blood, but I think most disease goes unnoticed until it is quite progressed, so a test will probably not do you much good if you are randomly screening. I guess you just ought to read up on what may be affected the most in your body and what early symptoms might be - then stay on the look out for them.

Your best bet is operating under the assumption that over time it does some damage if the doses are not low and you dose somewhat frequently, and to see what your options are and focus on prevention as much as possible.

Who gets which disease when is always a bit of a dark lottery, K will just increase your odds for some of them, and regarding the bladder I just think that using decreases it's life expectancy.

Hydrating and B12 are good. Maybe some coQ10 couldn't hurt.
Q10 pills are expensive but I bought mine as pure powder and dissolved it into molten cocoa fat for proper absorption, then poured into icecube molds. Easy and cheap that way.
I think Q10 supports energy metabolism and is an 'educated guess' to reverse some of effects of dissociatives. Nootropics like noopept also reverse some dissociative effects and may be good for your cognition. Strangely I also saw a thread in NSP of a person who had pain relief from high dose noopept.