How would you compare DXM to other dissos? I've never had a chance to try ketamine or any of the research chems/dark net type of dissos & have always wondered.
Difficult to say because dissociatives (NMDA antagonists) as such already are a broad spectrum. Probably you'll have heard of the plateaus of DXM and that they are attributed to different receptors/systems but I and some people found this to be not the complete truth; all dissociatives exhibit all the plateaus, just to varying degrees. The clearest distinction maybe is that DXM is also a powerful SNRI, while some of the other dissos are NDRI/triple reuptake inhibitors but that also doesn't cut it. I found DXM to possess very weird psychotomimetic (psychosis mimic) features which also were attributed to NMDA - we have this theory of NMDAr hypofunction being responsible for schizophrenia, and while there might be a possibility that some of this is true, for me it doesn't fit because DXM and DXM alone induced so-called positive symptoms in me (hearing voices to be specific) while more potent, PCP-based dissociatives didn't do that. A friend suspect it might have to do with receptor sigma (subtype 1 or 2) but that one's weird, we have agonists and antagonists under approved drugs which aren't psychotomimetic and the selective agonists noscapine and pentoxyverine did nothing at all for me in severe overdose.
DXM is dirty. Dirty as in that it his many receptors, but also dirty as in dirty feeling. Every now and then sombody brings this topic up, the most recent occurance was "sinister dextromethorphan" about the sinister vibes which come with this molecule and some speculate that, according to the NMDAr hypofunction stuff, this is an inherent property of dissociatives but I doubt it. Also, the only reason we see K used as an antidepressant nowadays isn't because it would be super good at it but because the approval work was already done, and it's the only dissociative currently approved at all (besides memantine, this is a weird one too, its almost world wide only approbation is for Alzheimer's, where it is of questionable efficacy while the effect against opioid/stim tolerance is well established but seldomly used).
There were a handful of times I reached a "state" out of hundreds and hundreds of times I've used DXM and in these handful of times, it felt like I left my body.
It felt like all my organs were shutting down and all I could feel was a weird sensation deep down in the bottom of my stomach, almost by my spine.
Remarkable. I never ever managed to catch a true "hole" type experience off any dissociative, while some people seem to be able to get it readily. There's definitely the need for more research (as in real, scientific research as well as research done by us research chemical users). I left my body, at least the sensation of it, quite some times but I never went though hole type paranormal stuff and mostly I would just pass out, going from "plateau 2:" to full anesthesia without any transition. This led me to thinking that I could have over-active NMDA receptors but it's a plain guess. At least the anesthetic effects of ketamine seem not to be dissociative based while dissociation certainly is anesthetic and analgesic - etc.
Some times I would drift away from my body though, and sometimes this was a pretty wild ride and stuff which doctors would certainly count as out of body experiences, but to me there was the real "heck-I-just-forgot-my-body" lacking. It always was conscious.
I was always interested in out of body experiences and paranormal stuff, and the possibility to experience such things with next to no physical danger on dissociatives appealed to me but I can't get there readily. Some people get a full out of body experience the first time they try K. But then we have to question what is a real out of body experience - is it losing sense, touch, control, remembrance of/with your body? But remarkable that you associate the remaining .. point.. of body with this position down the bottom of stomach and not, as one could imagine, the brain/eyes etc. I had some similar experiences but they remain too far and non-specific to really grasp them. Maybe I should have used more THC, this indeed seems to greatly potentiate psychedelic as well as dissociative experiences but to me THC alone is very dysphoric so I stood clear of it.
Dissociative + DMT (which seems to be dissociative on its own) is on my list though, pretty high on top if I could find the right people and substances. Also strangely has been shown to mitigate excitotoxicity. DMT containing trees are abundant here so that's not the problem.
Did you read the full DXM FAQ by W. White? He wrote a full chapter about paranormal experiences on DXM, and some of them are linked to temporal lobe abnormalities. Which answers next to nothing of course. Somehow I love the thought that not everything of psychedelic/paranormal/spiritual experiences can be explained purely by a neurochemical model because this leaves room for some weird trippy sci-fi fantasy stuff but I also like to know what's possible and going on.. we definitely need more research.
I have neither of said disorders either and wasn't just on one but oh almost all of the antipsychotics. Edit: Yeah, add-in treatment resistant and it makes sense.
