It's now day 9 and I still feel pretty good. The major problem in my life right now is insomnia, but it doesn't appear to be linked to depressive disorder... which is nice, for a change. Instead of feeling wide awake and worried about needing to wake up at a decent time tomorrow, I am just calm and collected. The novelty effect of the ketamine has faded but many of the changes I implemented in my life while on the ketamine have remained. My ability to tell it like it is and use my voice is still there, which I'm so happy about!
hawaii said:
1) What about the dosage for a nootropic therapy taking Ketamine nasally?
You mentioned people doing 10mg nasally every hour, for 7 days.
Do you think is a proper dose?
Jamshyd originally started experimenting with ketamine intranasally for depression and in later repeats of the regimen he switched to IM because it was easier for him to calibrate such small doses in a regular way. I mentioned in my OP that someone I spoke with did it intranasally every hour for
three days, not seven. Jamshyd did it nasally for 7 days, but began spacing out his doses until by day 7 he was only taking it every 4 hours. I ended up doing the same thing, except through IM.
Yes, 10-12mg seems to be the ideal nootropic range for most people, though in my case 6mg was more than sufficient. It's better to start with less than to end up doing too much and risking the damaging effects. Remember, the goal is to repair your brain, not get high.
hawaii said:
2) How long is this therapy and mindstate supposed to last?
There is a lot of debate about this. In practically all of the scientific studies I read, they gave a dose of 0.5mg per kg of body weight via IV, which for the average person is in the 30mg+ range. Some studies did a single dose, and in others they administered it 2-3 times for
one day. None did multiple-day regimens, AFAIK.
In those studies, relief was immediate and lasted a minimum of 7-10 days, especially in suicidally depressed people. For people with chronic depression the results are more variable: anywhere from 7 days to several weeks, with a repeat of the regimen being required after that. For the suicidally depressed, the remission rates were high in the first cycle of the regimen, and for those that relapsed, a second cycle brought permanent relief for most.
The ultra-low dose reigmen spread out over 7 days is based on the working theory that smaller doses more often and over a longer period gives the brain a lot more time to regrow synapses and repair depression/stress related damage, and thus the result may last longer than the single high dose. Also, from a psychological standpoint, it gives the user a longer window of opportunity to use the neuroplastic state for self-reflection.
hawaii said:
3) What about doing a psychedelic experience for treating depression instead of a nootropic one?
You're right about the NDE experience aspect. I did read one study where suicidally depressed research subjects were given a k-hole experience in order to simulate death, and this resulted in them making a sharp turnaround. It was combined with counselling and talk therapy. IMO that's a little drastic, but I respect the researchers for being willing to do that kind of investigation.
The problem with psychedelic doses is that you lose the benefit of ketamine's nootropic quality, and the negative effects become much more prevalent at those doses. Ketamine acts as a completely different drug according to the dosage level. A low threshold dose acts as a nootropic which appears to have beneficial, reparative qualities on the brain; whereas a higher psychedelic dose done often is potentially more detrimental to the brain. The ultra low-dose regimen allows the brain to receive the medicinal benefits of K without the damaging effects that come from higher doses.
Psychedelic doses of ketamine allow for breakthrough experiences in thinking, but the high is so short and repeating it often so detrimental, that IMO it's not worth it. If you do the low dose regimen you will have access to the neuroplastic effects of ketamine (such as increased novelty and creativity), but without too many harsh impacts. It's the neuroplasticity that helps you reframe your problems so that once the ketamine wears off, the newly discovered realizations take hold and solidify so that you can conduct your life different. If you can achieve that at a lower, less-damaging dose, then why not go that route instead? It's the same as with other psychedelics, except ketamine's unique qualities make it more ideal for addressing depression. It has the quality of inhibiting the depressive state while opening up consciousness in the necessary ways to examine the source of the depression, all within the same drug.
If my depression returns I could always try a single psychedelic dose of K and see how it compares to the low-dose regimen, but I feel I already know the answer to that so it might not be worth it for me, especially if doing a high dose risks undoing the nootropic work I did earlier.
