Experience with ketamine therapy for depression

[ComfortablyNumb95]

Really Really interesting post.
I've neve used ketamine (tough it'in my whish list) and now I have an even better opinion about it.
Did anyone else on this forum try this and was succesful? When did you folowed this therapy and do you still feel The positive (and negative) effects?
I don't nave any particular mental issue still i'd really like to experience all the effects you achieved on your consciousness

 

[electrodevo]

Thanks for your contribution, but as was emphasized at the beginning of this thread and throughout it MANY times, this regimen is specificially beneficial to those with treatment resistant depression. Translation: for people who have tried everything else and nothing helps, this could be a good medicine.

It is still, in my opinion, playing a bit of "roll the dice". Heavy ketamine usage, as we know, is nothing to play around with.

The only "off-label" usage I've heard of actually being used in hospitals was for extremely suicidal emergency cases.

The drug I've heard furthest along as far as NMDA antagonist style antidepressants goes, GLYX-13, doesn't even look like ketamine much molecularly (it's actually a peptide) and also works a little differently (GLYX-13 is a partial antagonist that binds mostly at the glycine binding site vs. ketamine, which is a non-competitive antagonist).

From what I know of NMDA antagonists, historically the full versions have tended to disappoint in clinical trials for various things, as fully blocking NMDA all the time may cause unacceptable side effects.

That being said... this is not a completely off the wall gamble either.

There are a few studies out there that are looking at low-dose ketamine not only for treatment resistant depression, but *also* for bipolar disorder and as an alternative / adjunct to morphine for pain management. There seems to be a "clinical renewal" of interest in this compound and also all things glutamate, clinical interest confirmed by many organizations (not just a few select ones, as is the case for other recreational drugs).

So this is more or less "getting ahead" of what research is already poking at in trials.

People who chose to follow this path are "gambling" but I wouldn't necessarily call it a reckless one, especially if nothing else has worked and the bipolar disorder or depression is severe or debilitating. The science behind ketamine's anti-depressive effects is real, and the bad effects of large amount of ketamine are well known. One can make an informed decision with both in mind.

 

[ComfortablyNumb95]

^
1 gram of ketamine over the course of a week doesn't seem like a big dose to me

 

[Foreigner]

It is still, in my opinion, playing a bit of "roll the dice". Heavy ketamine usage, as we know, is nothing to play around with.

I read the rest of your post but I want to address this premise. I admit that the beginning of my regimen required hourly doses which could be viewed as a lot, but now I take 10mg maybe once or twice a week to stave off depression. You think that's heavy?

 

[vortech]

Foreigner, I would love to see a write up of MXE's properties from a Qi and meridional standpoint, how it compares to ketamine from the eastern medicine perspective.

 

[Foreigner]

Foreigner, I would love to see a write up of MXE's properties from a Qi and meridional standpoint, how it compares to ketamine from the eastern medicine perspective.

I'd consider it if I cared to do MXE. I have nothing against it but ketamine works for me... and if it's not broken, I don't want to fix it!

 

[Mr. Meowfish]

First, I just wanted to say Thank You to the OP for doing such a professional and scientifically proper person study of the effects of Ketamine on negating Depression. It's really awesome and deserves a round of applause the level of SELF CONTROL that you have. You are a straight up G in my book. If more self researchers and psychonauts took the time to write TR's or study papers like this - I feel like normal people would have to give us a little bit more credit for the benefits that our Guinea Pig work brings to society as a whole. I genuinely believe that the next generation of Depression medications - may ACTUALLY HELP SOMEONE with depression. SSRI'S and SSNI'S are a fucking JOKE! They cause your average person more side effects and problems than they're even worth 85% of the time. I honestly feel terrible for people who choose to take that class of drugs. They made me feel DISGUSTING inside my body and mind when I took them in the past as prescribed by a Dr. I would NEVER touch them again, even if they actually helped.....they're that gross to me. Oh yeah, and EVERY TIME I smoked weed when I was on SSRI's - I got an almost immediate, full blown, anxiety attack, and not the kind where you can talk yourself down and control your breathing to chill out - the kind where you wish you take that Xanex bar and inject it directly, IMMEDIATELY into your brain. It was awful. ENTER DISSOCIATIVES.......
The first dissociative that I realized helped my depression significantly was DXM. It was amazing. The first time that I took DXM was honestly, sadly but thankfully, the first time I can remember in my life actually feeling happy and being optimistic about what life has to hold. I always felt like if I tripped once a week, occasionally twice - the afterglow always lasted WAY longer than the drug, with very minimal negative side effects, at first. I was so thankful to have a "medicine" to treat the awful state of my mind that my life constantly resided in. But, like most good things, being a human being - I fucked it up entirely. Although I don't really believe that you can get physically addicted to DXM - although it is possible I'm sure and prolonged daily use for extended periods of time will leave you withdrawals, but to be honest, they're pretty damn mild and unless you're gettin' DOWN on some DXM, you should be just fine. In one year during this time period, I spent 45 days tripping in a row, followed by a 2-3 week break, followed by another 35 days binge. Honestly, it was the best I've ever felt in my life, the happiest that I've ever been, and the most fun I've had in a REALLY long time. After soldiering thru a few months of DXM, I started to get weird feelings like my Brain was frying on high doses - which eventually led to having really bad, really intense panic attacks at around the 6-8 hour mark once I would be coming down. I even blacked out a couple of times and ended up on the floor. After my fun, I was back to square one - but I did have one thing on my side. Even tho the comedown from the Dex was crushing my brain more and more every time, it did take almost an entire month-35days to start feeling depressed again. Something in dissociatives doesn't just temporarily fix your depression - it's almost like it RE-WIRES your brain to be able to deal with how shitty real life is. It was amazing. I do not recommend DXM for daily use AT ALL. It catches up with you quick.
That being said - I had to leave Dex alone for quite a while after the shitty stuff started happening. It was quite a bummer. Now that I knew what it was like to feel like a REAL human being that actually ENJOYS life, there was no way I could go back to the misery that was and always has been my life. It would be years before I'd have a chance to feel human again. I took a 2 year break from DXM. A few years later, I tried Ketamine for the first time. GOOD GOD DAMN! Talk about a magic bullet, the first bump of Ket I ever took was only 25-30mgs, not much at all, but it was amazing. I instantly went from being dark and gloomy with a side of suicide - to bright and chipper dipper with a big smile and the will to live. Only problem with Ket - way too short of duration = need to redose = expensive as fuck + quick tolerance development. It just wasn't practical for me...........but for a little bit, I tried to chase it. I'd buy .2 or .3 every 2 or 3 days. Eventually .2-.3 became 1, maybe 2 bumps if I was lucky. So what do I do............what any good depressed drug addict does - find a more cost effective drug or ROA. Thus begins - IV Ketamine whenever available. Luckily tho, after about 6 months of menthol flavored K-Holes, or unluckily rather - the supply of vials of Ket was dry. There was no more available and it was gonna be a while. FUCK. Not again. Although, yet again - I was using a dissociative quite recklessly, to the extent of IV injections on a sometimes daily basis - The withdrawals were not all that terrible, and more physical than mental. The depression fix stuck with me again for a few weeks after discontinuing use. That was great, but you're still always waiting for that other shoe to fall, waiting for your brain to go back to the hell that it was. Fuck! This time I wasn't having it.
Once the Ket was gone, and my depression had returned - back to chugging bottle of DXM, fuck the consequences. Part of why I'm writing out this post/TR right now is so that people see first hand............When you are in a depressed state like i was in, you will do or try ANYTHING TO FEEL BETTER. ANYTHING!! I don't care who you are - depression will eat your heart, soul, and mind alive. The Dex was good for a while. I tried to use it more sparingly, be kinder to my body. It worked, and I was able to control my use better this time around - mainly because Ket is so much cleaner DXM. I really like the buzz and euphoria I get from DXM, I always have, but the smell and taste just ruin it, even in powder form. Once you get into a pattern of taking 700-1200mgs of DXM 3-5 days a week, week after week, you actually start to taste DXM in the back of your mouth at all times. Pretty much everything started to smell like DXM to me as well. Mentally, I was doing really well, but the Dex was just crushing my physical body. So lame.
But that leads me to this, the whole point of my post. 3-MeO-2-Oxo-PCE!! This compound is just a straight up miracle drug, I don't even know what else to call it. Methoxetamine, in my personal opinion, is superior to EVERY SINGLE DEPRESSION MED ON THE MARKET TODAY!! That's just my opinion, but it's truth as far as I'm concerned. The last 2 years of my life have been the best years, Mentally Speaking, that I've ever had, IN MY WHOLE LIFE. Laugh at me, call me delusional, whatever you want - we all create our own worlds and build our own realities - and where I was living in my head WAS THE SHIT! I still felt normal, I still felt like ME, not like some hollow alien like on SSRI's or Lithium or Halidol or drugs of this nature which Dr.s have forced on me throughout my life. I finally felt like ME, for the first time in a long time, if ever..........and not only did I feel like ME, I felt like the best, most productive version of myself that I had ever been. I won't go into depth about the extent or craziness of my MXE use at different times, there's not much point as I usually wasn't even CLOSE to as professional and mature about my trials as the OP. But it worked, it worked good enough for me. It helped me get past some dark obstacles in my life that needed to go, which still remain gone to this day although I haven't done a bump of MXE since April. It helped my brain feel like it had been put back together completely after years and years of heavy Opiate and Heroin abuse. It honestly helped me stay clean, and helped make me WANT to stay clean more than anything I've ever encountered. I'm thankful above all else - that even if MXE and ALL DISSOCIATIVES disappeared tomorrow forever - At least I got to feel what real human beings feel for a few years of my life - all thanks to the insane anomaly that is RC's. People should really appreciate the cool little gig that we've got going on right now, that everyone in the world for the most part has going on right now - The FREEDOM and Availability to make life your own special trip. I've honestly wished for years that I would just finally do too many psychedelics and my brain would finally just tell me "Dude, You finally overdid it, You're tripping forever now buddy". I honestly feel like my personal life would be so much more rewarding and fulfilling in a state Psychedelia.
I never knew what happiness was until I took a Dissociative - and that's the honest fucking truth. Sad, but true. Just be glad that you aren't me and that you can crack a smile without a head full of drugs. I can't. Real Talk.

 

[electrodevo]

I read the rest of your post but I want to address this premise. I admit that the beginning of my regimen required hourly doses which could be viewed as a lot, but now I take 10mg maybe once or twice a week to stave off depression. You think that's heavy?

It's a threshold dose done not very often. That's probably "okay".

I am not a qualified medical professional, so take this opinion for what it is worth. But the harmful effects -- which mainly seem to be various mental problems, I think -- mainly occur with ketamine done at way higher dosage at way higher frequency. The ketamine anti-depressant effect is long lasting, so I would agree that hourly or even daily doses is a waste and could greatly increase the chance of tolerance.

I would still definitely watch for negative mental issues or signs of tolerance, but I'd be more comfortable with that "dice roll".

 

[cashmunny]

I did not respond to 40 mg of ketamine given IM at all. I tripped moderately for about half an hour, but no relief from depression. In fact i felt irrritable and a little more depressed. Probably because I was bummed that it didn't work. Since I have Bipolar perhaps 40 mg overshot the mark.

However after reading the OP I decided to try again this time at lower doses but more frequent dosing. I convinced my doctor to let me try a nasal spray. The local neighborhood pharmacy made a compounded spray in a concentration of 150 mg/ml. A 25 ml bottle cost me about 40 bucks which I thought was pretty reasonable considering it contains almost 4 grams of pure ketamine. Seems like a lot of K to pack into 25 mls of solution but that's what the bottle says. The directions say three sprays per nostril every other day.

Today is my first day and I have found that one spray per nostril is a little over threshold. I start to feel woozy and strange. So I'm currently doing one spray in one nostril every few hours. So far I feel quite good. I think there is merit to the low but frequent dosing method.

Regarding the insomnia though: Does anyone know or can speculate as to whether a benzodiazepine like temazapam would interfere with the therapeutic effects of ketamine? I do need my beauty sleep.

 

[hawaii]

Again, any update on this topic?
How are you feeling now Foreigner?
How many times do you inject Ketamine now and which dose do you take?

 

[Sreddy]

I have started a regime as well based on this thread. It is up the nose, as I can only get powder, and I am a newbie so I dont even now how IM works
But I am om 4. day, using appx 6 small dosis a day, every two hours from day one. I do feel an improvement, especially in the mornings, which is when I have suffered the most. I look like shit ever since the depression took over, like I was always a bit tired no matter how much I slept and my eyes were therefore also looking tired always.
I look almost like my good old self now after getting my morning shower. But I am not what I would consider 100% depressionfree, but then again I am also only halfway through a regime.

As a matter a fact, when I first got hold of Ketamine 3 weeks ago, i went through the K-hole, which is a very very speciel experience. Nothing this drugnewbie have ever experienced before. It was truly an out-of-body experience. Afterwards I had 2-3 amazingly good days feeling quite depressionfree, but when it returned I took a new K-hole but with no possitive effect at all. I had read ketamine could do wonders, but not much else, so therefore I just tried a bit.

I makes sense to me now that this has to be taken in a completely different way than k-holing

 

[Sreddy]

Foreigner, forgive if you have stated this. I could not find it.

By when did you feel the relief from the depression? By which day in the regime were you feeling out af the darkness?

 

[Foreigner]

I am concerned that people are reading about my regimen and not following it.

I do not recommend using anything higher than a threshold dose if you want to try this. I advise against k-holing.

It's a threshold dose done not very often. That's probably "okay".

I am not a qualified medical professional, so take this opinion for what it is worth. But the harmful effects -- which mainly seem to be various mental problems, I think -- mainly occur with ketamine done at way higher dosage at way higher frequency. The ketamine anti-depressant effect is long lasting, so I would agree that hourly or even daily doses is a waste and could greatly increase the chance of tolerance.

I would still definitely watch for negative mental issues or signs of tolerance, but I'd be more comfortable with that "dice roll".

No tolerance effects so far. I don't even do weekly doses now. I do it whenever I feel the onset of depression, and then it reverses it. 12mg seems to be my gold standard.

I did not respond to 40 mg of ketamine given IM at all. I tripped moderately for about half an hour, but no relief from depression. In fact i felt irrritable and a little more depressed. Probably because I was bummed that it didn't work. Since I have Bipolar perhaps 40 mg overshot the mark.

However after reading the OP I decided to try again this time at lower doses but more frequent dosing. I convinced my doctor to let me try a nasal spray. The local neighborhood pharmacy made a compounded spray in a concentration of 150 mg/ml. A 25 ml bottle cost me about 40 bucks which I thought was pretty reasonable considering it contains almost 4 grams of pure ketamine. Seems like a lot of K to pack into 25 mls of solution but that's what the bottle says. The directions say three sprays per nostril every other day.

Today is my first day and I have found that one spray per nostril is a little over threshold. I start to feel woozy and strange. So I'm currently doing one spray in one nostril every few hours. So far I feel quite good. I think there is merit to the low but frequent dosing method.

Regarding the insomnia though: Does anyone know or can speculate as to whether a benzodiazepine like temazapam would interfere with the therapeutic effects of ketamine? I do need my beauty sleep.

150mg/ml? That's a lot. Very cool that your doctor was open to making this formulation for you, but I think the dose is too high. The studies I've read about using high doses of ketamine (like k-hole levels) were mostly done on people who were suicidally depressed and there was no alternative. It was an emergency rescue remedy for the most part.

Can't comment on the benzos as I've never used them.

Again, any update on this topic?
How are you feeling now Foreigner?
How many times do you inject Ketamine now and which dose do you take?

I'm down to once a week or once every couple of weeks. But I had a great summer with lots of sun so that also affects things.

On that note, I've come to understand just how much S.A.D impacts my mood. I live in the pacific northwest and we get hardly any sun for 7-8 months out of the year. I've decided to move out of this part of the world and go somewhere with differing climate conditions. The ketamine regimen did make this past winter a lot more bearable than any others in recent history though. The constant fatigue and headaches from low atmospheric pressure is not something I can fix with K though.

I have also learned that pot use significantly potentiates my depression if I use it more than once a week.

I have started a regime as well based on this thread. It is up the nose, as I can only get powder, and I am a newbie so I dont even now how IM works
But I am om 4. day, using appx 6 small dosis a day, every two hours from day one. I do feel an improvement, especially in the mornings, which is when I have suffered the most. I look like shit ever since the depression took over, like I was always a bit tired no matter how much I slept and my eyes were therefore also looking tired always.
I look almost like my good old self now after getting my morning shower. But I am not what I would consider 100% depressionfree, but then again I am also only halfway through a regime.

As a matter a fact, when I first got hold of Ketamine 3 weeks ago, i went through the K-hole, which is a very very speciel experience. Nothing this drugnewbie have ever experienced before. It was truly an out-of-body experience. Afterwards I had 2-3 amazingly good days feeling quite depressionfree, but when it returned I took a new K-hole but with no possitive effect at all. I had read ketamine could do wonders, but not much else, so therefore I just tried a bit.

I makes sense to me now that this has to be taken in a completely different way than k-holing

I'm glad to hear that this method has worked for you. For me, anything higher than 12mg would cause negative effects so I just won't do it. Ketamine is the one drug that I will always only use as medicine, and not take it to recreational levels.

I would caution you against k-holing as your therapy. I have not read any study that says the nootropic effect is present at levels higher than threshold doses. Be careful that you are not using "therapy" as an excuse to keep k-holing.

Foreigner, forgive if you have stated this. I could not find it.

By when did you feel the relief from the depression? By which day in the regime were you feeling out af the darkness?

The depressive feelings were gone on day one, but that's because I was injecting hourly.

Now that I do it once every 1-2 weeks, I can tell you that I notice differences with just that.

 

[fubigpharma]

First of all, thank you very much to Foreigner for posting this meticulous and detailed account of attempting a responsible, science-backed ketamine regimen to counter depression.

It's one of the most ironic things in the world that I find myself on this board. I have literally never taken an illicit/illegal or recreational drug in my life. There are various reasons, but the biggest was that they would almost all interfere with my prescribed medication for...wait for it...depression. I've been on various anti-depressants since age 19. I'm now in my 40s. After my last major depression, which ended only recently and lasted 18 months (the worst it has ever been; I honestly don't know how I survived that), I am now on high doses of and SNRI an SNDRI and cloneazapam. My hands shake constantly, as they have for almost two years now. I don't even remember what it's like to have a normal sex drive, orgasm ability, saliva in my mouth, not to be dizzy... the list of common and horrid side effects is pretty endless. Additionally, though these drugs did treat the worst of the MDD, some still remains and it's a fight every day to motivate myself for most activities.

I have read extensively about the ketamine and ketamine-relative trials which are ongoing and believe that this drug would be of great help. I tried unsuccessfully to find anyone who treats patients with it. California has a few but I live far from there. Sure, they'll risk complete and permanent loss of all memory prescribing ECT (pretty happily, actually), but use ketamine in low doses? Apparently, that's madness. As you might guess, I really can't stand psychiatrists and psychiatry strikes me as the medical discipline with the bloodiest history by far, which is saying something. This posting actually came up from a search engine once I decided I'd try to do it myself. And am I glad I found it.

Since I am an "illicit" drug newbie, I was wondering if Foreigner could help me with a few questions I had re: the Regimen. I, too, have a science background, but I'm probably too nervous to calculate properly. Having the 1 gram of ketamine in powder form, how much saline solution did you use to dilute that gram into 0.5 mg (if that was the dose for hourly IM injection) solution? How much alcohol did you use for preservation/antibacterial? I agree that your idea of IM (or IV for that matter) delivery of the medication is superior to nasal absorption--and far easier to gauge dosage. Although finding hypodermics in that number is going to be a trick.

On the days that you injected hourly, was that 24 hours daily or just the hours you were not sleeping? (sorry if that's a dumb question). Do you think 8-10 injections, one given per hour of course, would be effective if it is not 24? Do you think that I would have approximately the same reactions given that my body mass is probably lower than yours (I'm 58.5 kg) or should I titrate down in dosage? Also, for "maintenance" dosage (I know yours is 12 mg/week), do you think mine would be similar, given my body mass? I'm really new to self-administering anything so I really need some hand-holding as far as dosages are concerned. Also, how do you know when to use the maintenance injection again? Do you have certain behavioral signs you wait for, or is it just a more vague, "down" feeling?

I have very little fear of addiction to ketamine. Ironically, psychedelics have always scared the crap out of me. My brain, from a young age, gave me so many problems on its own, I never ever wanted to give it free rein. I still don't. Ketamine and all hallucinogens scare me, but this is, of course, not at hallucinogenic dose and acts quite differently on the brain at low dose. Also, I've been on addicting drugs before (Xanax, etc) that I kicked on my own with no problem because I just got sick of them. I got open-mouthed reactions from psychiatrists on that. Ha! I may have chronic depression with astounding spikes (like you), but my will is strong.

I so want to try this regimen to see if I can possibly achieve real remission (and perhaps save myself from the next MDD episode--they are getting longer and more severe, which terrifies me). I told myself this last time that I would do anything to make sure this doesn't happen again and I will. I just want to live without depression. And on as few drugs as possible. Again, it's ironic. I know a lot of people on here love drugs--and I can certainly see why. So many of them really do sound fun. But they have always scared me far more than enticed me. I knew most were addictive and would make my depression worse or cause me to eventually die. My ideal is to live on as few drugs as possible for as long as possible. 12 mg of ketamine per week? That's a walk in the park compared to the huge doses of "legal, legitimate" ADs I'm on right now. And the chance to not always be tired, dry-mouthed and dizzy? What freedom.

Big Pharma is going to sit on this for awhile. From the clinical studies, this stuff works better than any SSRI, TCA or hybrid they've ever used--and it works immediately for many. That spells death to ALL the other ADs out there. I'm sure you know how many billions of $$ of revenue that is yearly for those creatures--imagine the hold-up it will get at the FDA. But it's unconscionable. So, hell yes I'll do a supposedly "illegal" thing. Anyone should. My life and yours are worth more than money for some soulless corporation. If they won't bring us the treatment, we'll make it ourselves. Thank you so much, once again, for posting this incredibly valuable data, Foreigner. And best of luck to you!

 

[Reverend Random]

Good luck to you fubigpharma. Have you considered looking into clinical trials with depression somewhere in your vicinity? I know one's starting in the north of the Netherlands some time next year, so if it's possible for you to relocate, that might be an option. Feel free to pm me for more info.

And Foreigner, I don't know if I had posted in this thread yet, but I have to tell you it's one of the most scientifically oriented, ground breaking attempts to use a substance to combat a seriously debilitating psychiatric disorder without losing sight of possible risks and keeping harm reduction in mind always. It's experiments like these that might eventually provide the anecdotal evidence for possible new therapies. Extremely interesting, well thought out and reflected upon. I tip my virtual hat. Good job man. And I'm very glad for you that it seems to work so well and that you've even gained some new insights.

Here's hoping that it might help people like fubigpharma and Sreddy and others out there equally well.

 

[fubigpharma]

Thanks!

Thanks so much for your warm wishes, Reverend. I agree with you re: Foreigner. He has just done a huge and valuable service for research on this new indication for ketamine, not to mention fellow depression sufferers. My hat is also tipped.

So kind of you to offer information on that trial. Thank you so much. There are some trials around me ongoing now, however they are randomized, so you take the (for me, BIG) risk of getting placebo. Also, there is some (smallish, I believe) risk of seratonin syndrome while using an SSRI/SNRI and ketamine simultaneously, so I think they'd want me off Effexor entirely. While being off your meds (which I could only probably do for only 48 hours before the infusion due to rapid mood deterioration) would be OK for the first infusion (or maybe for a week, tops), if the ketamine did not work (don't even want to think about it), I'd already be in a sorry state, but I could probably get back up to speed on the meds within a couple of weeks. I am terrified of being off the meds--I've only relatively recently come out of the Cave. If I'd been randomized to placebo, it could take weeks in the trial and I'd be back in the darkest recesses. It's terrifying to me still. So... the search goes on... I feel myself getting closer to finding the drug myself and starting the regimen, though I have questions. I wish I knew a pharmacist. Or lived next door to Foreigner. :D

Take care, Reverend, and thanks for your response.

 

[Foreigner]

My sincere apologies for the delay in replying. I hope I'm not too late!

Having the 1 gram of ketamine in powder form, how much saline solution did you use to dilute that gram into 0.5 mg (if that was the dose for hourly IM injection) solution? How much alcohol did you use for preservation/antibacterial? I agree that your idea of IM (or IV for that matter) delivery of the medication is superior to nasal absorption--and far easier to gauge dosage. Although finding hypodermics in that number is going to be a trick.

I purchased 30mL bottles of bacteriostatic water from the pharmacy, which are widely (and legally) available OTC.

If you have 1g of ketamine and a 30mL bottle of bacteriostatic water, then all you need is 300mg of it to produce a solution that is 10mg/mL. That's 30 doses, which will last you for a big chunk of the regimen. Take 1mL hourly on the first day.

Ketamine is not water soluble without a heat source, so you have to cook it first. 150mg of ketamine will dissolve in 1mL of water with heat, but no more. In my case I put those 300mg into 3mL of bacteriostatic water, cooked it until it dissolved (doesn't take long), and I then used a Whatman wheel filter to filter the solution as I was injecting it into an empty, sterile ampule. My ketamine was pure but I take no chances regarding sterilization procedures when it comes to injectables.

On the days that you injected hourly, was that 24 hours daily or just the hours you were not sleeping? (sorry if that's a dumb question).

You don't need to do it while sleeping and in fact you shouldn't because the downtime is part of the synaptic regeneration process.

Do you think 8-10 injections, one given per hour of course, would be effective if it is not 24?

The hourly injections are only for 1-2 days max, then you begin spreading them out. Yes, injections during waking time are enough.

Do you think that I would have approximately the same reactions given that my body mass is probably lower than yours (I'm 58.5 kg) or should I titrate down in dosage?

You will have to experiment, unfortunately, and I cannot give you precise answers to this. Keep in mind that body weight does not necessarily determine sensitivity, but your metabolic pathways do. Although I am heavier than you I am more sensitive than every person I know. I was able to feel 6mg and had to start with that, not 10mg.

Also, for "maintenance" dosage (I know yours is 12 mg/week), do you think mine would be similar, given my body mass? I'm really new to self-administering anything so I really need some hand-holding as far as dosages are concerned.

Start with less and then increase to no more than 12mg. If 12mg is accidentally too much, it's not going to harm you.

Also, how do you know when to use the maintenance injection again? Do you have certain behavioral signs you wait for, or is it just a more vague, "down" feeling?

I don't anticipate depression anymore, I just do the injection. My depression is insidious and creeps up on me, as it has recently. The research shows that the NMDA receptors are highly sensitive to stress, which is something I am undergoing a lot of lately. I really should be doing the injections twice a week right now, but I have not done my maintenance dose for 3 weeks. Combined with the autumn gray here in the pacific northwest, I am feeling the repercussions.

It's important to distinguish between depression caused by boredom and depression caused by stress, trauma, and intense periods of adversity. The latter reasons are something that ketamine can address.

I have very little fear of addiction to ketamine. Ironically, psychedelics have always scared the crap out of me. My brain, from a young age, gave me so many problems on its own, I never ever wanted to give it free rein. I still don't. Ketamine and all hallucinogens scare me, but this is, of course, not at hallucinogenic dose and acts quite differently on the brain at low dose. Also, I've been on addicting drugs before (Xanax, etc) that I kicked on my own with no problem because I just got sick of them. I got open-mouthed reactions from psychiatrists on that. Ha! I may have chronic depression with astounding spikes (like you), but my will is strong.

Ketamine at the doses we're talking about is not even all that psychedelic. Under 15mg acts more like a nootropic. Yes it will be somewhat mind altering but nothing more than what you're used to if you've taken Xanax, etc. And the mind altering effect is short lived.

12 mg of ketamine per week? That's a walk in the park compared to the huge doses of "legal, legitimate" ADs I'm on right now. And the chance to not always be tired, dry-mouthed and dizzy? What freedom.

I must add that I am not sure how this regimen would interact with any other medications you're currently on. If you plan to do ketamine in combination with other drugs, then you are entering unknown territory and the details of my regimen don't really apply to you.

Big Pharma is going to sit on this for awhile. From the clinical studies, this stuff works better than any SSRI, TCA or hybrid they've ever used--and it works immediately for many. That spells death to ALL the other ADs out there. I'm sure you know how many billions of $$ of revenue that is yearly for those creatures--imagine the hold-up it will get at the FDA. But it's unconscionable. So, hell yes I'll do a supposedly "illegal" thing. Anyone should. My life and yours are worth more than money for some soulless corporation. If they won't bring us the treatment, we'll make it ourselves. Thank you so much, once again, for posting this incredibly valuable data, Foreigner. And best of luck to you!

Big Pharma is not really sitting on it. They are putting a lot of money into non-psychedelic NMDA antagonists right now, but so far the findings are that nothing compares to ketamine. It seems that the psychedelic quality is a necessary part of its effectiveness, probably because it induces novelty and it's that novelty which helps one to navigate out of depressive states. Of course, I don't have scientific proof of that statement.

Thank you for your kind words and good luck to you. If you want to PM me to get more rapid replies, feel free.

 

[kidklmx]

This thread makes me sad that I'm not old enough for clinical trials over here in my country, they just started and I tried to enroll myself but you have to be 25.. Oh well if they don't want my assistance, maybe that shady looking guy in an alley will take my money :D

 

[ComfortablyNumb95]

To foreigner: do you think such regimen could work with low doses of MXE? I ask this because:
-MXE lasts a lot longer so you'd have to redose wayess often
-MXE is way way che aper
-ket is not much available here and if I was to buy it I think it would hardly be ketamine :/

 

[Foreigner]

To foreigner: do you think such regimen could work with low doses of MXE? I ask this because:
-MXE lasts a lot longer so you'd have to redose wayess often
-MXE is way way che aper
-ket is not much available here and if I was to buy it I think it would hardly be ketamine :/

Unknown.

MXE is chemically similar but its long duration makes me skeptical. The long duration could make the dose more sensitive and contribute to abuse side effects. You don't want those receptors being stimulated for a long time. The idea is to expose them to short, small intensity bursts to antagonize them into re-growth. MXE, even at low doses, could linger for too long.

For harm reduction purposes I have to say that I don't support this regimen being tried with MXE.