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Dissociatives Ketamine Tolerance Survey Thread

KetTolerance

Greenlighter
Joined
Jun 14, 2026
Messages
3
Hello everyone. As many knows - ketamine can induce long term and almost permanent tolerance.
I was not aware about it until it happened.

My goal is to learn all about this condition and collect any cases that can change this tolerance.
I will be glad to see your experience and insights about it.

My story:
I'm 27 year old male and had long journey with dissociatives.
At school ages i tried DXM many times and there was no tolerance. Effects was "sharp", "clean" and good.
At 20 years old i tried many dissos like ketamine and MXE. It was two binges by 1 month everyday use and 6 months not using dissociatives between.
First binge i can't remember tolerance build up, but remember depression 2 months after i stopped.
But i did many drugs like mephedrone, so maybe it's not related.
I notice depression as possible first signs of temporary changes in glutamate system because glutamate action not feels like exact emotions and feelings, it's easily can mask to something other. Like tiredness and lack of motivation from other addictions. Because many things goes to that pathways.

I want to map every change in all stages of permanent tolerance development.
It's actually gradually builds up and you can notice exact signs. I will write it below.

Second time i remember 4 things: reduced effects, irritability and mental tiredness, feeling like brain "hot" from hyperactivation with ketamine (when tolerance got me first time and i tried to use it again), and about few months of unconscious depression after.
But after that, i had good high for long time. Years after being sober.
(That depression feels like hopeless, lack of motivation, like you can't be happy and lack this healthy pleasant cognitive euphoria vibes from good activities like walking, conversation, music and sleep.)

And this time, i've done ketamine for a year and a half and it suddenly stopped working.

When i started after years of being sober, effects was good, strong, k holes, doses like 80-300mg by few times per session.
I used too much, maybe every 1-3 days.
Permanent tolerance came was like a day before it was ok, and next day effects suddenly disappeared!
I remember i desperately tried to boost the dose and had some weak visuals like from that rotating optic illusion, but the deepness of the effect was failing like demolition of old tower!

Like in an hour effects just deflated to about 10% of something regular.
What i got:
1.Tolerance starts as a plateau - you can't break through this level of effects. And it tend to weaken to zero in few times.
It's possible to feel something stronger with large doses, but it barely works non linearly and doses are dangerous.
Some times i tried and got only dim effect. Not deep, not strong. Like not much receptors now involved.
Maybe like stronger affinity dissos will do more effects, but weaker may be lack of time to do any effects because it "washed" out of receptor too fast.
NMDA receptors also consists of 4 subunits and it naturally can have different affinities and responses to ketamine-like drugs.
Maybe different binding site still working - i don't know and don't want to test right now.
That big doses felt like brain reduce effects very fast, like if have less or more receptors and can't got necessary concentration to block transmission or induce glutamate.
And effects despite being stronger was not "deep and sparkling" like normal. It was more muffeled and blunt. Like a buzz but not that sharp crystallized feelings and thoughts.
Binding affinity, ion channels (and GPCR ) receptors depends on concentration of ligand, but permanent tolerance to ketamine may (or may not) respond to stronger dissos (like o-PCE vs ketamine, or PCP, or MK-801).
2.Being sober for 1 month vs 1 other month is not the same.
Time not really helps in predictively manner. I even got much more results after 1 week than after 1 month - details below.
3.Before when i had strong dissociation, i also had sleepy feeling after end of action.
With tolerance this sleepiness became weaker and went away. No effect no sleepiness, at least for me.
4.Slurry speech and ataxia went away about 9 months before permanent tolerance.
5.Face numbing and pleasant buzz started to disappear 3 months before permanent tolerance.
6.Time loops and disorientation went away about 9 to 6 months too.
This timeline could help figure out what brain areas depend on this changes and concentration distribution in brain (where more or less it was and how strong it changed neurons).
7.There was motivation, will and happiness decline every time i tried to use ketamine again to test tolerance - it's just not working.
And it lasts for week, but later i probably adapted to this and depression is not severe like first time permanent tolerance kicked in.
By the way - i had depression even when i had strong effects, so it might be glutamate depletion/reduction or something like this, not really related to tolerance. I even had suicidal thoughts after massive abuse. Effects was strong, but my brain was like really messed by so much action.
I'm was like i'm losing myself and want to stop abuse and that wasted state.
8.I can't get high from weed, alcohol, tobacco - effects just dim too! If you know this sparkling flowing feeling - i have not this all.
BUT i've got it again after my tolerance was reduced for some time.

9.After day tolerance kicked me or when i try use ketamine to test it - i have some king of distracted from reality feeling. Not dissociation, but like i'm not "in the moment".
Like perception feels "cold" and less detailed, like less feeling about something you see, less associations.
And racetams can give that feeling back. And it does something with tolerance too.
10. One month ago i had successfully temporary change in my tolerance - i was able to get high, but only once.
BUT week ago i was unable to feel anything!
First week for 5 days i used aniracetam and started to feel jittery. And when i stopped and used ketamine 2 days after - i had no effects.
I was mentally tired and started to use magnesium citrate to calm down. Like 400mg per day, for 5 days on second week.
My conclusion was: if aniracetam is not working, maybe magnesium will work.
And guess what? When i tried ketamine again - i was able to feel effects from small doses and was able to dissociate like i haven't for few months before, even after 1 months breaks!
I used magnesium before ketamine too, but next times it not help.
And just magnesium after not restored tolerance.
11.When i started magnesium, i started to feel more "in the moment", more this calm aesthetic feel of perception when you looking at something.
Before successful dissociation i was sure that it will be ok! Actually, i was falsely sure before too. But this time a lot of things changed and i was almost normal again - much more deep emotions, feeling, sleep, thoughts, cognition.
12.And i got pleasant feelings from weed and tobacco what i haven't for long time too after tolerance drop recently, but it went away.
13.I still enjoy orgasm even when i can't enjoy cannabis. And i was unable to finish when i was dissociated and even when i just tried to test tolerance with small dose of ketamine and had no dissociation.
But it definitely stronger when tolerance less. But not many times, maybe 1.5 or less.
Ability to finish goes back after two hours.
14.Before permanent tolerance, even small doses got me that headspace and feeling of energy, probably because of rise of glutamate after blocking of gabaergic interneurons. Like better speed without side effects.
15.I had reduction of tolerance to cannabis after using opioids for two months too. Long time ago.
16.Once i had no effects but still raised the dose untill it started to appear like before, like some kind of concentration was needed to block enough receptors.
17.Cannabis with ketamine gave me synergistic effects (before permanent tolerance).
18.With opioids it was like i'm going to lose consciousness without any additional pleasant effects or buzz, just passing out not even dreams (before permanent tolerance).
19.Magnesium before tolerance drop (recently) gave me some very subtle feels of deja vu too.
20.Before permanent tolerance i had subtle deja vu feel from aniracetam every time.
21.Feels like i'm less overwhelming excited by something in my life, like can't feel overwhelming strong anger, euphoria - and this changes my will.
I learned to control it, but at first if felt like i lobotomy. Now i'm active and motivated, but still less than before.
Aniracetam really helps and probably not needed every time, it's just goes better after 1 week after using any ketamine.
When i had no tolerance, i had probably same decline for 1 week or so after binge, but now it feels like less energy.

Unfortunately, reduced tolerance effects went away after 1 day of use - but effects like was 70% of normal level!
This is really promising with that problem.

I want to fix my nervous system back, i'm concerned about it.
I miss the high, but i concerned by that serious consequences.
Thanks God that i'm pretty functional and can live my life almost like before.
I have almost normal memory and mental abilities - not dumb, not shaking, not something like that.
So, cognition works "almost normal" (maybe 10-15% difference from baseline), but i can't get high at all (maybe 1/10th or less of baseline) - pretty interesting how it's possible.
Because any other drugs leave you more predictable compensation like sleepiness from stimulants, lack of sleep and appetite from cannabis, and withdrawals from opioids.

Please don't abuse dissociatives if you feel reduction of effects - permanent tolerance is not a joke. It alters personality and you can't be sedated for surgery.

Please share your expreience how and what changed your response to ketamine on permanent tolerance.

Can you get high on cannabis? Can you feel tobacco if you're using it?
Have you tried racetams and magnesium and how it affected your permanent tolerance?
Does stimulants like amphetamine does something for permanent tolerance?
Or caffeine, or any other medication - if you noticed something or know exact timeline and dosage, please share.

Let's beat this thing and find reliable way how to reverse this changes.


Later i'll write about what i found. About gabaergic interneurons, calmodulin, magnesium block, internalization, AMPA and NMDA.
Ketamine is possibly works by reducing "brakes" of gabaergic interneurons and boost glutamate, calcium influx and depolarization.
With permanent tolerance you probably can't get that surge because of upregulation and/or downregulation of nmda receptors (at different locations) and/or different subunits, and changes in other pathways (like different GABA influx to pyramid neurons - not depend on NMDA blocking anymore like before).
Also there may be epigenetic mechanism of receptors and enzymes synthesis, like that control glutamine synthesis, internalization and subunits.

Alcohol and cannabis "loss of magic" is probably mediated by same pathways, because i can't get high from cannabis.
 
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How to calculate receptor count and concentration to figure out is there any receptors at all or it have different subunits, or maybe it's internalized?
Like somebody use huge doses of grams - i think it's impossible to have that much receptors not covered by that dose.
Or possible?
It looks like it's doesnt matter how large dose - you don't have binding sites.
Interneurons have AMPA receptors too, so they still can fire at natural glutamate and relase GABA after depolarization.
It's a very complex system with a lot of interactions and feedbacks.

I need to understand what we possibly have on gabaergic interneurons: upregulation or downregulation.
Because it seems like when receptor count is less, we have less calcium influx = less gaba by design.
So receptor is possible have reduced "range".
Very strong glutamate surge can induce receptor internalization. Maybe if you have strong conflicts and worries in your life and long term effects after this, like you're not feel anything - it may be mediated trough this pathway too.

This article suggests that knocking out of GluN2B on gabaergic interneurons leads to no antidepressant effects of ketamine.
Further analysis of GABA subtypes showed that cell-specific knockdown or deletion of GluN2B in Sst interneurons blocked or occluded the antidepressant actions of ketamine and revealed sex-specific differences that are associated with excitatory postsynaptic currents on mPFC principle neurons.
 
Poor tolerance reverse is might be related to long term potentiation and amout of calcium flux through NMDA.
So it looks like you need to keep some exact level of NMDA function, but not much and not small.
Magnesium probably helps with that. This subject is related to calmodulin and CaMKII.
Like new equilibrium is set and it's supported by our own brains. Neurons just don't want to change back receptors and gene expression because new feedback loops keep it in place.

Less and more glutamate in synapse can turn to same upregulation of AMPA receptors and subsequent more depolarization in future.
This is pretty difficult puzzle. That stuff have nonlinear dependence.

To reduce tolerance we need to change this equilibrium.
We need to understand some feedbacks and dependencies.
 
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Please share your expreience how and what changed your response to ketamine on permanent tolerance.
Can you get high on cannabis? Can you feel tobacco if you're using it?
Have you tried racetams and magnesium and how it affected your permanent tolerance?
Does stimulants like amphetamine does something for permanent tolerance?
Or caffeine, or any other medication - if you noticed something or know exact timeline and dosage, please share.
So, this is one of these things I'm going to preface by saying the thing I always say, I have a very quirky brain and metabolism, and am a notorious dosedemon who tends to be able to body massive doses of things. Smoking 125mg of 3-MeO-PCP after insufflating 25mg of 2C-B, 25mg of DOM, and 40-45mg of miprocin (4-HO-MiPT) changed my life for the better, permanently. I take long breaks in between periods of NDMA antagonist use, and my tolerance always resets back to where it was. The synergy with cannabis (and my separate cannabis tolerance) are completely unaffected by dissociative tolerance, but I cannot comment on if tobacco still hits as nicotine has never had any effect on me tbh, maybe something from patches but I can't tell if it's just super mild or simply a placebo effect.

Racetams (and noopept) as well as magnesium are things I frequently consume, and have for long before I ever touched any dissociatives. Maybe this is why I don't seem to form permatolerance at all? I have no clue tbh.

Amphetamines/cathinones, phenylmorpholines, phenidates, xanthines, any stimulants I can recall using have also seemingly never affected my disso tolerance, that seems to just go back down when given enough time. I've consumed a sum total of ~31 grams of NMDA antagonists between 11 different substances so far in my life. I was just gifted 20 grams of memantine though and it's twice as potent as my last batch, so I'm going to be exploring this shit wildly. In fact, I'm on 45mg of it right now and it's exceptionally, unexpectedly potent so I apologize about run-on sentences, grammatical/spelling issues, things like that in this comment. I promise I'm doing my best hahaha.

I suspect that racetam/noopept usage may help tolerance but I've never actually experimented to see if it does, though I have experimented to see if noopept can undo dissociation from arylcyclohexylamines and it sure as hell can. Cannabis tolerance has never related to it for me though, is that a common thing?
 
Please share your expreience how and what changed your response to ketamine on permanent tolerance.
After having been around heavy ketamine users for years, there does not seem to be a way to truly permanently reset tolerance. What I have heard (prolly hundreds of times at this point) is once one achieves permatolerance, you can take a break for weeks/months and when you go back to doing ketamine, that first initial dose, you get high just like everyone else. But then your tolerance immediately comes back.

I've literally had friends get mad at me, because I can almost hole from 100mg or I at least get very wonky. They see this and try to get where I'm at by snorting bombers, but they never can.

But hey if you figure out some magic reset solution, I'm sure tens of thousands of people would love to hear about it.
 
It seems the only way is don't abuse it like anything.

Some people like myself have taken a six month break then did dissos twice a week for a couple weeks , then once a week....after that initial frequent use, every two weeks

In medical settings it says by the six treatment to tenth treatment if your not getting relief , then it may not be for you. I know medical s note everything ,I do think there some value in it

Of course this can't go on forever and once every three weeks, every month, every two months or you can go for six months if you have that type of mental discipline. Running out and not buying any was how I did six month break.
 
It seems the only way is don't abuse it like anything.

Some people like myself have taken a six month break then did dissos twice a week for a couple weeks , then once a week....after that initial frequent use, every two weeks

In medical settings it says by the six treatment to tenth treatment if your not getting relief , then it may not be for you. I know medical s note everything ,I do think there some value in it

Of course this can't go on forever and once every three weeks, every month, every two months or you can go for six months if you have that type of mental discipline. Running out and not buying any was how I did six month break.
100%
 
I've literally had friends get mad at me, because I can almost hole from 100mg or I at least get very wonky. They see this and try to get where I'm at by snorting bombers, but they never can.
really just nothing around you can do every day, people hate that
 
I just wanna say too, the only people I've known to develop bladder issues were people that had achieved permatolerance but keep trying to stay high. I've seen people unable to walk because of K cramps and still do more K.
Sad shit.
 
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