Ketamine For Depression? (Page 17) (Top voted first)

It was recommended by the members of a separate thread that one be started that directly relates to ketamine and it's use to treat depression.

If anyone besides myself would like to discuss it's use as a treatment for depression, feel free to post your questions, answers and experiences here.

This thread is an offshoot of a related one that discussed a treatment of Scopolamine for depression.

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I don't know about anyone else, but I tried ketamine infusions 3X for anxiety. I would NOT recommend it for anxiety especially if you have experienced previous "bad trips" on street or any other drugs. I had a very bad time the 3rd time when the dose was increased, and I was told that I would get better after I had a few MORE increased doses. I can't imagine going back for it now, and I noticed NO improvement at all in my anxiety during the time I was trying it. If anything, I was getting more anxious about the infusions each time. Be VERY careful if you are trying this for anxiety. Depression I can't speak for, I am also very depressed, but anxiety is my #1 difficulty.

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I entered into a clinical study/trial, in the Boston area and I had six treatments of Ketamine, using the IV delivery method. I was suffering from extreme depression, for over 50 years and the longer it went, the worse it got! I had tried a ton of different medications, some more than once, but in different combinations and the result was always the same. I still was extremely depressed and dealing with the side effects of the medications. I also had treatments and the end result was that I still was depressed, but my memory and cognitive ability were severely impacted.

I had three treatments of Ketamine at one dose and then another three treatments, with a fifty percent increase in Ketamine and I can honestly say that I wasn’t depressed, for the first time, since I can remember. I will agree that the treatments are somewhat scary, as it is not a pleasant high and I mentioned more than once that a person who had never self medicated with drugs would be scared by the affects.

My last treatment was October 25th of 2012 and I did not suffer from depression for more than a couple of months. I did and still do suffer, from the negative thinking and negative actions that had become a part of my everyday life. In the beginning, I was waiting for the depression to return, so I really didn’t attempt to do anything to solve the multiple issues that affected me. When I certain amount of time had passed, I got into Cognitive Behavioral Therapy ( CBT ) and am making slow progress.

I started thinking that the depression would never return and when it did, I had extreme anxiety and was somewhat in a panic as I thought I would go back to the way I was before the treatments. The bottom line is that I didn’t and I do experience some depression, but not on a daily basis. I am no longer feeling the agony of everyday life waiting for nighttime to come so I could take my medications and try to fall to sleep. I will not say I am ‘happy’, but I have made progress and I can even laugh and see something as ‘funny’ when before I only experienced the extreme lows. I also no longer go to bed hoping that I didn't wake up the next morning.

I suffered from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD) and I went into the clinical study ‘knowing for sure’ that this treatment would not work. For me, Ketamine worked! I had no desire to drink and drug, which would have been reverting to old habits and I have not once thought about using something to take the ‘edge’ off. It is my experience and opinion that self medication only complicates an already complicated situation.

I realize that I could probably use a ‘maintenance’ treatment, from time to time, but that is not part of the clinical study and I am not aware of any place in Southeastern Massachusetts up to Boston that provides Ketamine treatments for depression.

I welcome any response as to whether treatment is available in my area, but I will tell you that one problem, associated with the Ketamine treatment is that you cannot drive yourself home.

As for the side effects, my blood pressure did rise slightly as did my temperature and I had difficulty talking. All of these affects ended between 15 to 30 minutes after the treatment was stopped.

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Hi I have been using intranasal K for the last 3 weeks. I am also taking low dose naltrexone. I am starting to notice some change. It isn't dramatic but I am functioning. My OCD symptoms are often not there at all. Is anyone else using it? I am slowing increasing the amount I spray in my nose.

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Hi everyone. I just wanted to drop you a quick note about my recent breakthrough. Let me start by saying that I seem to have cured by depression which I've been battling with for the last 20yrs. since i was 19 yo. It turns out that taking a low dose of melatonin to normalize my sleep patterns allowed my mind to go into that deep sleep mode that allows the body and mind to heal. This was quite an accidental find.

So the back story. I started a new job in Dec 2012. it's been about 4 yrs since i've worked. everything about me was off: my sleep schedule, my anxiety, depression, concentration, short-term memory, low energy levels. I needed something to help with the sleep so i started to play around with the dose of melatonin that i had lying around. it was an old bottle i bought but thought that it never worked since i took an entire 3mg pill when i needed. i was apprehensive about taking it due to all the press that says that taking it could cause your body to quit developing melatonin. well i was desperate because being new at the job i needed to perform and sleep was important. i played around with the dose and finally found that a quarter tablet of 3mg slow-release and quarter tab of 3mg immediate release worked best for me. initially i'd wake up in the middle of the night and have to take another dose, but i persisted in taking this dose for the past few months. over time, good things started to happen. symptoms started to slowly go away. i'd sleep longer through the night. no more afternoon crash and need for a nap. concentration increased. energy levels up. recover time after workouts decreased. no more anxiety and obsessiveness. no more incessant negative thoughts. im interested in things again. everyday is a brand new day. it's like im back to that person i remember being before the depression hit.

i recommend that everyone give melatonin a shot. it's cheap. my bottles were about $5 or less each and it'll last me for over a year since i'm cutting the tabs into quarters. you can buy it over the counter. and from my experience, no short or long term side effects.

i really do hope you all find what you're looking for. dont give up hope.

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I have to agree with you Paula. I went 3X to him, got up to a dosage of 115 or 125, but there were people there getting 3X that much. It was very, very expensive and I had to have some very expensive tests prior to getting the ketamine which he never even looked at, as far as I know. He's a nice guy, very personable, but my 3rd experience was a nightmare. I told him I wouldn't be coming back, and he said it was only after the "bad" experiences that my brain would "start" to get better. Be prepared to shell out some big bucks if you go to Dr. Best because there are people being treated there who go twice/week for MONTHS. That's over $1K/week. As for pre-and-post follow-up, his staff pushed me to schedule the appointments with him every week (in addition to the ketamine) - minimum $190 for 15 min. I wish it had worked for me but it didn't and I think there were other folks there just going along with it because they are desperate and have or don't mind spending the money. You are spot on.

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What a tool bag! He is full of it. He said 3 words to me out of my 3 visits. I am not kidding! I think they were "talk to her" indicating his 20 year old receptionist. DO NOT TRUST HIM! Unless you are making BIG BANK! Now he's billing me for $300 for something. He will never see it, hahaha.

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I was mistaken when I said proper dosage for Ketamine is 1 mg/kg. It is actually 0.5mg/kg. My bad.

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Yesterday I made an incorrect statement. I was mistaken when I said proper dosage for Ketamine is 1 mg/kg. The generally accepted protocol for dosage of Ketamine infusion is actually 0.5mg/kg. My bad.

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Paula, thanks for posting about the correct dosage for ketamine. I did a search last night of all clinical trials using ketamine on clinicaltrials.gov. Just as you said, ALL of them use .50mg/kg. So....if my math is right, when I got a dosage of 115 mgs for my last (awful, terrifying) infusion, I got enough for a 506 lb. man! I am 140 lbs. Thank you soooooo much, Dr. Steven Best, for that horrible experience from which I am still recovering!

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Good Ketamine treatment available in AZ: try Depression Recovery Centers. Good work. Good people

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@catpower I like Cat Power too, if that's what your username is referencing. Thanks so so much for this info. I actually contacted Naurex about this a year ago when I first started looking into Ketamine-type treatment but at the time they didn't have a trial running in Chicago. Before I posted here I looked it up again and it looked like I'd missed it (online the Chicago study is labelled completed). So glad you told me otherwise - spoke to them today and the only issue seemed to be the ADD meds I'm on. They said they'd have to check if this is ok and would get back to me tomorrow. A part of me is nervous about trying something so experimental but I'm hoping to get in. The dissociative effects of Ketamine scare the crap out of me (I've never tried it, but what I've heard sounds awful). And anxiety is a huge problem for me as well. But if this study doesn't pan out I will probably still try the Ketamine - maybe with that doctor in East Indiana Paula mentioned? I wish there was a way to contact posters here directly or at least post email addresses. It's weird that they're censored.

Cutting-edge therapy aside, I'd love to hear if there's a shrink anyone's found particularly helpful. I just moved back to town after a year away and am using my old adolescent psychiatrist (I'm 23, but feel 70) as a temporary fix just for prescriptions. Have been too low on motivation and too socially anxious to find a new one. There are so many options and I have no one to ask for a referral these days.

@JimmyJam I've actually heard about this reaction repeatedly and thought it was pretty common. To be fair, this was from recreational users, but it makes sense that the experiences would be similar. For the life of me I can't understand how this was ever a popular "club drug"...

@JamesB Did you ever try the infusions or go to Dr. Fanelli?

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RE: GLYX-13 - PLEASE - EVERYONE - LET US KEEP EACH OTHER INFORMED ABOUT THIS MEDICATION. IF ANYONE GETS INTO A TRIAL, PLEASE KEEP US IN THE LOUP. THIS DRUG AND DRUGS THAT WORK SIMILARLY ARE OUR BEST HOPE FOR GETTING VIABLE, SAFE TREATMENT. ONGOING TREATMENT. IT WON'T BECOME SOMETHING EXPLOITABLE FOR MONEY, PREYING ON DESPERATELY SUFFERING PATIENTS., WITH MDD. KETAMINE HAS OPENED A LOT OF DOORS, AND WILL LEAD TO AN AFFORDABLE VIABLE, LEGAL TREATMENT, WITOUT THE SIDE EFFECTS OF KETAMINE. IT IS A WIDELY USED ANESTHETIC. IF YOU TALK TO ANY ANESTHESIOLOGIST WHO USES IT ON A REGULAR BASIS, "NOBODY LIKES IT." IT WAS THE PORTAL TO A WHOLE NEW MODE OF TREATMENT FOR DEPRESSION. AS IT IS, IT WILL NEVER BE A VIABLE MEDICATION FOR ALL OF US SUFFERING FROM TRD, MDD. NOW WE HAVE HOPE FOR A MAIN STREAM MEDICATION THAT WORKS! MOST IMPORTANTLY, ON A NEW AREA IN THE BRAIN. THERE IS SO MUCH NEW INFORMATION NOW, BECAUSE THEY KNOW HOW IT WORKS. MOST IMPORTANTLY GLXY-13 IS NOT NEW. THEY ARE NOT STARTING FROM SCRATCH. IT AND SEVERAL OTHER POSSIBLE MEDICATIONS THAT WORK IN SIMILAR WAYS, HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR A WHILE. GLXY-13 SINCE 1983. SO IT IS VERY POSSIBLE THAT IT WILL BE AVAILABLE SOONER.
NIMH HAS A GREAT ARTICLE RECENTLY PUBLISHED. THIS IS BY FAR ONE OF THE MOST RELIABLE SITES FOR INFORMATION.
THE ENTIRE SITUATION WITH KETAMINE, USING IT OFF LABEL AND EXPLOITING PATIENTS IS DISGUSTING. PLUS THEY DO NOT HAVE THE INFORMATION OR KNOWLEDGE OR EDUCATION TO USE IT. NO ONE KNOWS ENOUGH ABOUT IT YET, EVEN THE RESEARCHERS WHO HAVE BEEN STUDYING IT FOR A DOZEN YEARS. DO NOT KNOW ENOUGH YET.PLEASE POST ABOUT GLXY-13....

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Catpower- Hi, Paula here. Yeah, Best started me at 0.5 mg/kg or 50 mg in I believe 500 cc of Normal Saline infusion over 1 hour the first time, same as Alexian trial. Minor weird feeling w/ Best, never ANYTHING w/the Clinical Trial.
Regardless, with Best, no result the first visit, same as Clinical trial Alexian. So Best DOUBLED the dosage the next visit and HORRENDOUS experience. Thank goodness it stopped shortly after the infusion was over.
Alexian kept dosage the same throughout the trial, and I had the miraculous results after my 3rd infusion. Only lasts 1 week, so not very practical.
I have read some things about this GLY stuff a while ago, so thanks so much for the info, don't remember about it but I will totally dig into this. Sounds PROMISING!! I am excited. Thanks again!!

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To Everyone- Dr. Fanelli of East Chicago is not yet using ketamine at this time. Spoke with his nurse, she was quite nice and knowledgeable. He is not there yet, this was about 3 weeks ago. I would give it a couple of months, but I am all over the GLYX-13, gonna do my research! Will keep updating. Enjoy summer!

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I am moderately less depressed to have found this thread.

A bit of background: I have had refractory depression and agoraphobia w/ panic for over 30 years. I have been on everything from MAOIs to SSRI/SNRI, lithium and everything else in between with only MAOIs really doing any good but I was allergic to the substrate.

I applied to bother the Glix-13 and Ketamine trials and was excluded from both. Glix -13 for the Agoraphobia w/ Panic (as it is axis 1) and Ketamine for not having a 2 month symptom free time in the past 6 years.

I am fairly convinced that if I could get symptom free or at least symptom lite I could go back to working and make a good wage again (13 years ago I was averaging 90k a year today I am on disability at lets just say substantially less [like poverty line])

This thread has shown me that there are doctors who are willing to try other methods and specifically the ketamine route which has the potential of reversing the damage done from years of anxiety and depression. Again at the least it is a glimmer of hope. For anyone else out there who is also struggling keep on fighting even though Glix and ketamine are 1-2 decades away from fda approval there is hope.

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Please-everyone-we need your stories. Who has gotten significant help?
Who many infusions?
How many time?
When did you first notice results if any?
How long did they last?
We need to inform ourselves with real information.
Please tell us your experience in terms of resolving depression.
I will put the info together so we can have our own basis to make educated decisions.
Too many doctors are taking advantage of sick desperate , depressed people that have been suffering for years.
I am in touch with some of the real clinical trials, but not what is going on out there.
We can become an intelligent force to be reckoned with instead of "victims."

We need more info about GLYX-13! Please pass it forward....desperate

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If you will follow my postings from last summer on, while I was on Ketamine Trial, there is tons of info! Do your homework and dig back into about a year ago. Good luck!

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I tryed Ketamine for depression IV infusion in NYC. 3 infusions every other day 5mg/kg over 40 minutes. It works well for depression but the effect vanished after 24-48h. So a proper regimen would be 1 infusion every other day. It is very expansive (450$ each), no side effect, I was totally medication free.
The experience while infusion is on is very fun and interesting, sort of a mild trip.
After the infusion you get 100% well in 15 minutes.

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I assume you mean .5 mg/kg not 5mg/kg

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Yes, sure 0.5 mg.
Now I got to come back to my old therapy (paroxetine + SAME IM 400mg) as ketamine is not affordable. I am also looking foward to this new GLYX 13 that seems very promising.

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