News Bluelight Research on Ketamine as a Treatment for Depression and PTSD

Bluelight Research on Ketamine as a Treatment for Depression and PTSD

Bluelight would like to congratulate Tharcila Chaves and her colleagues on their recent publication: The use of ketamine to cope with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder: A qualitative analysis of the discourses posted on a popular online forum. The paper was published in The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse.


The abstract is quoted below:

Background
Because of the shortcomings of traditional pharmacotherapy for major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), there has been growing interest in the rapid mood-enhancing effect of ketamine.

Objectives
To analyze what has been posted about ketamine use for dealing with self-reported depression and/or PTSD on one of the biggest international message boards on the internet.

Methods
Qualitative study with online observation of threaded discussions on Bluelight. In-depth online searches were conducted in 2018. Twenty-nine threads, with a total of 708 units of analysis, were selected and subjected to content analysis, where, via a coding process, the units of analysis were organized into nodes.

Results
Despite having several negative effects (e.g. dizziness, nausea and inability to talk), the examined discourses suggested that the use of ketamine to elevate mood was both efficient and worthwhile. Intranasal use was the most common route of administration mentioned. We traced how the mood enhancement caused by ketamine is perceived: the loss of pleasure disappears, as well as the depressed mood; the markedly diminished interest in activities vanishes and motivation comes back. From all the posts analyzed, only two reported negative outcomes (i.e. no mood-enhancing effect). The most mentioned adverse event was damage to the urinary bladder and the kidneys in cases of misuse.

Conclusion
Although online research of user-generated content has its limitations in terms of reliability and validity, the present study adds relevant information on the use of ketamine for managing depression and PTSD, whether this use is done legally or not.

Annotated version of the final paragraph in the conclusion of the article is quoted below:

Ketamine appears to be a potential tool in managing depressive symptoms. The increasing popularity of ketamine clinics and the FDA approval of esketamine for TRD (treatment resistant depression) say a lot about the current status of off-label ketamine: it seems to work in several situations and people are already benefiting from it (not only people living with depression or PTSD; another popular off-label use of ketamine is for treating chronic pain). Ketamine has the potential to benefit a big group of patients who do not respond to the available therapies. It is considered by the World Health Organization an essential medicine and restricting it has harmed patients, with no reduction in recreational use. More scientific research is needed, naturally, but there is already a substantial amount of data suggesting that ketamine is effective and safe. “If they don’t bring us the treatment, we will make it ourselves”, a T1 member stated (Bluelight quote from thread no. 1). From the black market to the white coat, ketamine as a mood enhancer has been presenting positive results in handling depression and PTSD, giving a novel approach to the pathophysiology and therapy of these conditions.

I think we should be proud to have contributed to an article that advocated greater availability of ketamine as a medicine for depression and PTSD.

Note that the full-text article is behind a paywall, but if you have issues accessing and want the pdf, send an email to [email protected]

 

Hi folks

my understanding is that there is work to be done in finding an analogue version of ketamine which can be produced without the long term build up of bladder toxicity and neuronal cell death. in short, it is shown good promise for treatment resistant depression, but currently not a long term ongoing option for treatment resistant depression due to these side effects.

 

I’m currently detoxing from 120mg Oxycodone. Next week I’m starting a outpatient program that includes ten days of IV amino acids and also ketamine assisted therapy. I’m interested if anyone has had success with this.

I'm really interested in your amino acid therapy. Dr Bloom did a peer reviewed study on the long term efficacy of balancing the 4 brain requirements for amino acids (gaba, dopamine, seratonin and 5htp) with the result that the brain no longer desire to self medicate. The issue is everyones brain chemistry is different, so the amino acid balance must be tailored to the patient.
I'd really like to know how you worked out what amino acid therapy would be effective for you?

 

So do patients that undergo this treatment find themselves requiring booster visits later down the road? I’m wondering if it is more practical and cost effective to treat yourself using proper harm reduction and supervision. I can imagine it would save you a limb or kidney! That said this is great news!

 

Ketamine has always left me with health issues after using it. Specifically I would have pain in the larger veins of my left foot. Anyone know why this would happen?

 

I used to use ketamine every weekend in the morning at raves after the MDMA wears off.

However know when i do it always feel a mood lift then very depressed after so much so i dont do it anymore

And when i was twenty i had to go see a specialist and have a camera into my bladder from using it so much and they told me either stop or have a catherta in a few years time !

Ruins your bladder

 

I’m currently detoxing from 120mg Oxycodone. Next week I’m starting a outpatient program that includes ten days of IV amino acids and also ketamine assisted therapy. I’m interested if anyone has had success with this.

That is a very good idear

 

Most people abuse the use of katamine i wont blame some user but i blame their dealers for not advising them on mode of use if anybody still faces difficulty pls message me

 

I nearly got offered ketamine for bad nerve pain that was debilitating, but was naive to its effects and uses. So stuck with current meds. My gaba system must be fucked.
So its certainly good news to me that its being legalised for pain and depression and stuff. Like someone has said i get a similar effect to when I'm using tryptamines on the effects of mood. It gets you in that meditative mind (well forces you no choice sometimes) space and often you get hints from deep within the subconcious monkey mind from the body which is a temple.

Some blackmarket ket makes you feel like shit after it though i've also found. more reason to legalise this stuff for certain patients.

 

You should seriously investigate both 2-fluoro as well as deschloroketamine, and of course methoxetamine. It is so sad that these compounds will vanish into nirvana after stupid legislations ban them even when nothing really bad happens until somebody uses them absolutely recklessly and that's true with any compound. It's easier to kill yourself off OTC paracetamol than with a dissociative probably.

MXE afaik doesn't share the physical immobilization (I can't tell because I don't get it from K either) so one of the side effects, inability to speak, would fall off. Never got nausea either. Also all of them are lighter on the body and share the sustained antidepressant effect, to me personally they are much more effective but at least equally safe as K.

It's fucked up that we now have a S-Ket nasal spray approved for use against therapy resistant depression in Switzerland and they even start with around 50mg and increase it to a remarkable 84mg but it is strictly limited to application only under supervision, with vital signs monitored (when K is used exactly for the reason that this is not required and in much higher, anesthetic doses) and all. I wouldn't want to get my first dissociation in a hospital for sure and neither do I want to go twice a week into one.

Nhưng tôi rất vui khi thấy K được chấp thuận, không bao giờ tưởng tượng rằng điều này có thể xảy ra cách đây một thập kỷ khi tôi tự mình khám phá ra tiềm năng to lớn của chất phân ly chống lại bệnh trầm cảm và không thuyết phục được bác sĩ ngay cả khi bằng chứng đầu tiên xuất hiện và DXM bước vào thử nghiệm lâm sàng kết hợp với bupropion (một điều thực sự khốn nạn khác, kết hợp này quá kích thích để tôi chịu đựng được).

Nghiện tâm thần là một vấn đề với những người phân ly nhưng các bác sĩ có thể chỉ cho bạn một hoặc hai liều mỗi tuần và rất ít người sẽ cân nhắc việc bỏ thuốc của họ. Ví dụ, chúng tôi không thấy SSRI được bán thường xuyên.

 

Hầu hết mọi người lạm dụng việc sử dụng katamine, tôi sẽ không đổ lỗi cho một số người dùng nhưng tôi đổ lỗi cho các đại lý của họ đã không tư vấn cho họ về chế độ sử dụng nếu ai đó vẫn gặp khó khăn, vui lòng nhắn tin

 

You may be create ketamine or the drug not
Các bác sĩ cho biết thêm: help me

 

I'm 54 and am trying ketamine for treatment-resistant depression, under a psychiatrist's supervision. I've had three sessions so far. The drug was frightening the first time, even in the safe, familiar setting of my doctor's office, and with gentle world\New Age\4AD-type music coming over the headphones. (Is that dark place where I'm not sure what year it is the 'K-hole'?) The second and the third sessions were better, either because I knew what to expect, or because the dosage was slightly lower. I found myself looking forward to each new song.

The hardest thing about each experience was how I felt in the late evening, the day of treatment, when I was tired. I started obsessing about what part of the trip meant, and the harder I thought about it, the worse my mood got. (Not an effect I ever got from Xanax or opiates.) But the good news is my mood seems better, in the daytime, at least.

I'm trying to keep an open mind about ketamine. I still have three sessions to go.

 

You should seriously investigate both 2-fluoro as well as deschloroketamine, and of course methoxetamine. It is so sad that these compounds will vanish into nirvana after stupid legislations ban them even when nothing really bad happens until somebody uses them absolutely recklessly and that's true with any compound. It's easier to kill yourself off OTC paracetamol than with a dissociative probably.

MXE afaik doesn't share the physical immobilization (I can't tell because I don't get it from K either) so one of the side effects, inability to speak, would fall off. Never got nausea either. Also all of them are lighter on the body and share the sustained antidepressant effect, to me personally they are much more effective but at least equally safe as K.

It's fucked up that we now have a S-Ket nasal spray approved for use against therapy resistant depression in Switzerland and they even start with around 50mg and increase it to a remarkable 84mg but it is strictly limited to application only under supervision, with vital signs monitored (when K is used exactly for the reason that this is not required and in much higher, anesthetic doses) and all. I wouldn't want to get my first dissociation in a hospital for sure and neither do I want to go twice a week into one.

But I'm glad to see K being approved at all, never imagined that this could ever happen a decade ago when I individually discovered the huge potential of dissociatives against depression and failed to convince doctors even after first evidence popped up and DXM entered clinical trials in combination with bupropion (another really fucked up thing, this combo is too heavily stimulating for me to tolerate it).

Mental addiction is a thing with dissociatives but docs could just give you one or two doses every week and very little people would consider giving their remedy away. After all we don't see SSRIs being sold often either for example.

Wow that’s really interesting! I’m gonna get googling the names of the substances in your comment. I’m currently on 40mg Citalopram and 160mg slow release propranolol for my depression and anxiety and I am, for want of a better word, a zombie. I’m on Suboxone too so all of them together is a recipe for well, nothing. I’m a zombie

 

My doctor very rarely when I'm in a really bad condition extremely suicidal will give me not sure how much ketamine but he will do an infusion ith a 10mls syringe which he will induce over 20-30 minutes and afterwards I feel like a totally sane man. (Two times I had a slight high which went in 15 minutes0/

 

I’m currently detoxing from 120mg Oxycodone. Next week I’m starting a outpatient program that includes ten days of IV amino acids and also ketamine assisted therapy. I’m interested if anyone has had success with this.

I was on the same amount of Oxy's but I was chewing them and doing mix up with a shit load of benzo (been on benzo my whole life so they didin't count) Anyway just wanted to say it wasn't extremely hard then I went on to suboxone anyway I hope you the best the ketamine should help PAW's Best of luck!

 

Bluelight Research on Ketamine as a Treatment for Depression and PTSD

Bluelight would like to congratulate Tharcila Chaves and her colleagues on their recent publication: The use of ketamine to cope with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder: A qualitative analysis of the discourses posted on a popular online forum. The paper was published in The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse.


The abstract is quoted below:

Background
Because of the shortcomings of traditional pharmacotherapy for major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), there has been growing interest in the rapid mood-enhancing effect of ketamine.

Objectives
To analyze what has been posted about ketamine use for dealing with self-reported depression and/or PTSD on one of the biggest international message boards on the internet.

Methods
Qualitative study with online observation of threaded discussions on Bluelight. In-depth online searches were conducted in 2018. Twenty-nine threads, with a total of 708 units of analysis, were selected and subjected to content analysis, where, via a coding process, the units of analysis were organized into nodes.

Results
Despite having several negative effects (e.g. dizziness, nausea and inability to talk), the examined discourses suggested that the use of ketamine to elevate mood was both efficient and worthwhile. Intranasal use was the most common route of administration mentioned. We traced how the mood enhancement caused by ketamine is perceived: the loss of pleasure disappears, as well as the depressed mood; the markedly diminished interest in activities vanishes and motivation comes back. From all the posts analyzed, only two reported negative outcomes (i.e. no mood-enhancing effect). The most mentioned adverse event was damage to the urinary bladder and the kidneys in cases of misuse.

Conclusion
Although online research of user-generated content has its limitations in terms of reliability and validity, the present study adds relevant information on the use of ketamine for managing depression and PTSD, whether this use is done legally or not.

Annotated version of the final paragraph in the conclusion of the article is quoted below:

Ketamine appears to be a potential tool in managing depressive symptoms. The increasing popularity of ketamine clinics and the FDA approval of esketamine for TRD (treatment resistant depression) say a lot about the current status of off-label ketamine: it seems to work in several situations and people are already benefiting from it (not only people living with depression or PTSD; another popular off-label use of ketamine is for treating chronic pain). Ketamine has the potential to benefit a big group of patients who do not respond to the available therapies. It is considered by the World Health Organization an essential medicine and restricting it has harmed patients, with no reduction in recreational use. More scientific research is needed, naturally, but there is already a substantial amount of data suggesting that ketamine is effective and safe. “If they don’t bring us the treatment, we will make it ourselves”, a T1 member stated (Bluelight quote from thread no. 1). From the black market to the white coat, ketamine as a mood enhancer has been presenting positive results in handling depression and PTSD, giving a novel approach to the pathophysiology and therapy of these conditions.

I think we should be proud to have contributed to an article that advocated greater availability of ketamine as a medicine for depression and PTSD.

Note that the full-text article is behind a paywall, but if you have issues accessing and want the pdf, send an email to [email protected]

As a combat veteran who's successfully used ketamine infusions for relief of ptsd and chronic pain, it has the potential to change a lot of lives!!

 

Hi. Welcome to BL. We don't like the use of SWIM here

Indeed! It makes me cringe, and laugh when I see such a cowardly arse.

I mean, there are enough of us Fish “Swim”img in the big ocean of life to be brave enough to say....”I” took some drugs one day, right?

If it gets to court, say you made it up. Just pray they don’t rig you up to a lie detector lol.

 

Is it gonna rain on anybody's parade if I point out that chemcials can't cure depression, only cover it up?

Either way, kudos for doing scientific research and being published

 

I'm 54 and am trying ketamine for treatment-resistant depression, under a psychiatrist's supervision. I've had three sessions so far. The drug was frightening the first time, even in the safe, familiar setting of my doctor's office, and with gentle world\New Age\4AD-type music coming over the headphones. (Is that dark place where I'm not sure what year it is the 'K-hole'?) The second and the third sessions were better, either because I knew what to expect, or because the dosage was slightly lower. I found myself looking forward to each new song.

The hardest thing about each experience was how I felt in the late evening, the day of treatment, when I was tired. I started obsessing about what part of the trip meant, and the harder I thought about it, the worse my mood got. (Not an effect I ever got from Xanax or opiates.) But the good news is my mood seems better, in the daytime, at least.

I'm trying to keep an open mind about ketamine. I still have three sessions to go.

Believe it or not, that's good. That you went through that hard part, I mean. Depression doesn't just go away. It has to be dealt with. Going over those parts of the trip, trying to figure out what they mean--that means that you're dealing with it. Something a lot of people don't realize is that, yes, depression is caused by a chemical imbalance, BUT that imbalance is triggered by a circumstance of your life, something which is not right, that needs to be corrected. In fact, depression is not a disorder at all--it's a natural, human, biological response to a situation that causes persistent unhappiness. The only thing that's out of order is when we have trouble finding out what that factor is

 

Can I ask this what about a person with type diabetes, also mixing alcohol and maybe Xanax or molly? Please help is this still a good thing I am open to it’s use for positive reasons but I think I am being lied to about the correct way to do that