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Comment by upsidesinclude | Hacker News Reader

This is a very suspicious statement for anyone unfamiliar with ketamine and it is exactly the type of text one would expect from a pharmaceutical company.

It is also coming from a throwaway account, so please take "the same dose was less effective" with a grain of salt.

I know many people with depression and anxiety that used ketamine and never experienced this type of response: extremely limited use and immediate reduction in effectiveness.

I don't buy it.

Edit: Initial studies show even microdoses of ketamine can cause immediate and lasting (+2 weeks) reduction in depression and anxiety. One should not be going into a "k hole" which is regarded as somewhat of an overdose even to partiers

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I disagree. The above is actually a (perhaps unwitting) story of what to avoid in ketamine treatment.

My experience is that I dislike the feeling of ketamine high, and I use a small dose fortnightly. If I go longer than that, the depression and suicidal ideation return. I use a small enough dose that I do not feel the immediate effect. It takes a day or three before I experience a reduction in depression and suicidal ideation, but after that, the part of my brain that says "kill yourself" every few minutes goes completely silent.

I also know people who seek out the k-hole and have built up ridiculous (and very expensive) tolerance to the drug. Their stories are very similar to GP. To be avoided.

I appreciate your input and it helps to clarify my point as well.

I believe we agree on most everything else if not our perception of the poster.

I dunno what to tell you. I will say that I have also been prescribed multiple antidepressants (Sertraline, Lexapro, fluoxetine, wellbutrin) and I stopped them all because I hated the side effects, so pharmaceutical companies haven't been any help to me either. That's why I was so initially interested in the potential in ketamine as a treatment. If it works for you, more power to ya. I have a friend who goes in for regular infusions and says it's better than any antidepressant she's ever been prescribed.

Ketamine not only saved my life, it saved my marriage, and my job. I had a mental breakdown. Went catatonic while at work from life/work stress and 13 years of 80 hour weeks. I was able to take a six month leave from work, and had been on all different anti-depressants/anti-anxiety meds for 10 years. A mix of ketamine, time away from work, and therapy quite literally saved me. It's crucial to understand that everyone's mileage may vary, as with every medication/treatment.

You’re making unsupported assertions. It is unclear how dose-dependent the therapeutic effects are. I definitely haven’t seen anything to suggest that microdoses can work as well as larger doses.

You are making inference & unsupported assertions.

Please feel free to investigate and provide educated feedback

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