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Ketamine’s effect bolsters a new theory of mental illness

nautil.us

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Re: Ketamine’s effect bolsters a new theory of mental illness

#11

Post by civilian »

spotman wrote: post #4

This makes me nervous. Ketamine has major issues with bladder damage when taken repetitively. Possibly with a low enough dosage this would be manageable, but speaking from experience from watching people that have been on the wrong end of the stick with this one. it can do some really serious long term damage in that department.

The depression-fixing threshold is smaller that most recreational use, and it would only be once every two weeks. That side effect trivial to rule it out. Educate yourself and stop being a pawn of the drug war.

I watched two documentaries in short succession: Drugs Inc's episode on Ketamine, and a few episodes of Combat Medic. Drug Incs' played up the bladder damage, the persistant dissociative feeling with abusers, and how it's just horse and cat tranquilizer that's no longer used on humans.

Combat Medic non-challantly showed medics giving ketamine to US soldiers in Afghanistan, because it's an effective and immediate anesthetic. They were subtle about it, but it was there. Our the dissonance in the media about drugs like this is indicative of fear mongering and propaganda.

Re: Ketamine’s effect bolsters a new theory of mental illness

#12

Post by MrBra »

LesZedCB wrote: post #2

I'm excited for there to be alternatives to SSRIs. I've never been diagnosed with depression, but my partner has and takes an SSRI. It certainly seemed to have a generally positive affect (totally subjectively), and relatively few negative side affects. That being said, having to take it every day sucks, and when she runs out, having forgotten to get it refilled, the mood affects are pretty terrible for us both. Hope…

May I ask what kind of SSRI?

Re: Ketamine’s effect bolsters a new theory of mental illness

#13

Post by comrh »

rbinv wrote: post #10
atomical wrote: post #6

There are other drugs in the pipeline that have a faster onset of action than what is currently available, including GLYX-13 and NSI-189. I have taken NSI-189 and I can confirm that it works fast.

How did you happen to take NSI-189? Were you part of the phase 1 trial?

Google suggests you can buy it as a research chemical (here have this random white power...).

Re: Ketamine’s effect bolsters a new theory of mental illness

#14

Post by tptacek »

civilian wrote: post #11
spotman wrote: post #4

This makes me nervous. Ketamine has major issues with bladder damage when taken repetitively. Possibly with a low enough dosage this would be manageable, but speaking from experience from watching people that have been on the wrong end of the stick with this one. it can do some really serious long term damage in that department.

The depression-fixing threshold is smaller that most recreational use, and it would only be once every two weeks. That side effect trivial to rule it out. Educate yourself and stop being a pawn of the drug war. I watched two documentaries in short succession: Drugs Inc's episode on Ketamine, and a few episodes of Combat Medic. Drug Incs' played up the bladder damage, the persistant dissociative feeling with abusers,…

This would have been a better comment without the "educate yourself and stop being a pawn of the drug war." Please remain civil.

Re: Ketamine’s effect bolsters a new theory of mental illness

#15

Post by atomical »

rbinv wrote: post #10
atomical wrote: post #6

There are other drugs in the pipeline that have a faster onset of action than what is currently available, including GLYX-13 and NSI-189. I have taken NSI-189 and I can confirm that it works fast.

How did you happen to take NSI-189? Were you part of the phase 1 trial?

I bought it from a company that imports it and does independent testing on it. It runs about $38/gram.

Re: Ketamine’s effect bolsters a new theory of mental illness

#16

Post by DanBC »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #7
LesZedCB wrote: post #2

I'm excited for there to be alternatives to SSRIs. I've never been diagnosed with depression, but my partner has and takes an SSRI. It certainly seemed to have a generally positive affect (totally subjectively), and relatively few negative side affects. That being said, having to take it every day sucks, and when she runs out, having forgotten to get it refilled, the mood affects are pretty terrible for us both. Hope…

Also of note regarding SSRIs and pregnancy: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/1... > A new study provides some of the strongest evidence yet that using an antidepressant like Prozac, Paxil or Zoloft during the final two trimesters of pregnancy may be linked to a higher risk of autism spectrum disorder for the child, but researchers said the results should be interpreted with caution.

Pretty irresponsible to mention "increased risk" without saying what that risk is, nor what the increase actually is.

Especially when suicide is one of the leading causes of death of women during the perinatal period.

Re: Ketamine’s effect bolsters a new theory of mental illness

#17

Post by cypherpunks01 »

comrh wrote: post #13
rbinv wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you happen to take NSI-189? Were you part of the phase 1 trial?

Google suggests you can buy it as a research chemical (here have this random white power...).

Not sure about above, but I used to (~1yr ago) buy NSI-189 from THT.CO and other sources compiled/tested by the reddit r/nootropics community. Apparently since then, Neuralstem has sent cease & desist letters to all of the companies selling it, and sources have since been spotty. Also I know that some group buys/syntheses have been coordinated on Longecity.

Re: Ketamine’s effect bolsters a new theory of mental illness

#19

Post by tcj_phx »

Having observed my girlfriend's "mental illness" [1], I can say, with confidence, that Psychiatry is the problem with America's approach to mental health. As Dr. McHugh observes [2], conventional Psychiatrists "diagnose" their patients' symptoms, and treat the diagnosis without much concern about the actual causes thereof.

One of my girlfriend's problems is that she has low energy levels - certainly caused by previous stimulant use, and her body's inability to efficiently produce energy (ATP) by burning glucose/fructose. Before she met me, she treated this symptom (low cellular energy levels) by drinking alcohol regularly. Alcohol is an energy-rich molecule, the metabolites of which are easily burned by the insulin-resistant brain cells which have become insulin-resistant. She started drinking a month after starting methadone, a drug which is known to cause sugar cravings.

Deciding to quit methadone was easy once she realized that she hated it. But when she lost access to alcohol, her brain went into a sort of 'survival' mode, which led to her being taken to the hospital [1]...

The causes behind my girlfriend's condition are fairly obvious to me, having observed her for months now. But the hospital staff had no context for why their patient was acting the way she was, so they just treated her symptoms. The doctors at the inpatient facilities she's been at don't care about physiology either, they just reach into the pharmacy and try new drugs with the proper label ("anti-depressant", "anti-psychotic", "mood-stabilizer" - these are marketing terms, imho). She's still exhausted, but at least they're giving her the coconut oil capsules I dropped.

There is another way. My grandfather, a dentist with an interest in hypnosis, didn't remember much of his one class with psychiatrist Milton Erickson, M.D., except that Dr. Erickson was always "bitching" - about having to go to medical school, having to learn anatomy, physiology and pharmacology, etc etc, when all he really wanted to do was hypnosis (this was Dr. Erickson's method of conversational hypnosis, applied to an audience of medical professionals). The Erickson Foundation released a really cool documentary [3] last year...

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10639657 [2] https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/how-psychiatry-l... [3] http://wizardofthedesertfilm.com/

Re: Ketamine’s effect bolsters a new theory of mental illness

#20

Post by LesZedCB »

MrBra wrote: post #12
LesZedCB wrote: post #2

I'm excited for there to be alternatives to SSRIs. I've never been diagnosed with depression, but my partner has and takes an SSRI. It certainly seemed to have a generally positive affect (totally subjectively), and relatively few negative side affects. That being said, having to take it every day sucks, and when she runs out, having forgotten to get it refilled, the mood affects are pretty terrible for us both. Hope…

May I ask what kind of SSRI?

Escitalopram (Lexapro branded)
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