Once a person gets addicted to it, detox and rehab are usually needed for them to recover. This is a terrifying drug, and one that is highly addictive and dangerous. But because it does have legitimate medical purposes, people tend to view it as safe; which it is anything but.
Ketamine is a dissociative hallucinogenic that can lead to auditory and visual sensory distortions and sedation. When people take it, they often become completely disassociated with the reality around them. It produces extreme euphoria, which in itself is quite desirable among addicts and substance abusers.
Getting off Ketamine can be extremely difficult, but it is not impossible. Having the right recovery support can make such a difference, and it is important to work with medical professionals during the healing process. Making the decision to go to a quality detox and rehab in Idaho is one of the best choices a person can make in this situation. It gives them the best possible chance for a positive long-term outcome.
Just like other illicit substances, ketamine has a variety of street names that help make its illegal purchasing easier and less conspicuous.
While not necessarily a street name, another slang term that applies to Ketamine abuse is “K-Hole,” the name given to when Vitamin K’s dissociative effects become overwhelming and the sufferer feels almost entirely separated from reality.
Ketamine, more commonly known as “Special K,” is a dissociative anesthetic that’s mainly used in the medical field to both start and maintain anesthesia. It allows doctors to perform complex and invasive surgical procedures without waking the patient or causing pain.
Its technical classification in the medical field is an NMDA receptor antagonist meaning it essentially blocks the action of the brain’s N-Methyl-D-aspartate receptor.
Depression is a mental health condition that plagues thousands of people in Idaho. While there are many medications on the market that are formulated to treat it, a new one has emerged.
In 2019, the FDA approved a new medication for treating severe depression and suicidal ideation. It is a nasal spray that contains a form of Ketamine called Esketamine. There are also people in Idaho who are turning to Ketamine IV injections to get relief from their symptoms. So many of them report that other medications they have used did not work for them. They are placing their hope in this drug because for a lot of them, they see it as the last solution they have available.
Idaho physician, Dr. Ryan Cole describes how Ketamine was discovered to have an effect on depression by stating, “It was accidental that we discovered that it actually works in depression. So people would go in for general surgery, have Ketamine as a treatment or as an anesthesia, they would come out of it, and go, ‘Why is my depression gone?’”
One patient – who was on the brink of suicide in 2019 – explains that he believes his brain has been healed. But that healing does not come without a high price tag. At the Boise Ketamine Clinic, infusions cost $2,400 for the entire process. Insurance does not cover these costs.
While this is certainly great news for anyone with treatment-resistant depression, there are some concerns. Ketamine is still widely available on the streets of Idaho. How many people have obtained it, or will in the future, for the purpose of self-medicating? This is seen all the time with prescription painkillers, marijuana and other drugs.
Self-medicating with Ketamine is extremely dangerous because there is no way to know the appropriate dosage. There is also the risk of obtaining a product that has been tainted in some way.
Ketamine may be the treatment for depression the people of Idaho – and all Americans – have been waiting for. But using it to self-medicate is not the answer.
Ketamine was first synthesized in 1962 by Calvin Stevens, an American scientist, as an anesthetic alternative to PCP. Since its beginnings in the medical field, PCP had been used to sedate patients but would often lead to extreme agitation and severe hallucinogenic effects.
While K was a common drug for administering anesthesia for a time, it’s now mainly used in the veterinary field as it may also cause undesirable hallucinatory effects in human patients.
Illicit use of Special K grew in the 70s and 80s alongside the rise of other party drugs like ecstasy and cocaine due to its environmentally distorting and enhancing effects.
Like many other chemicals created specifically for application in the medical field, Ket is also used illicitly by individuals in order to achieve a buzz similar to PCP. Continued abuse of Vitamin K in this manner can, and does, lead to physical dependency and eventual addiction.
Ketamine comes in the form of a powder or a liquid. Its typical methods of abuse are snorting, injecting, and smoking. It can also be mixed into drinks as well, making it a common drug used for facilitating sexual abuse.
Given this potential for abuse, Ketamine is currently labeled as a schedule III drug in the United States and a schedule I in Canada.
Club drugs are a set of substances that are most commonly used in a party atmosphere. The loud music and vibrant visuals of this environment are further intensified by these types of drugs and are generally enjoyed by teens and young adults alike.
Vitamin K is considered to be one of the most common club drugs in use today. Its dissociative effects leave abusers feeling like they’re in a dreamlike state and at higher doses can actually cause visual hallucinations as well.
One particular danger with using Ketamine in this type of environment is the fact that more often than not there are other intoxicating substances involved as well. In addition to other illicit drugs (like cocaine, meth, and ecstasy), many club scenes involve consuming high amounts of alcohol.
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In addition to Rohypnol and GHB, Ketamine is one of the most common “date rape drugs” today. These substances are used to reduce inhibition, erase memory, sedate, and ultimately cause individuals to be unable to refuse sexual advances.
Many times, these substances are slipped into a victim’s drink and often have no obvious color, smell, or taste, making it difficult to know at the time if you have been drugged at all.
Unlike GHB and Rohypnol which can take up to 15 and 30 minutes to take effect, Ket is incredibly fast-acting and, thus, can be especially dangerous. What’s more, K can cause memory loss and an out-of-body type experience, making it difficult to know whether a sexual assault was in fact real or imagined.
Like nearly any other substance, continued use and abuse of Ketamine may lead to K or even Ketalar addiction. There are a few factors at play here, namely positive association and tolerance.
Positive association is the body’s natural way of continually rewarding certain behaviors. Eating certain foods, for instance, brings with it a sense of reward demonstrated by pleasing flavors and the satisfaction felt after a good meal.
As the body becomes more and more used to the presence of these chemicals, it changes its natural processes to compensate for them. This is called tolerance.
When combined with the positive association of drugs, tolerance causes dependent individuals to need more and more of a drug to feel the same effects. As a result, they begin taking Ketamine in higher amounts and eventually become addicted.
You may be wondering, “How do I know if I am addicted to Ketamine?”
In general, the best way to determine if you have a substance use disorder (with Special K or any other drug) is by talking to a qualified addiction specialist.
There are other ways to help you determine if you should seek help though. You can, for instance, take an addiction quiz to give you an idea of your addiction level.
You can also self-evaluate using the criteria for a substance use disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders reproduced below:
If at least two of these situations describe your Ket use, the DSM-V considers you to have a problematic pattern of abuse that may indicate K addiction.
Special K is taken primarily for its hallucinogenic and dissociative effects. These distortions of reality can in some instances be pleasurable, especially when combined with intensely sensorial experiences like clubbing or going to a concert.
Some people may also experience an intensification of feelings and experiences as well.
One of the main aspects associated with Ketamine is that it can produce what feels like an out-of-body experience. These experiences are characterized by feeling separated from your body and what you know as reality.
For some, this might lead to a terrifying plunge into an anxiety-ridden state where you feel completely unable to interact with the world around you. This is known as a K-Hole.
Spotting someone high on Ket can be difficult, especially within a party setting. Looking for signs of sedation is one of the methods of how to tell if someone is doing Ketamine. Users who are completely unresponsive should seek medical help immediately.
It is possible to overdose on Ketamine and in higher doses it has been shown to lead to cardiac and respiratory problems that may be life-threatening.
As mentioned above, Ketamine is famous for its ability to separate people from reality when taken in especially high doses.
For injection, this typically occurs at 60 to 125mgs while a K-Hole from snorting may happen anywhere from 100 to 250mgs.
Some users have described it as a complete disconnect from your sensations which, for many, can be quite terrifying. Others say the experience is like being trapped inside your mind where everything seems incredibly far away.
And when you couple these feelings with almost complete immobility (another common side-effect of Special K), you’re likely to experience a heightened sense of anxiety and panic.
While a K-Hole probably won’t last as long as other drugs like LSD, since time is distorted it can end up feeling like an eternity.
Dissociative drugs in general have a long list of short-term effects. At low to moderate doses, they’ve been shown to lead to:
At higher doses, these effects can become intensified. What’s more, you may also experience:
While the long-term effects of prolonged K abuse still have to be evaluated by more rigorous scientific study, there are a few known effects that this powerful drug can have on your body over time.
Cognitive functioning, for instance, is likely to be negatively impacted and may manifest as an inability to:
Another long-term Ketamine drug side effect is called hallucinogen persisting perception disorder, better known as “flashbacks.” Similar to LSD, Ketamine may induce a variety of sensory hallucinations with little warning, whether an individual is currently on the drug or not.
Special K has also been linked to bladder toxicity in a condition known as ketamine-induced cystitis. This condition is brought on by continued erosion of the bladder’s epithelial lining and can result in chronic pain that may never get better with time.
One of the most common questions among Ket abusers is can you go through withdrawal from ketamine?
Although Ketamine addiction doesn’t carry with it one of the most demanding detoxification processes (compared to other drugs like opioids or meth), it can still be incredibly difficult to get through the process without the support of a qualified medical professional.
In general, Vitamin K addicts will likely experience:
While the majority of the worst Special K withdrawal symptoms are psychological in nature, there are a few physical effects of Ketamine cessation you should be aware of before choosing to detox.
These physical effects include:
Although the detox process can be quite uncomfortable, it is undoubtedly part of the most essential steps of recovery. In fact, it’s one of the first.
People who suffer from Ketamine addictions should seriously consider professional treatment. Not only do they need help for their withdrawal symptoms, but they also need therapy as well.
Drug detox is highly recommended for anyone with a Ketamine addiction. It is a process that helps remove dangerous toxins from the body, as well as provide relief from withdrawal. It can shorten the duration of symptoms and possibly even remove some of them completely.
After detoxing, it is important to move on to rehab, which is where the bulk of therapy will take place. When a person is abusing Ketamine, they are usually doing so for a reason. Many suffer from depression, and the drug helps them feel better. Others may struggle with anxiety, or a number of other co-occurring disorders.
When combined, both types of treatment can be very effective at treating Ketamine addiction. This is not something that anyone should take on by themselves. Professional support is important in the event of a complication during the recovery process.
At Ashwood Recovery, we offer one of the best outpatient drug rehab programs in Idaho located in Boise, and we participate with many health insurance companies, including Blue Cross of Idaho.
Our program is personally designed for each one of our clients. We do not provide detox services, but we always recommend local detoxification clinics that we know and trust. Every client who needs this service will receive a referral from us.
We offer three levels of care – intensive outpatient treatment, our traditional outpatient rehab and partial hospitalization. This allows us to better tailor our program to meet our clients’ needs.
At Ashwood Recovery, we take Ketamine addiction and abuse very seriously. We know what a dangerous drug this is when it is being misused. Even though medical professionals have used it to treat depression and other mental illnesses, it is still illegal to use it recreationally.
Our program is here to provide you with the support you need during your recovery. It is possible to get off Ketamine and get your life back on track. We would love to join you in that journey.
Our admissions coordinators are here to help you get started with treatment the right way. They'll verify your health insurance, help set up travel arrangements, and make sure your transition into treatment is smooth and hassle-free.
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