Ketamine #
| Common Nomenclature | Ketamine |
| Street & Reference Names | K; Ket; Special K; Ketalar |
| Reference Dosage | Threshold 10mg+; Light 15mg+; Common 30mg+; Strong 60mg+; Heavy 100mg+; [Erowid] Threshold 5mg+; Light 20mg+; Common 50mg+; Strong 125mg+; Heavy 175mg+; [TripSit] |
| Anticipated: Onset / Duration | 10 Minutes / 2 Hours |
| Maximum Dose Experienced | 50mg |
| Form | Powder |
| RoA | Insufflated |
| Source / Jurisdiction | Dealer / Overseas |
| Personal Rating On Shulgin Scale | +++ |
SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE #
Ketamine emerged as a recreational drug in the 1990’s, having been first synthesised in 1962. It was scheduled in the United States in 1999 and classified under the UK’s Misuse of Drugs Act in 2006. It remains the most famed and popular dissociative.
Its effects are reported to vary according to dose. The most intense state, on a large dose, is known as a k-hole. This is an extremely subjective state of mental dissociation from the body, which has been compared to near-death and out-of-body experiences. The world becomes increasingly distorted and distant, time is suspended, and hallucination or indescribable perceptions may ensue, along with a sense of disorientation and derealization.
Every k-hole experience will be individual, with factors such as personal psychology, brain chemistry, physiology, set and setting, and personality, all being pertinent. It is not an exploit that should be contemplated lightly, or without significant research and investigation, and is certainly not one for the inexperienced.
It should be stressed here that the k-hole is not the normal or usual recreational ketamine pursuit. This is achieved at much lower doses, which invoke a variety of interesting experiences.
In this respect, it is important to take care not to overdose and enter the k-hole unintentionally, particularly in a public or insecure location. This can result in serious consequences.
If you are intent on using ketamine, my advice is to play in the shallow end, dose with caution, and avoid use with other drugs. Larger doses should only be considered on the basis of planning and preparation, and with a specific and clear objective.
Regarding my experiment, the dealer described his supply as 83% Pure S-Ketamine, and was predictably positive regarding its quality, claiming that it was “about twice as potent as racemic ketamine” (racemic being the other type of ketamine).
With respect to the thresholds suggested across the Internet and given my experience with other dissociatives, 50mg seemed to be a reasonable first time dose. I measure this in preparation.
T+0:00 I snort the 50mg line. [4:42pm]
T+0:05 I am starting to sense some minor changes in perception.
T+0:10 The show is definitely on the road now. I am feeling a rather disjointed headspace, as visually everything seems to be a little weird and slightly off-key, but in a comfortable way.
Any concerns I had about taking ketamine have already dissipated under its influence.
T+0:15 I am still entirely functional, even though I am not fully with it. For no particular reason I check my eyes in the mirror: the pupils are normal.
My body feels a little numb, perhaps a little detached: it is fully operational but the numbness is obvious. For example, hitting the keyboard to type these words seems awkward, with my fingers feeling strange and too large. Walking around the room produces a smooth floating impression.
T+0:20 The headspace bears definite resemblance to the other dissociatives I have sampled. I am inside a zone, but looking through it into the external world. None of this is disagreeable however. I am generally relaxed.
T+0:25 This is quite strong now. I can still, functionally, talk and type, using auto-pilot, but the headspace is intense in a way that is hard to describe. The thought occurs that I can almost feel my brain as an individual organ, which is obviously bizarre.
At the same time, the degree of numbness of the rest of my body has further increased.
T+0:30 I sense that I have found a plateau, in that the experience has stopped intensifying, and I have come to terms with its effects. The physical aspect, largely the insentience, is similar to other chemicals in this class, but it seems to be more apparent. Predictably, the experience has also developed much more quickly than the others, which were all ingested orally.
T+0:40 I play some music to test audio. Pink Floyd is a standard test, and in a bizarre manifestation of synchronicity, Comfortably Numb appears on YouTube as a suggestion. The listening experience is not particularly enhanced, so I elect to return to silence and self reflection.
T+0:45 I take a short walk. I feel lumbering and I am aware of my gait. My movement is probably outside my normal walking parameters, but my condition isn’t absolutely obvious to others, as far as I can tell.
Talking is fine, but I know I would struggle with anything requiring responsive intensive thought or perceptive social cueing or etiquette.
I am possibly just touching +++ on the Shulgin scale at this point.
Underlying is a property which is also familiar to other dissociatives: it is the distinctive quality of the weird distortion of normal reality. The strangeness in how everything is just offset could be frightening if I didn’t know I was under the temporary influence of a drug. Because I do, I can easily suppress any anxiety and ride it, but it is there, nonetheless.
T+0:55 Time has flown. It is already closing in on an hour since I snorted the line. It doesn’t feel like that at all.
T+1:05 The hour mark passes and I have passed the peak. I am still rolling, but the headspace is now fully manageable and in the lower ++ area. The numbness has diminished. It is still there, but has changed in character, and is less intrusive.
T+1:15 I am rapidly coming-down the hill towards baseline, and I am chilled and calm. It feels like it may take a while to get fully home, but I have certainly got all my faculties back in place and could easily deal with issues as though I was sober and normal.
It’s been an enjoyable ride, and I feel rather like I have been on a highly compressed ephenidine trip.
The comedown doesn’t seem to be too drastic thus far.
T+1:30 I am almost back to base, with those after-trip feelings of glow, tingles, calmness and well being. I wonder what I will recall from this last hour? That’s a question to self, because a known feature of ketamine is that it is hard or sometimes impossible to remember the contents of the experience (which I believe is known as state bounded).
I have used ketamine on a handful of occasions since this first experiment, and it is a drug that I have increasingly come to terms with regarding expectation. The earlier ephenidine experiences created a mindset of longevity to my dissociative endeavours, which of course ketamine could not meet. However, after the first couple of experiments the two hour duration became less of a disappointment and more a feature. It became increasingly acceptable and positive.
I have never chased ketamine (via redosing), but instead, I identified a niche use for it, in which it was capable of providing both insight and pleasure. Having stated this, my ranking of ephenidine as my favourite dissociative has not changed.
Whilst I enjoy this chemical, there is a but. This is that there are definite side effects to prolonged or frequent use. For example, regular ketamine use is reported to cause kidney and/or bladder damage. These are extremely serious issues, and they are what prevent me from pushing this chemical too far, or dipping into it too often.
Tread carefully.
CLINICAL USE: DEPRESSION #
Notwithstanding the risks noted above, at time of writing evidence is emerging that, when taken medicinally, ketamine can be used to treat acute depression.
