I Did Ten Hours of Intravenous Ketamine. Here’s What Happened.
Ketamine. If you just blurt that word out, many consumers of “basic” substances (i.e. alcohol and tobacco) might not even know what it is. Some folks in the dance music scene may associate it with other party drugs like MDMA and cocaine.
A tiny contingent, though, will recognize ketamine as a life-saving therapy option.
In 2022, I found myself in that tiny contingent.
Here’s how I got there.
Introducing Ketamine for Long COVID
Without going into the gory details (with gory not even being an exaggeration), COVID wreaked absolute havoc on my central nervous system. That havoc sparked a smorgasbord of neurological ailments like muscle spasms, twitches, tremors, numbness, and in general, chronic pain. Simply put, my muscles and joints weren’t cooperating; they were firing when they were supposed to be at rest, and straining when they were supposed to be stable.
All of this meant that I was consistently hurting and uncomfortable. I went to a number of doctors, ran countless tests, and discovered no underlying condition or disease that could signal all of this anguish.
But, I was still incredibly sick and thus was tossed into the non-specific long COVID bucket and told to rest and ride it out.
A friend of mine had been working at a ketamine clinic in Alexandria, Virginia, and when I told him what was going on, he said his practice should be able to help.
I had been prescribed no other medicine and was willing to try just about anything to alleviate my pain and discomfort, so I booked an initial course of ketamine treatment.
Typically, this practice starts patients out at one-hour-long doses of intravenous ketamine, directly calibrated by the residing physician, over six sessions in a two-week timeframe. Given my dire circumstances, we blasted my body with that amount in half the time, pumping my veins with two hours of ketamine over three respective sessions in a five-day span.
After about a month, I went back in for two more two-hour sessions to top out at ten total hours of intravenous ketamine treatment.
What Ketamine Treatment Feels Like
Upon arrival at my first ketamine treatment, I was deflated, depleted, and defeated in just about every way possible. Nearly half a year had passed between my first COVID infection and my first intravenous ketamine session. Needless to say, I was vulnerable to having a powerful treatment one way or another.
After getting my IV hooked up and the initial dose of saline into my bloodstream, my nurse started the ketamine drip and set a timer to check on me every 30 minutes over that two-hour block.
Through a surround sound system, I was listening to a playlist that I curated for the experience. The main lights were off and a starry light projection was flickering around the walls. The TV played soothing nature videos for me to watch while reclining in my plush loveseat.
For those that know the importance of “set and setting” when it comes to psychedelic experiences, this ketamine clinic in Alexandria made sure to get that right. About 15 minutes in, I definitely felt “it” happening.
My racing thoughts slowed. The visuals of the starry lights felt more immersive as if I was swimming with them around the room.
I felt engaged with the nature videos on the TV, and it was as if the rhythm of the music synced with the scenes on the screen even though they were not connected at all. By the time my nurse came in at the 30-minute mark, I was feeling groovy.
I hadn’t fully dropped in yet, but I was on the journey.
The next 30 minutes saw time and space melt away. I lost track of my elapsed time in the session from then on, and I felt as if the geographic world I knew was all just one open space absent of any boundaries. I felt a shift within my body too as if my point of focus centered in my third eye area in the middle of my forehead, becoming a mere observer of this avatar suit that was laying on the cushioned seat beneath me. The music was a deep, all-encompassing experience where I felt as if I was immersed in the confluence of every single note and sound.
My thoughts continued to slow.
The analogy I like to use to describe my thought process during ketamine treatment is: if my thoughts prior to treatment were a jumbled deck of cards randomly scattered about a table, then my thoughts during the session were as if I neatly and intentionally organized each card into tidy rows next to one another.
In other words, I felt as if I was fully zoomed out of the jumbled entanglement going on in my head and became fully aware of my ability to sift through my mental vortex, if and how I please.
The nurse came in to check on me at the one-hour and 90-minute mark, but I was completely dropped into my journey.
Throughout the entire treatment, I was recanting the mantra “I will heal” over and over anytime I felt overwhelmed.
In combination with the seat at my third eye’s center, I felt more powerful in my battered body than at any time during my illness. Once the two hours were up, it took roughly 15 minutes or so to come back to earth and regain my standard operating procedure within my avatar suit.
Powerful Parts of Ketamine Therapy
That was just one session, and honestly, every other session went quite similarly. Although each session had its own unique intricacies and nuances — and no two sessions were identical — they all followed comparable trajectories: it took about 15-30 minutes to drop in; a grasp of time and space became null and void; all senses were hyper-engaged; my thoughts slowed to the most approachable pace they’ve ever flowed at; and I observed all of this from my third eye center.
Some of the intricacies and nuances were extraordinarily powerful though.
For one, I felt a soul-level connection with my life partner that was nothing short of cosmic and interstellar. This ketamine clinic in Alexandria was in my hometown, but we make our current home in Los Angeles. She did not join me on this trip back east, but even from 3000 miles away, I had never felt closer to her. I told her that she “visited” me a few times to show support, hold space, and express love.
It’s not as if I hallucinated seeing her in the room, but it was her spirit that I just felt so powerfully intertwined with. It was as if I saw the origins of our connection rooted in the cosmos and received a universal message of conviction that we were meant to walk this planet together.
Trippy, eh?
For what it’s worth, my partner was not the only human spirit I felt in my sessions. It was as if my guardian angels were teaming up to go to battle with me in this unprecedented fight to get my body back.
Other intricacies were rooted in the slowing of my thoughts and the oneness I felt with the environment around me. Being so physically defeated comes with its fair share of anxious thoughts, catastrophizing, and resentment.
All of that washed away while I was dropped in, and I was able to rearrange and recategorize many things that I had been putting negative connotations on. I walked away from these sessions with a much more balanced approach to managing my internal dialogue and my overall narrative about my life. And with this internal balance reinforced, I felt more in harmony with my external world too.
For example, an experience that I had inside the experience definitely carried outside of it too. It all started with a sea turtle, which was the scene on the TV screen when I first noticed that the TV and the beat of the music had somehow been interconnected even though they were playing on separate devices.
The music resonated in an immersive way that it never had before. It felt like I was literally inside of the music, consuming the songs from the threads of each and every single note. This helped enliven my sense of the little beauties in the world around us, like the songs of birds in the trees, the sensation on someone’s face when they learn good news, and just everyday synchronicities that inspire so much awe for the present moment.
Is Ketamine Therapy Effective?
Unequivocally, I describe ketamine therapy as life-saving.
It was the first thing to give me my power back after so much turmoil and anguish.
First and foremost, it helped quell the severe pain and physical discomfort that I was feeling from long COVID. After my ten hours of intravenous ketamine treatment, I undoubtedly felt stronger and more confident in my own skin once again. But the physical component of my battle was just part of it, and the mental (dare I say spiritual) component was a whole other beast in itself.
Ketamine worked nothing short of magic on my mental stability and overall reinvigorated my spirit in the healthiest, purest way imaginable. I didn’t feel like I was being pumped full of pharmaceutical chemicals. I had no hangover or withdrawal and do not feel any sort of dependency or yearning for more. It was everything I needed and nothing that I didn’t. It combatted the symptoms I hoped it would combat in the short-term, and equipped my body and mind to more capably and courageously fight through this disease in the long term.
So, in summary, what is ketamine treatment in my mind? Life-saving magic.
What I Wish I’d Known Before Starting Ketamine Treatment
Ketamine is a psychedelic. That much I knew beforehand. Ketamine is also used as a sedative in hospitals. I knew that going in. What I didn’t realize was how those two different qualities would come together to concoct an appropriate intravenous treatment for me as a COVID long-hauler.
For starters, ketamine treatment is not a standard IV treatment. For many IV treatments, you can walk in and out and feel nothing more than a pin-prick when the needle goes in.
With intravenous ketamine treatment, you should be prepared for an out-of-body experience. As I said, I was seated at my third eye center for most of my sessions, observing my body through a much different perspective.
I was unable to engage in a natural conversation when the nurse came in to check on me other than uttering basic things like “I feel aaaaaaaamaaaaaaaaazing” and “I need to pee.”
And needing to pee was maybe the weirdest part of the whole process because having so many fluids coming into the system triggered that very normal bodily movement at least once in the middle of each session.
But, being as I was effectively sedated, the nurse had to help me to and from the bathroom. Walking wasn’t reprogrammed back into my operating system until about 20 minutes after my session ended.
In my experience, after doing a ketamine treatment, it is not advisable to be physically active or go on outdoor adventures.
I see it as an opportunity to go deeper within, and it takes patience to plug back into reality when your legs feel a bit wobbly after the session ends. I took it slowly each evening after my sessions too, spending time journaling, laying down and listening to music, or not consuming anything external at all and just resting with my is-ness in the present moment.
All in all, I am so grateful to have this tool in my life. I wish I didn’t have to get chronically ill to discover it, but now that I am aware of its potential, ketamine treatment will continue to be something I recommend for those needing a new way to recalibrate their existence — whatever that may look like.
Clarity on Ketamine’s Mechanism of Action
As we explore the possible benefits of ketamine in treating post-COVID-19 syndrome, it’s worth taking a moment to understand how this drug works within our bodies, particularly in the context of depression.
Ketamine is an N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDA-R) antagonist, and its potential to act as a rapid antidepressant has captured the attention of the medical community over the past couple of decades. Unlike traditional antidepressants, which can take weeks to months to yield therapeutic effects, ketamine stands out for its ability to produce a rapid antidepressant effect, especially in individuals with treatment-resistant depression.
So, how does ketamine exert its antidepressant effect? Research suggests that it prompts a surge in glutamate, a neurotransmitter in the brain. This glutamate surge triggers a cascade of events that leads to synaptogenesis, which is the formation of new synapses in the brain.
It has the capacity to reverse the negative impacts of chronic stress and depression, particularly within the prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain associated with complex cognitive behavior, decision making, and moderating social behavior.
Of course, this is a simplified explanation of a complex process, and ongoing research continues to explore the intricacies of ketamine’s mechanism of action. This understanding, however, gives us a clearer picture of why ketamine could potentially be a beneficial treatment option for individuals suffering from post-COVID-19 syndrome.
As these individuals navigate their recovery, the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine could play a significant role in alleviating some of their mental health symptoms.
Potential Risks and Side Effects
It is important to understand that while ketamine’s therapeutic potential in addressing post-COVID-19 syndrome, especially amongst patients grappling with treatment-resistant depression, is encouraging, there are risks and side effects to consider.
Firstly, ketamine, traditionally used as an anesthetic, is known to produce a range of side effects. These can include a surge in blood pressure and heart rate, feelings of nausea or the need to vomit, and a sense of disconnection from reality, often accompanied by hallucinations. These effects are usually transient and well-controlled in a medical setting.
Moreover, ketamine’s use as a treatment for depression is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Certain health conditions such as uncontrolled high blood pressure, unstable heart disease, or a history of psychosis might render this treatment inappropriate for some patients. Given the innovative nature of ketamine’s application in treating depression and post-COVID-19 syndrome, continuous research and careful patient monitoring are crucial to ensuring both safety and effectiveness.
Another significant point to consider is the duration of ketamine’s antidepressant effects. While the drug acts rapidly, these effects might not endure in the long term. For some patients, depressive symptoms may return, requiring additional treatment sessions.
Lastly, it’s worth noting that the use of ketamine in the treatment of post-COVID-19 syndrome is a relatively nascent area of study. The potential risks specific to this group of patients remain an area of active research, and a thorough understanding of these risks necessitates further study.
Disclaimer: This article is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. The information contained herein should not be used to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Any medical decisions should be made in consultation with your qualified health care provider. The use of ketamine as a treatment for post-COVID-19 syndrome is currently in the research phase and has not been approved by regulatory authorities. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.