Ketamine - Effects on the Body

Effects on the Body

Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic. It produces all of the symptoms associated with anesthesia, including the inability to control movement, register pain, or recall memories. Common side effects of ketamine use include confusion; dizziness; tiredness; loss of muscle control; numbness; intoxication, the loss of physical or mental control; and amnesiaThe loss of memory..

Ketamine interferes with the brain's ability to receive, process, and send out certain signals. This distorts users' perceptions of sights, sounds, space, and time. Ketamine also brings on feelings of detachment, making users feel removed from their physical bodies. The drug's effects occur shortly after it is taken, sometimes causing users to collapse suddenly. After using ketamine once, many people will not use it again.

A Place Called "K-Land"

A typical ketamine trip begins with a feeling of numbness all over the body. At low doses, users generally become somewhat disoriented, lose their sense of balance, and find it difficult to walk. Users then experience altered vision, muffled hearing, and a floating sensation as they enter a dreamy state known as "K-Land." In Designer Drugs, M. Foster Olive noted that "the perception of colors and music is enhanced" in the "K-Land" phase, and users may see "walls and carpets glowing different colors [and] ceilings turning to liquid." Some ketamine users claim that while in this relaxed state, they gain insights into their own personalities, the people they know, and the workings of the universe.

At higher doses, ketamine increases the sense of disconnection between the mind and the body. Users feel as if they are looking down at themselves from some higher place. These so-called "out-of-body experiences" are sometimes religious in nature. Some users claim they have seen visions of angels after taking ketamine. But the hallucinations associated with ketamine are not always pleasant.

The Terror of a "K-Hole"

Heavy use of ketamine intensifies the drug's effects dramatically. The user's judgment becomes extremely impaired, and vision becomes totally distorted. Auditory hallucinations may begin to appear as well. (Ongoing humming or buzzing sounds are the most common.) Some users find it very difficult to move or speak. They may also feel as if time has stopped completely.

Users who have experienced these symptoms run the risk of landing in a "K-Hole." The authors of the NIDA research report titled "Hallucinogens and Dissociative Drugs" describe the "K-Hole" experience as "a terrifying feeling of almost complete sensory detachment that is likened to a near-death experience." The "K-Hole" generates extremely vivid and often frightening hallucinations in users. These individuals may also experience nausea, vomiting, convulsions, deliriumA mental disturbance marked by confusion, hallucinations, and difficulty focusing attention and communicating., respiratory depressionA slowed breathing rate; severe cases can cause a person to slip into a coma or even stop breathing entirely., and a loss of consciousness. Ketamine users who have eaten or consumed alcohol before taking high doses of

In medical settings, various people who received ketamine as an anesthetic in prescribed doses experienced bizarre hallucinations as they began to regain consciousness. Some claimed that they met up with dead relatives and friends, talked to an
In medical settings, various people who received ketamine as an anesthetic in prescribed doses experienced bizarre hallucinations as they began to regain consciousness. Some claimed that they met up with dead relatives and friends, talked to angels, and had out-of-body experiences. © J L de Zorzi/Corbis.

the drug are likely to vomit and run the risk of choking to death.

The "K-Hole" is usually reached after snorting 100 milligrams of ketamine. When injected, however, lower doses of the drug can bring on "K-Hole" terrors. After coming out of a "K-Hole," users may not remember who they are, where they are, or what happened to them. Such feelings can trigger paranoia (abnormal feelings of suspicion and fear), extreme anger, and violent actions. A ketamine trip can last anywhere from forty-five minutes to several hours. However, according to a Prevention Alert article on ketamine, it usually takes twenty-four to forty-eight hours "before the user feels completely 'normal' again."

Brain Damage and Other Dangers

Hallucinogens interrupt the normal flow of neurotransmittersA substance that helps spread nerve impulses from one nerve cell to another. in the brain. Ketamine has an especially strong effect on the workings of the neurotransmitter glutamate. When the brain's supply of glutamate is blocked, people have difficulty perceiving and responding to changes in their environment.

Dissociative anesthetics like ketamine have been shown to cause brain damage. The DEA noted in "An Overview of Club Drugs" that heavy use of ketamine can bring on long-term memory problems and "cognitive difficulties." (Cognitive refers to intellectual activities.) The types of difficulties most often seen include slurred speech and a decreased attention span.

When used as a general anesthetic and administered by a trained medical professional, ketamine will not interfere with the normal breathing process. When abused, however, the drug can cause severe respiratory depression and an irregular heartbeat.

Did You Know?

Ketamine's effects on users multiply dramatically as the dose is increased, even if the increase is very small. The method by which the drug is taken—whether it is snorted through the nose, swallowed by mouth, or injected into a muscle—also has a lot to do with the effects it will produce.

When snorted, ketamine begins to act anywhere from five to fifteen minutes after it is taken. It can stay in the user's system for up to an hour. Most users who snort ketamine begin to feel its effects after taking about 10 milligrams of the drug. A 30- to 70-milligram dose affects vision, hearing, balance, and muscle coordination. The disconnection between mind and body known as the "dissociative" state typically appears after snorting dosages of 100 to 150 milligrams. Doses at or near 250 milligrams may cause unconsciousness for up to three hours or more.

When swallowed, it takes longer for ketamine to take effect (up to twenty minutes on a full stomach), and the effects of the drug last much longer, from three to six hours or more depending on the dose.

When injected into a muscle, ketamine acts much more quickly—usually in a minute or two. Taking ketamine by injection is extremely dangerous. The risks of accidental death or permanent injury from overdose by injection are greater than with any other method.

Women who take any dissociative anesthetic (ketamine, dextromethorphan, or PCP, to name a few) while pregnant expose their developing babies to the drugs' toxic, or poisonous, effects. Children born to women who take ketamine during their pregnancy may suffer severe brain damage.