alwyn

I am a pain doctor (medical and interventional) still working part time in the USA. Ketamine is an IV induction agent for anesthesia historically. In high, rapid dosing for that purpose, it is a dissociative drug that works by making a person hallucinate essentially. It can cause convulsions. This acts by blocking a central nervous system receptor called NMDA, similar to the old animal tranquilizer PCP (phencyclidine) which was a drug abused in the 1980s. Ketamine is used orally as a club drug, and in some people that are depressed, it actually improves them for a month or so. It has since been determined that a low, slowly administered dosage of ketamine acts mainly upon a different system that causes a release of neurotransmitters associated with improving a depressed mood (the monoamines serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine). This has a rapid and marvelous effect on a suicidally depressed patient for weeks at a time, although it is not a cure. It is also being studied for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is now being given as a nasal spray for this purpose as well. It can cause convulsions, so it should be given with someone able to control seizures in attendance. I hope that may be helpful.