Ketamine is an injectable, short-lasting dissociative anesthetic first made in the early 1960s. It’s used in both human and veterinary medicine as an anesthetic, putting the patient in a trance-like state that provides pain relief, sedation, and amnesia.
What Does It Do??
Also known as Special K, ketamine produces fast-acting side effects when used as an anesthetic and as a recreational drug. Unlike other anesthetics that block pain signals, ketamine sort of disconnects the brain from the body’s sensations.
Many users have described the side effects of ketamine to be similar to those of PCP, though not as severe or long-lasting. Additionally, people who used ketamine to get high have described it as a pleasant sensation of floating or an out-of-body experience.
Ketamine produces its side effects by affecting multiple receptors and pathways in the brain and inhibiting the uptake of neurotransmitters like serotonin, glutamate, and dopamine, depressing neural communication.
Ketamine is also a noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, which means that it binds to the NMDA receptor on cell membranes and blocks HCN1 receptors. However, when taken in higher doses, it may also attach itself to opioid receptors, such as opioid mu and sigma receptors.
Ketamine also blocks the neurotransmitter glutamate, which is associated with pain recognition, learning, memory, and emotion. When it attaches to receptors, it can lead to rapid heart and elevated blood pressure.
Although ketamine is thought to activate new neural connections and thus its hallucinogenic effects, this mechanism of action isn’t entirely clear. However, what is known is that ketamine can increase neural activity, which is why it’s now being tested as a medication for certain mental disorders.
Unfortunately, like other drugs with the potential to succeed in the medical field, ketamine is often abused and even used as a date rape drug. Keep in mind that ketamine should only be used in a medical setting by medical professionals, and recreational use of the drug can produce unpredictable and dangerous side effects.
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