I am fairly new to the oral ketamine, but i have done IV and Spravato in the past, which were much stronger and seems to inspire creativity in a short amount of time. I haven't seen the sublingual do that yet, but I am also 10 days into treatment. Does it build slower than the other methods and manifest in a month or two?
Hi. Thought I'd share my experiences and get feedback. I tried IV 3 years ago. There was a 50% discount in my area for first time, but that didn't include the $100 therapy follow up. Boosters after that went to regular price so I could not afford to continue the meds after the initial six IVs. Did it help? It boosted my creativity immensely, and that made me feel happy and productive. It gradually waned over time.
Last year my insurance covered Spravato. It was intense, but only about half as intense as the IV (which was very powerful and even what I would call "fun"). But I had chronic headaches at the time and the Spravato worsened them. I had to stop before reaching the 8 sessions minimum, but I did notice creative surges even with 5 doses. When I tried to go back to Spravato later my insurance carrier no longer covered it.
Fast forward to now: I found a local doctor and pharmacy that provides a month supply of troches. I started at 200mg every other day. The effect is vastly weaker than even Spravato, although is pure racemic ketamine. The absorption rate under your tongue creates a long, smooth buzz and no peak. It is not a sensation to "chase" in my opinion. I have one done one dose so far, and from I understand, it could take weeks to build up, but the trade off is that this stuff is dirt cheap when doing it at home. It's pennies, not thousands and thousands of dollars. I won't know for a month probably if there is a benefit from slow titration or if my benefits came from the hard peaks of IV and nasal.
It is possible next month the doctor would adjust to 250 or 300mg, I don't know, but that still would not replicate nasal Spravato, I think it would just be more intense sedation.