Understanding Ketamine: What You Need to Know About Its Short and Long-Term Effects
Phencyclidine (PCP) and ketamine are dissociative anaesthetics that have a lot of chemical similarities. Despite ketamine's authorised medicinal use, a large portion of the drug's illegal supply comes from veterinary sources. Over the 1980s, there has been a little rise in the illegal usage of ketamine in the US, compared to other widely used substances like marijuana..
This article will explain what ketamine is, outline both its immediate and long-term effects, and offer advice on how to get help if you or a loved one is abusing ketamine.
What is ketamine?
Dissociative drugs like ketamine can cause distortions in sensory perception and a dissociative state in which the user feels detached from both themselves and their surroundings. Ketamine has been utilised as an anaesthetic for medical procedures in both humans and animals since the 1970s. Ketamine has been prohibited for non-medical use since 1999 when it was placed under Schedule III of restricted substances.
Ketamine has become more well-known as a "club drug" in recent years, with teens and young people using it at raves and parties.. In 2021, a nationwide study of young people in America revealed that approximately 1% of high school graduates had taken ketamine during the previous year.
Ketamine's Short-Term Adverse Effects
The effects of ketamine can be felt minutes after usage. Depending on how much of the drug is taken, a variety of unanticipated effects may be experienced, varying in intensity. Some describe effects that lasted for several days, even if the acute effects might only last for a few hours. Relatively modest dosages may have the following effects:
- lack of motor coordination, disorientation, or bewilderment.
- feeling queasy, sick, or throwing up.
- elevated body temperature, respiration, heart rate, or blood pressure.
- alterations in sensory experience, such as hearing or seeing hallucinations.
- being cut off from others, your surroundings, or oneself.
Ketamine's Long-Term Effects and Risks
Not all the effects of long-term dissociative drug usage have been thoroughly investigated. One long-term risk, though, is that ketamine usage is believed to be reinforcing, which may contribute to the emergence of a drug use disorder.
Furthermore, it is believed that using ketamine might result in some tolerance, physical dependence, and a withdrawal or discontinuation syndrome when use is stopped. Symptoms of ketamine withdrawal syndrome can include desires for drugs, extreme drowsiness, and despair.
Moreover, studies suggest that chronic ketamine abuse may have certain neurological hazards. According to a 2022 review of studies on extended recreational ketamine usage, the brain's structure and function were linked to large dosages of the drug used over extended periods of time.
The research advises against drawing conclusions too quickly, but the differences that were found may account for some of the long-term negative consequences of ketamine, such as reductions in executive functioning and memory problems. Furthermore, although this theory is still being investigated, some long-term ketamine usage may have brain consequences that lead to cognitive and emotional abnormalities that make a person more susceptible to developing a ketamine addiction or an addiction to other substances.
Addiction to Ketamine: Treatment and Prognosis
With long-term use of dissociative medications like ketamine, patterns of compulsive overuse and, eventually, a substance use disorder can develop.4 In the early stages of recovery, some individuals may find that a medically supervised ketamine detoxification is beneficial in controlling ketamine withdrawal symptoms.
Treatment is helpful if ketamine abuse is a problem for you. Speak with American Addiction Centres today at (888) 994-9410.
Source : https://americanaddictioncenters.org
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