Ketamine: The Real Health Impact!

[General Lighting]

I've been hearing all sorts of horror stories about K recently, stuff like permanent incontinence and infertility occuring in previously healthy males and females aged 18-40 - the sort of diseases that people in geriatric care suffer from...

This seems a bit unbelievable - although I am not a medical professional I do work in the healthcare industry and understand some of the medical stuff,

does anyone have links to any actual case reports so we can all see how true these claims are? I suspect its merely the effect of chronic K use on peoples insides and it is reversible but the psychological addiction factor to K plus its analgesic makes people ignore signals from their own body..

[starlaugh]

Been searching about and have had no luck at the moment....

Even searched for any information on it in the journals that we cover at work. There have been a few articles on Ketamine but nothing on the damage it causes your body.

[General Lighting]

Hmm - Maybe the NHS National Treatment Agency is only just picking up on these cases being referred from local GPs in the last 2-3 years and it takes time for the info to filter through.

I suppose in this case its not so much spin or delaying tactics but safeguards to protect patient confidentiality etc...

[starlaugh]

20-year-old man developed an acute dystonic reaction following the selfadministrationof ketamine. The episode resolved upon treatment with ch'phenhydramine. Dystonia is an unusual toxic effect of ketamine abuse; potential mechanisms for its occurrence in this instance are discussed.

[Felser JM, Orban DJ: Dystonic reaction after ketamine abuse. Ann Emerg Med 11:673-675, December 1982.]

INTRODUCTION

Ketamine, an intravenous general anesthetic chemically related to phencyclidine,has recently gained attention because of its abuse potential, especially on the West Coast. 1 We report a case of drag-induced dystonia that occurred after the self-administration of ketamine. Dystonia is an unusual adverse effect of ketamine, and mechanisms possibly responsible in this instance are discussed.

CASE REPORT

A 20-year-old man self-administered 0.5 cc of ketamine intravenously. Syringes, needles, and ketamine were obtained from a nearby veterinary hospital. No other drugs were concomitantly administered, and the patient had used ketamine before. Ten hours later, the patient presented to the UCLA Emergency Medicine Center after noting five episodes of sustained abnormal tongue and neck movements that interfered with speech. The last of these began one hour prior to arrival. At no time was generalized motor activity or loss of consciousness noted. The patient denied history of previous neurologic abnormalities.

Physical examination revealed an anxious but healthy-appearing man who was afebrile with stable vital signs including temperature, 37 C; blood pressure, 140/90 mm Hg; pulse, 86; and a respiratory rate of 18. Neurologic exam revealed equal and reactive pupils at 5 ram. The tongue was protruded and deviated to the left side and the neck was held in extension while deviated to the left. The patient was unable to speak, yet he was alert and able to communicate in writing. Deep tendon reflexes were 2+ and symmetric throughout; plantar responses were flexor bilaterally.

Serum chemistry studies included sodium, 140; potassium, 4.4; chloride, 107; bicarbonate, 24~ glucose, 108; BUN, 22; and calcium, 9.5. Urinalysis was unremarkable. A dystonic reaction was diagnosed and diphenhydramine 50mg was administered intravenously, resulting in complete resolution of the episode within three minutes. No recurrence of dystonia occurred during four hours of observation. The patient was completely asymptomatic for one month following the episode, after which he was lost to follow-up.

A bit from a medical report of someone not sounding too good from using Ketamine in 1982, gonna keep looking though as i have just remembered somewhere else i can look

[General Lighting]

I've just heard one of my friends from my old partying days is now in hospital with pancreatitis believed to be caused by long-term ketamine use (well he must have been caning it fairly constantly for 5-6 years).

I think his girlfriend has also been unwell because of this.

He is waiting to hear from the hospital as to the extent of this condtion. He is exactly 12 years younger then me, and could at worst-case be suffering various permanent medical problems for the rest of his days.

Ketamine is turning out to be far nastier stuff than many initially suspected..

http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles...?articleId=276

[the1log]

Looks like I picked a good week to stop doing the stuff.

TBH I think everyone knew that K was gonna fuck up your insides its just its taken a long time for the answers to surface.

Hope your mates ok by the way GL

[globalloon]

sorry to hear about your mate, GL

you need your pancreas and only have one

[SD]

Then you hear some of the stories I hear about people cutting liquid k with hairspray so it cooks up more powder...

Friend of mine poured 9 litres down the drain when he heard an ambulance siren thinking it was the police... Apparently he fished it back out of the sewer and cooked it up again...

Moral of the story is... be careful where you source your K

[MisterDuck]

sorry to hear bout that GL

i've never touched k... it doesn't appeal to me for a few reasons

1. the effects... as a party drug from what i've seen i'd rather stick to ecstasy

2. i dont particularly like snortin things often. i have done before, but it's definitely not my favourite way of takin any drug. btw, does k corrode your nose like cocaine?

3. it's addictive and i got an addictive personality

but, i wouldn't never touch it. are these effects from long-term use? like, tryin it and havin it every now and again won't do much harm will it?

[globalloon]

moderation is the key

can you keep it moderate? and is what you think is moderate use, really moderate? these are the things we must ask ourselves

[rach]

Originally posted by SD

Friend of mine poured 9 litres down the drain when he heard an ambulance siren thinking it was the police... Apparently he fished it back out of the sewer and cooked it up again...

haha thats a man with a love for his ket... or just sheer paranoia of sirens!

Originally posted by boothy

but, i wouldn't never touch it.

i said that a couple of years ago, but whenever i say that about anything it always goes out the window...

ive yet to see physical health impacts with my friends, but given time i'm sure it will come... but with my friends who use it regularly i can see strong impacts on their mind, those who are trying to cut back on how much they have are finding it very hard to do, and others have terrible paranoia, and the worst short-term memorys ever!

i still love the stuff though, just keep it to the weekend and know when to say no

[SD]

Originally posted by rach

[/center]

haha thats a man with a love for his ket... or just sheer paranoia of sirens!

Nah thats just a dealer in a K hole lol

[General Lighting]

Originally posted by rach

i said that a couple of years ago, but whenever i say that about anything it always goes out the window...

ive yet to see physical health impacts with my friends, but given time i'm sure it will come... but with my friends who use it regularly i can see strong impacts on their mind, those who are trying to cut back on how much they have are finding it very hard to do, and others have terrible paranoia, and the worst short-term memorys ever!

i still love the stuff though, just keep it to the weekend and know when to say no

I avoided it myself for many years or so then became an occasional user mostly "because all my mates did it". Even then I prefer other experiences.

The problem though isn't so much K but also the binge culture, and people constantly chasing "a new high". When my mate first started regularly doing it it was about 6 years ago, and people started doing it because they had already got bad experiences off pills/amfet from caning too much, and initially K doesn't have as much of a comedown.

I think when people are doing anything midweek its a bad sign, and although this sounds really "capitalist/mainstream" I feel the discipline of normal work (not necessarily working for a corporate, but some sort of work where you can't get away with being trashed every day) is one of the things what holds you together during the week and makes the weekend worthwhile (and this comes from someone who was caning it every few days at one stage in his life!)

[rach]

Originally posted by General Lighting

I think when people are doing anything midweek its a bad sign, and although this sounds really "capitalist/mainstream" I feel the discipline of normal work (not necessarily working for a corporate, but some sort of work where you can't get away with being trashed every day) is one of the things what holds you together during the week and makes the weekend worthwhile (and this comes from someone who was caning it every few days at one stage in his life!)

definatly, if i know i didnt have to get up everyday for work i'm pretty sure i'd get myself into a bit of a mess really, which is why its a very good thing for me to no longer be a student! i just live for the weekends, and spend monday to friday planning them!

[globalloon]

Originally posted by General Lighting

I think when people are doing anything midweek its a bad sign, and although this sounds really "capitalist/mainstream" I feel the discipline of normal work (not necessarily working for a corporate, but some sort of work where you can't get away with being trashed every day) is one of the things what holds you together during the week and makes the weekend worthwhile (and this comes from someone who was caning it every few days at one stage in his life!)

i agree. if you don't do anything productive, why should anyone care when you fart your liver out and fall down half dead?

by productive I don't mean anything 'corporate / capitalist' either... you could be making earthenware cooking pots, painting or making music... as long as you work hard at it and follow your dreams, not let your life become a bad dream

[General Lighting]

I found this fairly recent article today (it is referenced in a Wikipedia article).

This is a link to a pressrel aimed at non-medical professionals. I have also attached the report (which is rather more complicated) for those who are interested or may understand more of it than I do..

http://www.hkmj.org/earlyrelease/0708ea1.HTM

Perhaps the Hong Kong medical professionals should contact their counterparts in Great Britain, as I am sure from what I am hearing (albeit only from my friends and acquaintances bemoaning various illnesses) that people are presenting with similar symptoms here as well...

[mrindeed]

Do you remember Justin Grayer who came on here asking for participants for a study he was doing on his thesis about ketamine use last summer?

I actually took part in this study as i fell into the group of people who have tried drugs excluding k...

I would be very interested to see his results if he is still about....

[General Lighting]

I believe Justin is still processing his data, with a view to public release at the end of this year (after his assesments etc)

http://www.partyvibe.com/vbulletin/s...ad.php?t=23821

[mrindeed]

Thanks GL :)

[classbhero]

my mate used to kain ketamine (TBH the nutter probably still does, ive moved on in friend group) and he ended up with ulcers all in his stomach and so did his mate who was bang on it to, he used to have to drink litres of water and then throw it all back up to de-acidify his stomach..... he looked a state sometimes..... wierd dude.

[MisterDuck]

Originally posted by rach

[/center]

i said that a couple of years ago, but whenever i say that about anything it always goes out the window...

it was a kinda double negative - i probably will end up touchin it is what i meant, even tho not now

[rach]

Originally posted by boothy

it was a kinda double negative - i probably will end up touchin it is what i meant, even tho not now

oh yeh sorry mate, my bad, didnt read it properly!

[MisterDuck]

gonna take a while before i do anythin - have to take some time out after this weekend

[vickerly]

so would i be an addict if i work full time yet have a coupla lines in the eve? i dont smoke so to me i just use it like a stoner might smoke a joint of an eve...

[Playground Politics]

Originally posted by vickerly

so would i be an addict if i work full time yet have a coupla lines in the eve? i dont smoke so to me i just use it like a stoner might smoke a joint of an eve...

only u can tell us if ur addicted, we cant tell u