Hacker News Reader

Comment by monoideism | Hacker News Reader

Thank you.

I've had a very bad experience w/anesthesia so am always nervous while dealing with anything of that nature. Wonder if that predisposes me to a bad trip.

Not sure that would be worth it for just 2 weeks of relief.

Also not sure I'd be able to find any such doctor near me. Probably health care providers are much more open minded out West than it is here.

View on HN

The nice thing about ketamine is that it is a sedative. I've done LSD, Mushrooms, and DMT. Ketamine is the most enjoyable and least risky in my opinion, due to its sedative nature. The doctors usually give an anti-anxiety drug before starting the infusion, a benzodiazepine such as midazolam. As I did more infusions, we increased the ketamine dose and decreased the midazolam. Find a good doctor and work with them. Ketamine is a really wonderful substance for pain and depression.

Eh... enjoyable is subjective. At subrecreational, subanesthetic doses, it can make you feel really fucking weird. It's not bad, and it's certainly survivable given that you're dissociated from it — but it makes me feel really weird.

As to monoideism's question: I'm not a doctor, but ketamine is more benign than many other anesthetics especially at the lower doses used in treating depression. Do your homework, but don't rule it out based upon prior experiences with other anesthetics.

Did insurance cover Spravato? I didn’t even realize it was available as a self-administered prescription drug.

You are right: Spravato has to be administered in office, it cannot be taken home. The doctors who were offering it weren't even covered by my insurance, so I'm not sure if the drug itself is covered.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com