What does ketamine feel like? In technical terms, Ketamine is a “dissociative anesthetic”, which basically means that it numbs your body and causes feelings of dissociation from your environment — a bit like observing your own life from a 3rd person perspective instead of living it. And although it can vary by person, generally a higher dose will deepen the experience.

Once administered, Ketamine quickly causes feelings of heaviness in the body and often sensations of drifting away from your body and returning. During this time, you may have intermittent awareness of the room and your vision may be blurred. The visual sensation most often noted is “seeing the world through a funhouse mirror”. This altered vision may cause motion sickness and nausea, and you may feel a little sluggish or drunk. Your motor control will be affected, and walking may be difficult. Some people report feeling like they are sinking into the bed. You may even feel a hypnagogic effect—the sense that you are falling as you drift to sleep.

Overall, research shows four distinct states of consciousness can occur during a ketamine experience. They are:

• Empathogenic Experience. At low doses, ketamine acts like an empathogen, inducing feelings of empathy, oneness, and emotional openness while leaving the patient comfortable, relaxed, and aware of their body. They may also feel warm, dreamy, or euphoric and have mild visual effects.
• Out-of body Experience. At slightly higher doses, the patient disconnects more from reality. The body feels heavy, and visuals are vivid and may be disconcerting. The result is a dream-like state that may include encounters with perceived beings and travel to other realms of consciousness.
• Near-Death Experience (NDE). This is similar to a naturally occurring NDE in that it often promotes psycho-spiritual growth. The NDE can be calming, life-affirming, or even terrifying. Patients who better prepare for the experience are more likely to have a positive outcome.
• Ego-Dissolving Transcendental. Like NDEs, ego-dissolving transcendental experiences can occur spontaneously, through meditation, or be induced by psychedelics. They often result in healing from addiction, personality disorders, or chronic illness, while inducing rapid psychospiritual growth, expanded worldviews, and long-term changes in behaviors.

Ketamine is a “dissociative anesthetic”, which basically means that it numbs your body and causes feelings of dissociation from your environment — a bit like observing your own life from a 3rd person perspective instead of living it.

How does the Ketamine treatment process work?

Each clinic has unique protocols, but most will require an initial consultation with a doctor. It’s also worth noting that there are different modes of administering ketamine, including an Intra-muscular (IM) injection, Intravenous (IV) infusion, or an oral lozenge.

A standard treatment plan involves preparation, a screening process, a series of ketamine treatment sessions, and post-treatment integration.

Let’s take a look at each step.

• Ketamine Preparation. This begins prior to finding a clinic and can include the following things:
  • Cleaning up one’s diet
  • Beginning a meditation practice
  • Working with a  psychedelic integration coach
• Ketamine Screening Process. Once a clinic is chosen, you will start the screening, qualification, and enrollment process. This includes:
  • Booking an appointment
  • Completing a new patient form
  • Interviewing with the prescribing physician
• Ketamine Treatment.  This is when Ketamine is administered. The initial session will last from 30-90 minutes and then will start to fade. Typically, you will be wearing a blindfold and listening to music in a private setting under the care of a qualified professional. Onset of the experience is quick–within a few minutes for IM or IV administration.
• Ketamine Post Treatment. After the treatment you’ll have the opportunity to integrate the experience into your life. You may continue to work with your psychedelic integration coach, implement changes and lessons you learned, and even return to the provider for treatment, if necessary.

How might you feel after a treatment? Patients often experience immediate relief from pain and depression symptoms during and for up to a week after the session. Commonly reported feelings after the experience include:

• Psychological clarity
• Feelings of being cleansed
• Increased confidence
• Feelings of happiness and well-being
• State of inner peace
• Feelings of detachment
• Motivation to improve oneself
• Strong feelings of empathy for everyone

Ketamine treatment presents a new option to traditional medicine, and can certainly feel unfamiliar and overwhelming, especially to those people who are new to psychedelic medicine. Hopefully this post has helped to demystify the treatment process and questions about what the experience will entail. As with any psychedelic treatment, the administration of ketamine is only one step in the staircase of healing. But with the proper support, it can help provide clarity for what the next steps might be.