I take 60 mg of ketamine, intranasally, once a week. This is after trying something like 20 other meds in various combinations for TRD and suicidal ideation. I also have DID-which is actually my main diagnosis and is perhaps why the usual meds don't work for me. Anyway, I saw that the local compounding pharmacy was doing nasal ketamine and asked my pdoc if I could give it a try. We had talked about trying ket infusions, but there are no places within a couple hour drive, and you have to have a driver and go a few times a week and that was just not going to work. We actually talked about other alternative treatments, I am not a candidate for ECT and the like. He said he thought it was worth a try. He didn't even know what kind of a dose to try, actually. But he made a couple of calls and voila! Prescription. And it works. It is hard to describe, but it is something like my brain gets in a rut that leads to suicidal plans and the ketamine knocks me out of that rut. It's like I can't even remember why I was thinking that suicide was a good idea. The effects usually last a week or ten days, sometimes longer. Sometimes shorter. So I sometimes vary the time between doses.


I pay $70 for a month supply, insurance doesn't cover it. But that is obviously way less than infusions and SO worth it. It stings. And it tastes bad. I do a "puff" up each nostril, wait 5 min, do it again, wait 5 min, do it again. Total of 6 "puffs". The waiting 5 min is something that I read about as being the process they used in researching ketamine effects. It usually makes me kind of dopey. It is an anesthetic, after all. I feel kind of loopy, uncoordinated, clumsy, have to think hard in order to talk. Definitely no driving or anything like that. It lasts about an hour. I think I would be ok to drive after 2 hours, but I don't-I take the ket when I am home for the evening. I have been on it for about 2 years. One time it made me high. Like tripping high (which I do remember from other substances long ago). But other than that, not. I am sober for 30 some years and haven't felt any inclination to over use/abuse this-and I am highly alert to that kind of thing.


I'd be happy to answer any other questions.