Health - K & Addiction potential

[schwing]

I just remembered that my ex-girlfriend's (who I never see anymore) imaginary friend's dying wish was to know why there seems to be a large discrepancy in reports of K's addiction potential. According to Erowid "Ketamine has the potential to be both physically and psychologically addicting" but doesn't list symptoms of physical dependencies. Any SWIY out there who can shed some light into this?

Also, he was wondering if anyone could tell him SWIY's predisposition to addiction in general, addiction level to K (i.e. high, med, low-none), and what other substances SWIY may be addicted to (this is all hypothetical of course).

For example, Balthazog (which was his name) in general seems to have a low-ish predisposition to become an addict. He enjoys alcohol, occasional brownie and at other times a trip out into other dimensions, but never craves for any of those things. He'll admit that he's addicted to tobacco but even then never needs more than 5-6 cigs a day. At the same time, he'll never try heroin or crack because he doesn't want to deal with expensive addictions and associated risks to health.

[enquirewithin]

Ketamine is not physically addictive. Only people with a lot of time and a lot of ketamine can be get psychologically addicted.

SWIM just needs to approach it with caution.

Reputation Comments on this post:

"Only people with a lot of time and a lot of ketamine" can get psychologically addicted. Seems a little judgem...

[toe]

It takes many people a lot of time and a lot of opiates to get addicted- is this because it's both physically and psychologically addictive?

Paradoxically, meth and coke users who head in that direction don't seem to take very long to find themselves in a pattern of problematic usage at all, despite the fact that there really is no grand consensus AFAIK that they have pose any signifigant threat of physical addiction.

Originally Posted by schwing

Also, he was wondering if anyone could tell him SWIY's predisposition to addiction in general, addiction level to K (i.e. high, med, low-none), and what other substances SWIY may be addicted to (this is all hypothetical of course).

The girl in the picture window has tred down many unmarked paths and found herself lost in the Dark Opioid Forest many times, but cannot seem to resist the pull to return, despite the collateral damage. She has always been able to take or leave cocaine in all its forms. AMP-family stimulants tend to lead to binging, but they would never be sought out without a goal in mind for their use. Ketamine, however, ketamine- next to tobacco and CII and above opiates- is one she manages to get herself into real trouble with.

[Niteflights]

It is my opinion that ketamine is at least as psychologically addictive as heroin. Basically anything which causes the psyche to experience "no pain/no stress" is going to become a rather intense overriding behavioral magnet for the psyche. Ketamine seems to do this as well if not better than anything, after all it is a full spectrum anaesthetic, both physically and mentally.

I have read reports that many heroin users, after switching to ketamine when heroin is inaccessible, come to prefer ketamine.

Advice:

1. Do not obtain large quantities of this substance that could get you into routine use.

2. If at all possible, have a trusted love one control your accessibility to the substance and moderate your use.

3. Remember you will get much more out of it if you don't do it to often. Honestly, having been to Lillyland, SWIMS primate can report that hourly use looses all "magic" after a short time. The tolerance can be more or less permanent. God knows what is going on with those dendrites and NDMA receptors upstairs which are now being recognized as major components of psycho-emotional behavior.

The real value of ketamine use seems to be the profound insights and awareness that frequently arise during the "emergent state". This means full k-hole state. You can only really attain this state with rather well spaced sessions or you will develop severe tolerance. I would suggest once a month at most.

best,
Nite

Reputation Comments on this post:

Just an opinion.

[schwing]

One "problem" with K seems to be that it's such a versatile drug. I think a friend told me a while ago that his imaginary dog told him that at low dosage K is perfect for relaxing after a long day's work or if he's just tense and needs to get some sleep. At mod. dosage it's a nice, thought-provoking high (although physically impairing). At high dosage, it can bring one of the most profound "so that's the meaning of life!!!"-kind of experience...

He also told me that he's been using it pretty much every day for the last month or so without noticing any significant tolerance build-up, but he only regularly uses it at low dosage.

This is a bit off-topic but he said that he now thinks that daily use is probably not a good idea because he's been noticing that although he feels totally refreshed when he wakes up after sleep, his mental reactions to real-world events is slightly slower and he's more prone to spacing out and making mistakes even during routine activities. Also, it seems to take more effort to perform physically strenuous activities.