The dissociative effect of ketamine that is produced by high doses is often described by recreational users as the “K hole”—a separation of the mind and body, or a hallucinatory “out of body” experience. Ketamine is known by various street names, including K, special K, jet, super acid, and cat valium. It may be snorted, injected, or taken orally, and its effects may last from 30 minutes to more than an hour. However, for one or more days after taking the drug, users may display symptoms of amnesia, schizophrenia, impaired judgment, and lack of coordination.
Adverse effects
Unfortunately, abuse began along the West Coast and spread across the country by the 1980s. The illicit market produced new forms of the drug, available as powder, capsules, crystal rocks, tablets, and injectable solutions. It is a type of drug a doctor might give to put someone to sleep for an operation. Ketamine can also be used as a painkiller and a bronchodilator (which makes it easier for air to get into the lungs).1 In some countries it is used as an analgesic, for fast pain relief such as in bone fractures and in children. It has been or is starting to be used for pain relief both as a replacement for or use with opiates such as morphine with varing success.
Medical use
A study (from 2012) used monkeys as a model to see if ketamine is toxic to the brain.11The study found that injecting the monkeys every day for 6 months with ketamine caused more cells to die in the front of their brain and also caused a decrease in activity in the areas of the brain which control movement. However, since the widespread sale of these compounds as grey-market designer drugs, nearly all such compounds that have come to prominence either have a bare cyclohexyl ring or a 2-ketocyclohexyl ring, while the piperidine is replaced by a variety of alkyl or cycloalkyl amines and most substitution has taken place on the phenyl ring. Consequently, it is common for widely used phenyl substituted analogues such as 3′-MeO-PCP and 3′-MeO-PCE to be referred to as 3-MeO-PCP and 3-MeO-PCE without the prime, even though this is technically incorrect and could lead to confusion. Arylcyclohexylamines, also known as arylcyclohexamines or arylcyclohexanamines, are a chemical class of pharmaceutical, designer, and experimental drugs.
- Thus, higher doses produce more pronounced delirium and other symptoms of hallucination than do lower doses.
- Its synthesis by rearrangement of an amino ketone has been reported.2 As an arylcyclohexylamine, methoxyketamine most likely functions as an NMDA receptor antagonist.
- Consequently, it is common for widely used phenyl substituted analogues such as 3′-MeO-PCP and 3′-MeO-PCE to be referred to as 3-MeO-PCP and 3-MeO-PCE without the prime, even though this is technically incorrect and could lead to confusion.
- As examples, BTCP is a selective dopamine reuptake inhibitor,8 PCP is primarily an NMDA antagonist,6 and BDPC is a potent μ-opioid agonist,22 while PRE-084 is a selective sigma receptor agonist.23 Thus, radically different pharmacology is possible through different structural combinations.
These are versatile agents with a wide range of possible pharmacological activities depending on the extent and range to which chemical modifications are implemented.131415161718192021excessive citations The various choice of substitutions that are made allows for “fine-tuning” of the pharmacological profile that results. As examples, BTCP is a selective dopamine reuptake inhibitor,8 PCP is primarily an NMDA antagonist,6 and BDPC is a potent μ-opioid agonist,22 while PRE-084 is a selective sigma receptor agonist.23 Thus, radically different pharmacology is possible through different structural combinations. An arylcyclohexylamine is composed of a cyclohexylamine unit with an aryl moiety attachment.
Short term
In addition, long-term abuse can lead to paranoia, depression, and other evidence of cognitive dysfunction. Many individuals appear to be in a stupor when the drug has been taken in low doses; however, high doses can cause unconsciousness, cardiovascular depression, and death. Minor side effects of the drug include tearing (lacrimation) when emerging from the dissociative anesthetic state. Patients can sometimes experience severe and troubling hallucinogenic effects, such as intense dreams and delirium, upon waking; these effects are more common in adults than in children. Thus, higher doses produce more pronounced delirium and other symptoms of hallucination than do lower doses. It is a drug of choice for short-term procedures when muscle relaxation is not required.33 The effect of ketamine on the respiratory and circulatory systems is different from that of other anesthetics.
At lower, sub-anesthetic doses, it is used as a treatment for pain and treatment-resistant depression. The use of ketamine as an antidepressant has mainly been studied for the treatment of treatment-resistant depression(TRD). Single-dose use has been found to have noticeable and rapid anti-depressive effects that tend to last up to a week, accompanied by acute side-effects that resolve spontaneously.26 It has also been shown to have a moderate-to-large effect in reducing suicidality in some patients suffering from suicidal ideation,27 with visible efficacy within two hours of administration. This is in sharp contrast with currently-approved treatment options, whose delayed onset poses an increased risk for suicidality in patients. However, this potency cannot currently be generalised for non-depressed patients experiencing suicidal ideation. Ketamine, general anesthetic agent related structurally to the hallucinogen phencyclidine (PCP).
Long term
- Ketamine is legally used in medicine but is also tightly controlled, as it is used as a recreational drug for its hallucinogenic and dissociative effects.22 When used recreationally, it is found both in crystalline powder and liquid form, and is often referred to by users as “Ket”, “Special K” or simply “K”.
- It is a type of drug a doctor might give to put someone to sleep for an operation.
- This is in sharp contrast with currently-approved treatment options, whose delayed onset poses an increased risk for suicidality in patients.
- Sometimes it can lead to a special type of hallucination which makes people feel detached,2 which is why some people use it as a recreational drug.
- PCP itself is composed of three six-membered rings, which can each be substituted by a variety of groups.
- In the simplest cases, the aryl moiety is typically a phenyl ring, sometimes with additional substitution.
Today, since ketamine can produce minor hallucinogenic side effects in humans, it is used most often as a veterinary anesthetic. However, the drug does have valuable applications in human medicine, especially as an anesthetic for children and for individuals undergoing minor surgery. Ketamine is a cyclohexanone-derived general anesthetic and NMDA receptor antagonist with analgesic and hallucinogenic properties, used medically for anesthesia, depression, and pain management.1920 Ketamine exists as its two enantiomers, S- (esketamine) and R- (arketamine), and has antidepressant action likely involving additional mechanisms than NMDA antagonism. Methoxyketamine or 2-MeO-2-deschloroketamine is a designer drug of the arylcyclohexylamine class first reported in 1963.1 It is an analog of ketamine in which the chlorine atom has been replaced with a methoxy group.
Brain damage
Its synthesis by rearrangement of an amino ketone has been reported.2 As an arylcyclohexylamine, methoxyketamine most likely functions as an NMDA receptor antagonist. It produces sedative, hallucinogenic, and (at high doses) anesthetic effects, but with a lower potency than ketamine itself. The profile of these side effects are generally the opposite of morphine, but the dose of ketamine is lower than a recreational dose and it is not usually enough to cause a high. Sometimes it can lead to a special type of hallucination which makes people feel detached,2 which is why some people use it as a recreational drug. As it can have severe side effects, it is usually not available as an over-the-counter drug. Ketamine was developed in 1962 as a rapid-acting dissociative anesthetic that was used in surgery.
Protocol and administration
Ketamine was first synthesized in 1962 at Parke Davis Laboratories by American scientist Calvin Stevens, who was searching for a new anesthetic to replace PCP, which was not suitable for use in humans because of the severe hallucinogenic effects it produced upon recovery of consciousness. Ketamine was originally patented in Belgium in 1963 and was approved for use in humans by the U.S. Soon after, it was put to use to treat American soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War.
PCP itself is composed of three six-membered rings, which can each be ketamine wikipedia substituted by a variety of groups. These are traditionally numbered in the older research as first the cyclohexyl ring, then the phenyl, and finally the piperidine ring, with the different rings represented by prime notation (‘) next to the number. For instance, 4-methyl-PCP, 4’-methyl-PCP and 4”-methyl-PCP are all known compounds, with similar activity but quite different potencies.
Ketamine is legally used in medicine but is also tightly controlled, as it is used as a recreational drug for its hallucinogenic and dissociative effects.22 When used recreationally, it is found both in crystalline powder and liquid form, and is often referred to by users as “Ket”, “Special K” or simply “K”. Ketamine’s clinical and antidepressant effects can be influenced by co-administration of other drugs, though these interactions are variable and not yet fully understood. Ketamine’s ability to produce hallucinogenic effects within minutes after administration has led to its abuse as a recreational drug.
In the simplest cases, the aryl moiety is typically a phenyl ring, sometimes with additional substitution. The amine is usually not primary; secondary amines such as methylamine or ethylamine, or tertiary cycloalkylamines such as piperidine and pyrrolidine, are the most commonly encountered N-substituents.
