Living with chronic pain can make life unbearable, and if you have tried most traditional pain management techniques in vain, it could be time for you to give alternative medicine a try. Ketamine could be a perfect alternative for pain management, and it can be applied as anesthesia when you are undergoing surgery as it acts as a sedative. You might wish to contact experts like Isabel Legarda MD, who could help with the administration of ketamine for effective pain management.
How Ketamine Works
Ketamine works as dissociative nerve-blocking anesthesia and has been available for prescription for both human and animal use. Ketamine disrupts the glutamate neurotransmitters, which are responsible for pain, memory, emotion, and learning. When administered, ketamine could result in a sympathomimetic activity, which could increase heart rate and elevated blood pressure.
Uses of Ketamine
- Ketamine can relieve a patient of chronic pain when administered in reasonable doses and with the help of a pain expert.
- Provide pain relief and could lead to memory loss in the same manner that anesthesia could work
- In surgery, ketamine could be used as an induction and maintenance agent during sedation to give general anesthesia effect on the patient.
- It is used for pain control when one is undergoing burn therapy, treating battlefield injuries, and it could be administered to children who might not qualify for other forms of anesthesia.
- Ketamine could be used to treat depression, and its potential for treating depression is still under research.
- It is better than opioids as anesthesia as it does not lower breathing.
How Quickly Could You Get Results After Using Ketamine?
You could feel the effects of the ketamine treatment after 5 to 15 minutes, and within this time, you could feel reduced pain, especially if you have chronic pain. When going into surgery, you could be completely sedated after an injection. Oral consumption of ketamine could take more time for the drug to affect you. It is better to follow your doctor’s prescription since high doses could reduce breathing, lead to muscle weakness, dizziness, balance difficulty, and severe confusion.
Can Ketamine Be Abused?
Although ketamine can be used legally to treat chronic pain and other illnesses, it is addictive and could potentially become abused. The drug produces a hallucinogenic effect and has become a drug of abuse, but it is not classified as a narcotic. When abused, ketamine could impair the judgment of the user and affect coordination for more than 24 hours.
Coma and deep unconsciousness could result from using large doses within a short period. One could also develop tolerance to ketamine, which could make them use larger doses that could be detrimental for their health. It is prudent to use ketamine according to your doctor’s prescription to avoid negative effects that result from drug dependence and addiction.
The Bottom Line
Effective prescription ketamine could act as a pain-relieving drug, and it could be used as anesthesia when undergoing surgery. Ketamine might make you feel calm, relaxed, and pain-free when used in correct doses. Ketamine, however, is addictive, and it can be abused; you should be careful not to become dependent on it as it could harm your health.