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An Afternoon Spent Comfortably Numb
Ketamine
Citation:   Cosmological K. "An Afternoon Spent Comfortably Numb: An Experience with Ketamine (exp116464)". Erowid.org. Aug 6, 2022. erowid.org/exp/116464

 
DOSE:
T+ 0:00
70 mg insufflated Ketamine (liquid)
  T+ 0:10 20 mg insufflated Ketamine (liquid)
  T+ 0:22 20 mg insufflated Ketamine (liquid)
  T+ 0:37 20 mg insufflated Ketamine (liquid)
  T+ 0:39 10 mg insufflated Ketamine (liquid)
  T+ 0:58 30 mg insufflated Ketamine (liquid)
  T+ 1:02 50 mg insufflated Ketamine (liquid)
BODY WEIGHT: 75 kg
Preparation:
Having a moderate amount of psychedelic experience under my belt, I had decided to begin dipping my toes into the pool of dissociatives. I enjoyed nitrous oxide, but the experience was always too short lived and “staticky” to develop any strong feelings about it. Given the recent rise in popularity of ketamine as a way to explore altered states of consciousness, I did a few months of research and then ordered some. I had taken ketamine before
I had taken ketamine before
: I had been given it as an anesthetic before a minor surgery about two years prior. I was injected with a slurry of other drugs and so I remember very little beyond feeling a little heavier and giggly for about half an hour after they woke me up.

First, I tested the crystals with Mandelin reagent to ensure what I was taking at the very least contained ketamine, then I tested a few crystals with fentanyl strips to ensure that this exploration didn’t end in tragedy. To anyone reading this, please invest the time into properly testing your drugs, especially powders and crystals.

Having no prior experience snorting drugs, and always being cautious when trying new ones, I decided that the most pleasant, and easiest to dial-in, method of ingestion was to prepare myself a solution and spray it up my nose. I dissolved 1 gramme of K into 10ml of hot distilled water and then poured the mixture into an empty nasal spray mister. After doing some calibration I determined that the mister sprayed out a little less than 1ml of water every ten squirts, so it seemed reasonable to conclude that every shot would be delivering about 10mg of Ketamine.

The morning-of I treated myself to a yoga class, as I like to embark on psychedelic experiences with a clear mind and relaxed body. I had a hearty and healthy lunch at the farmer’s market, came home, cleaned up a bit, prepared my trip room and then laid out some records to accompany me into the unknown…

Experience:
00:00 – Took 7 hits, alternating nostrils. By hit 5 liquid was dripping both out of the nostril and down the throat. Taste was incredibly unpleasant, being simultaneously overwhelmingly bitter and sour.

00:05 – Got up to put on first record. Standing was harder than baseline but not impossible. Walking felt like moving through a very thin liquid which offered little resistance but was still noticeable.

00:07 – The feeling of the bass made my vision seem slightly less sharp, there was a noticeable warmth in the extremities.

0:09 – A heavy body load began sinking in. Oddly enough, my mind still felt roughly the same. This felt very novel to me as every other substance I had tried up until this point brought a unique headspace along with changes in perception.

00:10 – Took 2 more hits.

00:13 – Got up to change the audio mixer levels. Moving was very hard. First attempt to stand up was unsuccessful. During the second attempt all my motions had slowed, and every movement felt like it carried with it momentum that I wasn’t anticipating.

00:17 – My roommate Beverly began prodding me. I had definite pressure sense but no pain, even after being pinched quite hard.

00:20 – Got up to change sides of the record. Again, this took multiple tries. Once I made it to my feet I got a tingly sensation all over and I couldn’t help but gently sway. I started swaying backwards and Beverly helped me stay upright, just in case. I tried dancing (after all, K has a reputation as a rave drug) but all I managed to muster was a tiny, weird shuffle.

00:22 – Took 2 more hits. Hands felt numb, like the anesthesia feeling one gets from a visit to the dentist.

00:25 – Began staring at my dog. His breathing seemed strange. All motion was very rigid and machine like. I looked down at my hands and they were now noticeably red. I started feeling a little “loopy” or “giddy” at this point, which I perceived as the psychedelic effects kicking in.

00:30 – Tried closing my eyes for a prolonged period of time. When I reopened them, everything felt staticky, a feeling which reminded me of nitrous oxide.

00:35 – Shook my head and felt so very dizzy afterwards. I was very much enjoying the music, swaying along with the groove. How curly my own handwriting was began to amuse me, I began adding extra ‘O’s to all my notes to enjoy it further. At this point my mind had become so distractable and my train of thought so derailed that there was no fooling myself into believing I was “mentally still sober”. I suddenly had ambitions to begin writing a novel right then and there, though I couldn’t decide on the subject matter and therefore never started.

00:37 – Took 2 more hits.

00:39 – Took 1 more hit. “No thoughts, head empty.”

00:41 – The mental aspect began seeming remarkably similar to LSD, just with a greatly increased body load and no noticeable visuals.

00:45 – Got up to change the record. Every fine movement I had to make felt very robotic. I was talking to myself through-out, mostly profanities. I made my first foray out of the trip room into the kitchen where I decided to fill the blender I had used earlier with soap, telling myself that I would thank myself later.

00:50 – Went to the washroom. I’ll spare you the finer details, but it was a messy experience, though with some effort I did manage to clean up after myself. I looked into the mirror for the first time. I was relieved when I looked the same as I always did, (I was expecting something similar to LSD where I would see something strange and obscure looking back at me) though I then noticed a massive amount of white crust caking both nostrils. I decided to scoop it up and snort it, though I was already too far gone to notice if it had any effect. I was very obviously stumbling my entire way back to the trip room, but somehow I still felt in control of my own motions.

00:58 – Took 3 more hits. The spray seemed to malfunction a little between pumps so I’m uncertain how much I got. I’m estimating 2 full hits.

01:02 – Took 5 more hits. I was beginning to compulsively redose as self control became an issue.
I was beginning to compulsively redose as self control became an issue.


01:08 – Beverly came back into the trip room. Seeing that I was enjoying myself, she decided she would also try ketamine for the first time and did 7 hits.

01:11 – The star projector on the ceiling began to show signs of very clear geometry and connection between the laser dots.

01:17 – My fingers and lips were numb beyond feeling. I began slurring my speech and smudging my handwriting. I tried getting up but was insurmountably grounded.

01:28 – My notes became more sparse as the mere act of picking up the pen become a monumental task. Beverly began speaking in sentences that were too long for me to follow from beginning to end.

01:31 – The ability to do basic arithmetic began eluding me. Though, much to my own delight, I could still comprehend the concept behind logarithms. Auditory hallucinations began setting in as I got a distinct case of tinnitus that I was strangely at peace with.

01:58 – Lots happened between here are the last note, most of it too much of a blur. I had managed to change my shirt while walking down a staircase, which felt like a huge accomplishment but in hindsight was probably quite irresponsible given how every step was more of a stumble. For the first time since the trip began, the ketamine started to wear off. It happened in one “wave” after another. I tried eating banana bread that I had baked for myself earlier in the day, but I didn’t feel fantastic about it. My numb gums reminded me of eating after coming home from the dentist.

02:12 – My thoughts had returned to normal by this point. I was still a little numb, still a little dizzy, but sobriety felt like it was just around the corner.

02:45+ - I was feeling comfortable enough moving at this point to start doing aerobics and lifting and carrying heavy objects. I could hold a normal conversation as well. I agreed to meet some friends for supper, but I still had concerns about dizziness, motion sickness and nausea so I got a friend to drive me there. By the time the food arrived all numbness had gone and my appetite returned with a vengeance. If I had to pick a specific time for “return to baseline” it would likely be somewhere around the 03:15 mark.

Take-Aways:
Overall, I had a very pleasant experience. Though I was heavily intoxicated, at no point did I feel lost, confused or unsafe. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to experience being dissociated from my body, but I can always wade deeper into the pool later. I may make the nasal spray a little more concentrated next time; having to spray numerous times to get high made it feel like more of the ketamine was running out my nose than being absorbed.

Exp Year: 2022ExpID: 116464
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: 25
Published: Aug 6, 2022Views: 528
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Ketamine (31) : General (1), Small Group (2-9) (17)

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