Posted on 11/08/2023 7:13:36 AM PST by bitt
WASHINGTON (AP) — As U.S. doctors scale back their use of opioid painkillers, a new option for hard-to-treat pain is taking root: ketamine, the decades-old surgical drug that is now a trendy psychedelic therapy.
Prescriptions for ketamine have soared in recent years, driven by for-profit clinics and telehealth services offering the medication as a treatment for pain, depression, anxiety and other conditions. The generic drug can be purchased cheaply and prescribed by most physicians and some nurses, regardless of their training.
With limited research on its effectiveness against pain, some experts worry the U.S. may be repeating mistakes that gave rise to the opioid crisis: overprescribing a questionable drug that carries significant safety and abuse risks.
“There’s a paucity of options for pain and so there’s a tendency to just grab the next thing that can make a difference,” said Dr. Padma Gulur, a Duke University pain specialist who is studying ketamine's use. “A medical journal will publish a few papers saying, ‘Oh, look, this is doing good things,’ and then there’s rampant off-label use, without necessarily the science behind it.”
When Gulur and her colleagues tracked 300 patients receiving ketamine at Duke, more than a third of them reported significant side effects that required professional attention, such as hallucinations, troubling thoughts and visual disturbances.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
p
I know well a woman who has been undergoing ketamine infusion for long lasting intractable pain and the resulting depression. She’s tried everything else first, to no avail. While under the influence she has reported hallucinations and dark depressing thoughts. But the result has been that her pain has disappeared, and mood improved significantly after she comes out of it. From how she describes the treatment experience itself, there is no chance she would ever want to use/abuse it on her own.
strange that it is not as popular here, i guess since it is very easy to get weed.
in Taiwan, “K-tamin” is a very big problem. it seems easier to get that there as opposed to weed. their drug law is pretty harsh like other southeast asia countries. heck, you can’t even import poppy seeds.
also, the stigma is overwhelming there, recently a celebrity was caught with mere 3 grams of weed, and his career is pretty much over.
I think I will stick with the Opiates since GOD made Opium.
If studies can show some benefit, with doctors choosing to use it with patients who know it may or may not work, as desired, I see no problems with it.
If we have to wait 30 years for enough random studies to finally allow a stupid Cochrane Review to say the “science is now supported,” a whole lot of good therapies won't be used.
Imagine waiting 30 years to see if a car like Tesla can be safely used on the roads. Imagine if home computers weren't allowed until 30 years after they were first available to be sold.
That is what “medical science” says should have happened.
These people are completely crazy.
Ketamine can cause wild hallucinations (emergence delerium)
Farmers and ranchers used to make use of it for things like dehornings, castrations and other similar painful things and the livestock didn’t complain but caution is called for when using it on people.
It’s used a lot to deal with painful treatments in the ER.
It’s a useful drug but will be abused by fools.
I thought ketamine was a horse tranquilizer?
far out
I was given ketamine while in the hospital for severe burns this time last year. Wild stuff. Hallucinations were constant.
There is huge money to be made administering ketamine.
Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic. It does not resolve any issues, it merely hodes them.
Fentanyl does similar and is the reason for its popularity.
I’m surprised they are not using more propofol for the feel good effect..
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.