Not ketamine #

Let me be clear from the start: ketamine helps real people. Some have found relief in a clinic chair with an eye mask and a good playlist. I take those reports seriously and am glad for every one of them. If ketamine works for you, more power to you.

The plumbing problem 🚽 #

Ketamine can injure the bladder. Chronic use is associated with ketamine cystitis: inflammation, pain, urgency, frequency, and in the worst cases a shrunken, scarred bladder. Risk appears to climb with dose and duration, so a monitored clinical course is different from a weekend habit. But “lower risk” is not “no risk.” Damage is not always fully reversible.

I’m 50+ and will never try ketamine, because the last thing I need is waking up more often at night to pee. I diligently eat cranberries with dinner. Sleep is a precious resource. I guard it like a dragon guarding a hoard.

Ketamine is a fine tool, for other people.

If I want to dissolve the boundaries of the self, there are plenty of other options.