When ketamine is sniffed through the nose (a method known as insufflation), it produces a rapid onset of effects, typically within minutes. Users often experience a short-lived but intense high characterized by feelings of detachment from reality, euphoria, and altered sensory perception. This dissociative state can include vivid hallucinations, a sense of floating, or even out-of-body experiences. However, the peak effects usually last only 30 to 60 minutes, followed by a rapid comedown. While the high may seem profound or euphoric, it is often fleeting and can be followed by confusion, dizziness, or a sense of disconnection, highlighting the drug’s potential for both psychological impact and abuse.
Ketamine has surged in popularity partly because, unlike many other drugs, it doesn’t slam users with a brutal comedown. While stimulants and psychedelics often leave people emotionally wrecked, exhausted, or spiraling into anxiety and depression, ketamine slips away quietly, leaving a strange sense of calm or numb detachment in its wake. This absence of an immediate crash can make the drug dangerously appealing—masking its dissociative grip and feeding into repeated use. Also in line with it's official purpose, users will often use ketamine to self medicate without considering the risks it poses. It’s not that the damage isn’t there—it just doesn’t scream right away.
Memory loss, poor concentration, slowed thinking
Anxiety, depression, paranoia, hallucinations, psychosis
Urinary frequency, urgency, pain, incontinence, bladder shrinkage or removal
Elevated liver enzymes and potential liver dysfunction
Abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting
Increased heart rate, blood pressure, and risk of heart problems
Needing more of the drug to feel the same effects. Continued use to mask the damage which has been caused
Cravings, fatigue, sweating, tremors, mood swings
Feeling detached from reality or one’s body
Poor coordination, slower reaction time