Ketamine is typically known to people as an anesthetic, a horse tranquilizer, or a club drug, but it is generating a lot of interest for treating migraines that don’t respond to other treatments. The drug is also being used to treat other types of chronic pain as well as PTSD.
Doctors have used ketamine to treat migraines in a few different ways. The drug can be administered intravenously for sudden severe pain or via nasal spray for pain that doesn’t require a trip to the hospital. It can also come in the form of creams, gels, liquids, and lozenges. Ketamine nasal spray has even been shown to help with treatment-resistant depression, which tends to go hand-in-hand with migraines for many people.
There is no doubt that ketamine is an exciting new treatment for migraines, but like most drugs, it’s not for everyone. This is the kind of treatment your doctor might want to try if you haven’t had results from more typical treatments.
It is useful to have a variety of treatment options, and some people may really benefit from short-term usage of this drug if their doctor recommends trying it.
But what is it like to use a “club drug” as a pain treatment?
This woman shares her experience using IV ketamine as part of her pain therapy in this article, and describes feeling foggy, weak and knocked-out by the medications.
Some report that the downtime, hallucinations, paranoia, emotional roller coasters, were worth it, but it’s certainly not an easy instant fix.
Yup that’s right, hallucinations.
All drugs have side effects, and the side effects of ketamine include:
- Vivid dreams or nightmares
- Hallucinations
- Anxiety/panic attacks
- Nausea/vomiting
- Loss of appetite
- Abdominal pain
- Drowsiness
- Elevated liver enzymes/liver damage
- Headache
- High blood pressure
- Swelling of the cornea of the eye
- Irregular heartbeat
- Slowed breathing
- Dizziness
- Fainting
- Difficulty urinating
The long term effects of using it are not fully understood yet. It may decrease cognition, and can cause serious bladder issues and liver damage so it’s important that you take this drug under the care and direction of your doctor and don’t attempt to self-medicate.
Patients taking ketamine for prolonged periods are at high-risk for abuse although it is not as addictive as opioid, or narcotic, pain relievers. It is still early days when it comes to ketamine research, but it may have less risk and side effects than other heavy narcotics and opioid painkillers, which are still sometimes prescribed in severe cases.
It can seem impossible to implement diet or lifestyle changes when migraines are severe and frequent, and that’s when some of these medical options could potentially play a role.
Would people who have tried this treatment recommend it?
Sydney Major, a young woman from California, had this to say after documenting what it’s like to go through the process and have it work well for her:
“I would recommend this to anyone but only as a last resort. There are other alternatives that a migraineur can try first and they should. Everyone is different, though; my chemistry is not the same as yours.”
Ketamine is intended for acute situations, not chronic pain relief, so in the long term, rather than looking for miracle drugs or treatments, look for the root cause of your migraines. One of the properties attributed to ketamine’s success in treating acute pain is as an anti-inflammatory and there are many powerful natural anti-inflammatory options that I personally would try first.
Erin,
This is indeed interesting! I’ve been on countless drugs with some HORRIBLE side-effects. Like you said all drugs have side-effects. I totally agree with that.
What is your experience with Medical Marijuana and the healing benefits behind it? It too is wonderful for Chronic Pain and I can honestly say that it has very few side-effects. Less side-effects means that there is a less likelihood of the patient having to suffer even more!
Anyway, great post!
Hi Angela, while I don’t have any personal experience with medical marijuana -I’m not opposed. I’m particularly interested in CBD oil at the moment which seems to offer great anti inflammatory benefits and pain reduction benefits. What do you think about CBD vs MM?
Thanks so much for sharing this information. Lots of press out there about ketamine but it’s difficult to know what all the issues are. Good to know that while it does work for migraines it’s not for everyone and should be very carefully considered.
Erin, this post is so coincidental, as I just offered to my peeps 20 Awesome TV Series binge-worthy of watching for some relaxing downtime, and one of the shows, Justified- Episode: “Fugitive Number One”, was about Ketamine. I’d never heard of the drug before seeing that show episode…so it’s freaky.
I’m with you on this…I’d try other natural anti-inflammatory options first, but it is good to learn, as you put it, “the good, the bad and the ugly.”
I am grateful you do all the research and share with us! Always such great information and presented clearly.
Another fantastic post, Erin! It’s these “new” “everyone’s-talking-about-these” wonder drugs that often get so much hype and not enough information. Those are some very serious side effects and interesting facts to know. Thanks for always keeping us up to date on ALL the facts!
wow, the drug certainly carries a huge list of side effects with it. lately i have shied away from all drugs, even with my chronic sinusitis, for that very reason. thank you for this useful information, erin.
I think if you have sudden migraines, this sounds like it could be helpful. I would be a little nervous to take it, though. I’d be afraid of addiction. That being said, I’ve had sudden migraines, and if they came at me fairly regularly, I might do it.
I haven’t heard of ketamine being used for migraines before. It does have some side effects but if nothing else works it’d be worth a try.
I hadn’t heard of this before. I don’t have migraines, but I imagine it’s important to make sure you’re choosing a good option to help with them. I’m sure this will open up a good discussion to chat about the drug ketamine … for those who are more familiar with this topic than I am.
There is really a lot to look at here. Drugs can have some very adverse and sometimes extreme effects.
My sister suffers from chronic migraines however it sounds like this drug would only mess her up in so many other ways! So nope, not going to recommend it!
We discussed this in one of my psych classes, back in my undergrad. It’s really interesting how some doctors are leaning toward these harder drugs as a treatment for certain conditions. It would be intriguing to see how the results are in the long run.
I’m a pharmacist by profession so drug safety is very important for me. Before taking anything, please consult a physician or pharmacist so that they can discuss of these medications are safe.
I’ve looked into it. Not for migraines which indicates have but for pain. I should look into for my migraines.
I honestly hadn’t really heard much about this drug. This is some good information though. Thank you for sharing it with us.
I haven’t heard about this drug but if it helps with severe migraine pains then I’m sure people who get migraines often would love to try it. Taking ginger would prevent the nauseous feeling.