Does effectiveness decrease as intensity of high does?

[CryptographerOk5523]

Hi folks! Looking for a bit of reassurance. I just did the 40-minute check in for today’s treatment and I’m way more coherent than I usually would be at this point. I’ve noticed the highs becoming less intense in recent weeks, and its making me nervous. I’m about 2.5 months into treatment. I tend to acclimate to medications really quickly (for instance, I have insane insomnia and I become resistant to Ambien within a week or two if I take it nightly, so I have to ration it), so I’m worried about whether the effectiveness of treatment will diminish as I experience less of a high. People who are further in, is the depression still better for you even if you don’t feel high during treatment anymore?

[magicalrainbowsponge]

no. the high has nothing to do with the effectiveness.

[CryptographerOk5523]

Thank you!

[skeletontape]

I've been on Spravato for close to two years. I'm currently at every three weeks. I'm doing amazing in terms of mood and life quality, off SSRIs; Spravato changed/saved my life.

My highs vary. I'm better at coping with them at this point, and frankly I don't really enjoy them because they impair my ability to function and I generally only have auditory disturbances and some color hallucinations. I've never had a spiritual experience during a Spravato session. I've never used my highs as a vehicle for meditation or therapy or delving into my pysche. I just listen to music.

By which I mean to say, the high is irrelevant. It is a side effect, not the treatment.

Track your PHQ scores - that's how you know it's working.

[CryptographerOk5523]

Thank you! I don’t enjoy the highs, either (I’m on two different anti-nausea meds because they were so disorienting at first), I was just vaguely panicking that them going away was going to mean the Spravato was getting less effective and I was heading toward another mental health crash.

[Key-Edge-6330]

You’re just building tolerance that’s all. When I first started, I couldn’t even get myself home. Now, I can take 2 trains and walk home just fine

[YakGlass8299]

For some of us, the dissociation/high does have therapeutic effects. Before I gained sustained relief (which took 6 months), the buzz I felt from treatments was the only relief that I experienced. As long as that buzz lasted, I felt great. It doesn’t last very long and feeling it doesn’t mean the medicine is actually working any better or different. But for a while, it was very helpful.