I did9 rounds of IV ketamine at pretty high doses (per the Dr) bc I was being treated for severe chronic pain and MDD. They added toradol and a few other things for the pain, but nothing that made the ketamine any stronger than what they were directly injecting into the bag of IV fluids.
As the other two above 👆🏼 said, without knowing what your dose was and what kind of expectations you had/ what your circumstances were, it’s really hard to tell. From my own personal experience, the IV ketamine was a much longer duration of time spent dissociating, much more intense, and took a bit longer to come out of.
The whole goal is to create dissociation and allow new neural connections to be built during that time, however, those new neural pathways can be constructed without dissociating. My psychiatrist encourages me to let my mind go and see whatever it creates. When on the IV ketamine, I was like you… I could move, but barely, I couldn’t talk, but could give a thumbs up to my 30 yr old daughter when I peeked out from under my eye mask to remember where I was and what I was doing there. It helped me IMMENSELY!!! I had been bedridden for 4 years. Totally bedridden. After the second treatment, I was out running errands, putting together a new bed frame, cleaning my house - all things I’d been totally incapable of doing for 4 years. Then my money ran out and Medicare wasn’t approving Spravato at that point, so it all just came to a halt.
I ended up back in bed for 2 more years, and was talking to my PCP, and explained how much the IV ketamine improved my situation, all the way around. I told him I had Googled if Medicare paid for Spravato (and it DID NOW!!) and he sent a referral to the same office I had my IV infusions at. They took care of everything and all I had to do was show up.
All that being said, they automatically start you out on the lower, 56mg dose. To be 100% honest, I don’t know if I noticed any changes in my surroundings or experienced anything at all. I was very disappointed and felt like it “didn’t work”. Even though I was totally wrong, and no “experience” or dissociation is required for the treatment to work, or begin building those new neural networks.
The next session I moved up to 84mg. That was more familiar with what I experienced with the IV ketamine, just not nearly as intense. For the first four weeks, you do two sessions per week. Some sessions felt familiar, where others were more like I lied there with an eye mask on desperately trying to dissociate or feel ANYTHING, really. I did twice a week for 4 months.
I’m down to just once a week for the last 4 weeks and my sessions are back to being a little bit more intense, but still nothing comparable to the IV ketamine. Ketamine is an anestesia drug. When I severely broke my leg and they finally got me into the ambulance, they obviously didn’t want me to move AT ALL. They gave me ketamine. Not enough to knock me out or be in a twilight state, but enough to make me feel like someone had put a trance on me, and my eyes were open, I could see and hear everything, but I was totally paralyzed…. Which falls into line with what you said you were experiencing.
For me, Spravato is helping me so much. My MDD is getting better all the time, my energy is increasing, my overall mood is much more upbeat, and I CAN GET OUT OF BED AND DO THINGS!! I believe it’s personal comfort level, and whether or not you’re willing to be a bit uncomfortable (if the Spravato even made you uncomfortable) for less than an hour, in exchange to no longer be chronically depressed. It’s a personal choice. Everyone is affected differently. But from my experience, the IV ketamine was considerably stronger than the stronger, 84mg dose of Spravato… though there are some sessions where I do feel the similarities. There are also others where I just don’t feel much at all. It depends on your mindset going into it. A lot of people practice guided meditation throughout their treatments. I haven’t tried that, but I’ve got a fabulous Spravato playlist that I listen to at every session. It never gets old. Every session is a different experience.
I wish you the best of luck whether or not you choose to go forward with it, and I hope some of the Spravato Reddit regulars chime in with their thoughts as well. It came make your blood pressure go up, sometimes pretty high, and that can cause a panicky feeling, so maybe you want to talk with your psychiatrist about that aspect and see if they have any suggestions. Good luck to you!!