How Long Does Ketamine Last? What To Know

Ketamine is a Schedule III controlled substance most often recognized as an anesthetic, though it’s also become known for its psychoactive effects when misused. Originally developed in the 1960s, ketamine produces a dissociative state, a sense of detachment from one’s body or surroundings, that can last around an hour, with some lingering effects sticking around for up to 24 hours afterward.

How long a drug’s effects last, and how intense they feel, depends on a number of factors, including the dose taken and how the drug is administered. Knowing this timeline can be especially helpful for anyone trying to make sense of ketamine’s effects, whether from legitimate medical use or in a recreational context.

What Is Ketamine?

Psychiatrists in Mexico and the United States began experimenting with ketamine in the late 1960s, but trials were restricted in the 1970s due to the drug’s effects.

Today, ketamine can be safely used in a hospital environment to provide a sedative effect with little risk of causing the hallucinations that are associated with larger doses.

Legal Uses

Legal ketamine use is restrictive. It is routinely used as a veterinarian tranquilizer for large game, but it may also be used in humans as a dissociative anesthetic for select surgical procedures. In recent years, the indications for ketamine use have multiplied to include treatment for chronic pain and severe, treatment-resistant depression.

When ketamine is used to treat depression, it is usually administered as a nasal spray under the brand name Spravato (esketamine/S-ketamine). This therapy is often combined with the use of a traditional antidepressant according to the guidelines established by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

However, S-ketamine may also be administered intravenously to provide ketamine infusion therapy for depression or pain relief, but this is considered an off-label use.

Illegal Uses

In addition to its legal uses, ketamine has also been used as a party drug because of its psychoactive properties. While its popularity has declined since the 1990s, it is misused today. Known as “special k,” illicit ketamine was most commonly snorted at large-scale events, like raves to produce hallucinations and distortions of reality.

Ketamine use of this kind is an experience often referred to as “falling into a k-hole.”

How Long Ketamine Lasts

In comparison to other drugs, ketamine has a short half-life of about 45 minutes. In most cases, the drug is completely processed by the body in under six hours. There are, of course, some factors that can influence how long ketamine lasts in your system. Examples include your body mass and the amount of ketamine that you take.

In general, the initial effects of ketamine last for about an hour but may last longer depending on the method of drug administration.

When Ketamine Is Injected Intramuscularly

When ketamine is injected intramuscularly, it takes about four minutes to act and usually lasts between 15 and 30 minutes.

When Ketamine Is Injected Intravenously

If a medical provider gives ketamine through intravenous injection, the patient will experience the onset of the drug within seconds. With proper dosing, the effects will last five to ten minutes.

When Ketamine Is Inhaled

When ketamine is inhaled, either illicitly or as a legitimate Spravato prescription, it takes between five and 15 minutes to take effect, then lasts about an hour.

When Ketamine Is Swallowed

When ketamine is swallowed it takes about 30 minutes for the drug to begin working.

Effects Of Ketamine During And After Use

Ketamine has a long list of short-term effects and long-term risks. While many are mild to moderate, more serious risks can include flashbacks and other disruptive side effects. When used without the oversight of a healthcare professional, ketamine overdose is also a danger.

Short-Term Effects Of Ketamine

The short-term effects of ketamine include feeling happy and relaxed and having a sense of detachment, and they can last for about an hour. A person who uses higher doses of ketamine may experience hallucinations.

Other short-term effects include:

• increased heart rate
• high blood pressure
• confusion
• slurred speech
• anxiety
• clumsiness
• panic
• vomiting
• violent behavior

As you come down off ketamine you may experience a continuation of anxiety and clumsiness along with memory loss, disorientation, and achiness.

Long-term Effects Of Ketamine

Ketamine abuse comes with its dangers. Like the abuse of other hallucinogens or psychedelics, regular abuse of ketamine over a long period can damage your health.

In addition to flashbacks, ketamine can cause the following long-term effects:

• abdominal pain
• changes in personality
• memory problems
• depression
• damage to the sense of smell (from snorting the drug)
• poor liver or kidney function

Ketamine Bladder Syndrome

Long-term use of ketamine can lead to ketamine bladder syndrome. This condition is painful and can cause incontinence and ulceration of the bladder.

Ketamine And Poly-Substance Use

Long-term ketamine use may create a tolerance to its effects. To get the same effect, many people who abuse ketamine for an extended period experiment with polysubstance use.

Substances used with ketamine may include:

• alcohol
• opiates or opioids
• cocaine
• methamphetamine

How Long Can Ketamine Be Detected In Urine?

For the half-life of ketamine, your body processes the drug and leaves behind metabolites that are detectable in standard drug tests. Depending on a couple of factors, ketamine could be detectable in your urine for as little as a day or much longer than that. Studies have shown that repeated uses of ketamine can result in detection times lasting for up to two weeks through a urine test.

Recognizing The Signs Of A Ketamine Overdose

While ketamine overdoses are less commonly discussed than overdoses from drugs like opioids, they can still happen, particularly when ketamine is taken in high doses or combined with other substances. Signs of a ketamine overdose may include extreme confusion, difficulty breathing, an irregular or dangerously fast heartbeat, loss of consciousness, or seizures.

If you suspect someone is experiencing a ketamine overdose, call 911 right away. While there’s no specific antidote for ketamine the way naloxone works for opioids, getting emergency medical care quickly is critical, especially since ketamine is sometimes combined with other drugs that may carry their own overdose risks requiring different treatment.