i.v. ketamine as quicker antidepressant (research)?

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This sounds like it may still largely be in the research stages.

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Drug speeds depression relief in mice and men: How does it do it?
June 16, 2011, By Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times, For the Booster Shots Blog
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/16 ... t-20110616

“ . . . Ketamine makes children blithely unaware of pain during difficult medical procedures. But it has another remarkable quality: When given intravenously at a lower dose than is used for anesthesia, ketamine acts as a powerful and fast-acting antidepressant for adults. . . ”

“ . . . Ketamine's not an ideal medication, even as a rescue drug for depression: It has to be given intravenously and sometimes causes short-term psychotic symptoms. . . ”

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Most other antidepressants can take 4 or so to even tell if they're going to work.

The other stuff I’ve read says that treating depression is highly variable and what works for one person may or may not work for another. And what’s important is to keep trying things with a light touch and have a doctor you can halfway talk with.

Treating depression can be hit or miss (2009 article)
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt163505.html

See also . . .

Ketamine’s antidepressant effect explained,
ScienceNews, Laura Sanders, June 15th, 2011
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic ... explained_

“ . . . At lower doses, the drug can induce euphoria, hallucinations and out-of-body experiences, properties that make “Special K” a popular drug of abuse. In the study, Ege Kavalali and his colleagues used low doses that wouldn’t induce psychotic effects.
“They found that ketamine kicks off a series of biochemical changes in the brain that culminate in the production of a protein called BDNF. Low BDNF levels have been linked to depression. The researchers also found that mice genetically engineered to be unable to produce BDNF didn’t respond to ketamine. . . ”