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Aura - ketamine injections

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I don't know about Aura at all. But Prof Colleen Loo at UNSW been doing research and trials on ketamine treatment of depression with positive results. They were looking for trial volunteers earlier this month I believe. There's also been positive results from UK trials too.(EDIT - UK trials might have actually been MDMA, its early and I'm not sure my memory is right)

Edited by Cubism
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I wonder about administration.

Fully believe K could work well in some cases, but i dont know how well id cope with K in a medical setting like a hospital ward, or a consulting room with strangers around.

I wonder if they have a psychiatrist babbling at you while you're under the effects.

Cant imagine it would be in take home packs ;)

How did you find out its K injections? I couldnt see anything on their website as to what the treatment is.

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mmmmm special K........

For my horse of course

Getafix

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I wonder about administration.

Fully believe K could work well in some cases, but i dont know how well id cope with K in a medical setting like a hospital ward, or a consulting room with strangers around.

I had a bolus dose of ketamine in ER a few years ago when I couldn't have morphine. I was expecting a slow drip instead. I really wish they'd told me it was a bolus I would've enjoyed it a helluva lot more. Pretty spun out and bright. Brighter than a late night visit to a 24hr petrol station in the company of Lucy. There was no pain because I didn't know where da fuck my body was. Didn't last anywhere near long enough unfortunately.

I wonder if the NMDA receptors are targeted for the "will to live" / "drive to thrive" instinct?

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How did you find out its K injections? I couldnt see anything on their website as to what the treatment is.

Maybe this article?

Or this one, or this one, written by patients, which give some more details.

Around $170 per shot, course of 5 shots, 40-50mg IM. You need to be assessed & approved.

It's great that there is a clinic in Australia doing this, I had no idea. The results from studies so far are promising.

It is too early to talk about a cure for depression, but Associate Professor Barrett says ketamine offers hope to patients.

"The big challenge in the longer term, and this may take five or 10 years, is to develop an orally active form so it can be taken as a tablet," he said.

I wonder if anyone has told him about MXE?

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Thanks for the links Anodyne, the first in particular.

Id read about K being used for depression before, but never about it being used in Austalia.

I missed the boat on MXE, but when it did hear about it i thought it would have great potential, and i wished id heard about it sooner.

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MXE is interesting as all hell, but there's a real lack of safety data on it - that's why I hope one of these legitimate ketamine researchers takes an interest. The anecdotal reports on bluelight et al are interesting though it'd be really really nice if someone with a proper pharmacology lab looked at it for a few years before it was given to humans. I respect the absolute conviction of the Shulgins of this world who want to test everything themselves, but I before it's loosed on the world I believe you should also do real toxicity studies & not just rely on your "feelings" about how toxic a drug might be, you don't always get second chances with your brain... MPTP anyone? All that said, I think MXE has enormous potential to fill this gap for an orally-active, long-acting, ketamine-like pill. Maybe we should lobby Barrett to look into it...

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I remember reading the vice interview with the chemist who created MXE and some other related compounds, http://www.vice.com/read/interview-with-ketamine-chemist-704-v18n2

Sounded like the K-family of substances could be great for depression compared to what's currently out there (but then, so could a poke in the eye with a sharp stick if my experience was anything to go by)

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\

Edited by noname
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Hey everyone,

I have an appointment with Auramed in Brisbane on Tuesday next week. I will keep this thread updated as I go.

It's fricken expensive though, after talking to them on the phone, it is $200 straight up for the first consulation, and $100 for every initial consultation, which will be a minimum of $100 a week.

Not cheap!

Makes me think if I should just do my own due diligence and hit up some friend in India ;)

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psychiatrists are concerned Aura Medical was selling the treatment direct to the public without proper psychiatric support or oversight.

Fucking lawl.

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Oh goddamit, these guys are fucking up something that had the potential to help a lot of people. Both self-injections (of anything) and dissociative drugs are serious business & can go wrong in so many ways - combining the two in unexperienced patients without supervision is just asking for trouble. Why are they doing this? Simple greed? I find it hard to believe they could get it so wrong through mere incompetence.

Not cool, Aura. Not cool at all. :angry:

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I just find this whole case a little weird. How it can even happen?

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These guys have just given the government an excuse for a crackdown.

Edited by BeerAlternative
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They can set up another taskforce, and show ads on TV with slogans like "crack down on kitty"...

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Aura Medical Corporation: Clinics offering ketamine injections to treat depression blame negative publicity for closures

Updated 15 Jul 2015, 11:37am

 

A controversial commercial chain of depression clinics offering injections of the party drug ketamine claim they have been forced to close down due to negative publicity.

Aura Medical Corporation is being investigated by the health watchdog after the ABC revealed patients were being given vials of the Schedule 8 drug to inject at home, and the company had links to notorious erectile dysfunction clinic Advanced Medical Institute (AMI Direct).

Ketamine is available in Australia for use as a prescription anaesthetic under strict controls, but is not approved for depression treatment despite success in clinical trials.

The closure of the clinics has left dozens of mentally ill patients without access to the drug that has been hailed as a "miracle cure".

Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek.

 
 
 
 

Aura Medical had been offering injections of the drug for around $150 to $200 since last year, advertised on TV and radio as a "new alternative" for those with treatment-resistant depression.

Patient Peter Riley, who has struggled with depression for years, said he was devastated to hear the drug would no longer be available.

"Ketamine has changed my life out of all sight, I've tried to commit suicide three times, I've been on eight different types of antidepressant," he said.

"When I went for the first appointment with Aura Medical and had my ketamine injection I felt better the next day, [and] after I had been going for six weeks I felt amazing.

"My appointments have been cancelled ... they said that they do not have a doctor that is prepared to administer the preparations."

Former Aura Medical Melbourne general practitioner Dr Graham Barrett was banned from prescribing ketamine last month by the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA) as part of an ongoing investigation.

Aura's ketamine program 'highly inappropriate'

The use of ketamine by commercial clinics in what is known as "off-label" prescribing has been condemned by psychiatrists and mental health advocates who say the long-term effects of regularly using the drug are unknown.

University of New South Wales psychiatry school head Professor Philip Mitchell welcomed the news of the closure.

"Certainly it's not at all appropriate for it to be offered through a group like Aura, so I'm pleased to hear that service has been withdrawn," he said.

"There's been a very strong feeling that the ketamine program being offered by Aura is highly inappropriate.

"In Australia and in every other country around the world, ketamine is not approved by regulatory bodies for use in depression."

Professor Mitchell said medical professionals also have an obligation to ensure mentally ill patients are being supported.

"If someone is being offered care and that's withdrawn, as in the example of the Aura situation, there's an obligation for the clinician to ensure the patient is under ongoing care and that should have been organised."

Patients 'upset and crying' upon hearing treatment not available

Aura Medical Sydney patient Sarah, who does not want to use her real name, said her ketamine treatment had been highly successful.

"I think it's possible that it is a miracle treatment, my sense is that it is the most complete and least intrusive depression option that I have encountered," she said.

"I had one appointment left and they rang me and said we can't help and we have to shut down because of the negative publicity.

"I don't understand, they give people (prescription sedative) valium and the [ketamine] experience is no more powerful than a valium so I don't understand why there is such an outcry about this, it seems to me that it is misplaced and misinformed."

Professor Mitchell said he was hoping tightly controlled clinical trials at research facilities like the Black Dog Institute would answer the questions still surrounding ketamine treatment for depression.

"It's very exciting and promising research treatment and in a controlled research environment it's appropriate," he said.

"I think there's the possibility that this controversy and debacle with ketamine through Aura may tarnish the reputation as a promising future treatment.

"I think we've got to look beyond that unfortunate experience with Aura because this is really a treatment that may potentially revolutionise or at least enhance what we can offer patients with depression."

Aura Medical's director Debbie Samuel refused to be interviewed but said patients at the clinic were "upset and crying" after being told the treatment was no longer available.

Telephone counselling

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lol

 

what a crazy country you live in! 

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I am keen to try ketamine infusion therapy. It's recommended by US doctors for a few conditions that I suffer from. But I live in Melbourne, Australia. I'd like to hear from anyone who's used it in a psychotherapeutic context, their experiences whether positive or otherwise. 

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8 hours ago, fyzygy said:

I am keen to try ketamine infusion therapy. It's recommended by US doctors for a few conditions that I suffer from. But I live in Melbourne, Australia. I'd like to hear from anyone who's used it in a psychotherapeutic context, their experiences whether positive or otherwise. 

I have a mate who's been in for infusion therapy to help reduce his dependence on opioids after long term use (from a debilitating injury, not by choice).

You're in a hospital setting, and get drip fed ketamine, I think it ramps up to 12mg/kg of body weight per hour, and the treatment goes for more than 24 hours. He described the whole thing as an ordeal, being holed out for a day is pretty challenging. Helped him a lot though, didn't need any opioids for more than 3 months this afterwards. Can't really say if it did much for depression cos he's a pretty upbeat bloke despite the chronic pain. I can ask specifically if you want me to.

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On 23/12/2022 at 5:40 PM, fyzygy said:

Which hospital?

I'll find out, somewhere in Melbourne 

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