Spravato and Confusion: What Users Say

• ano...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 26, 2019

For Depression "I had my first experience with Spravato yesterday, and the side effects were just awful. Felt extremely drunk-dissociation, severe nausea and sweating, dizziness, tiredness. Could barely make it home (I got a ride) and get myself into bed to lie there for the rest of the night. The next morning-extremely tired, nauseous. Felt hungover. No effect on my TRD (treatment-resistant depression) after 1 treatment. I will continue as long as I can stand it because I am pretty much out of options. But I am dreading it more than I did with ECT."

• Dan...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 3, 2020

For Depression "When I read about Spravato, I was so excited. I had failed TMS and multiple oral medications, so this new format of spraying something directly into your brain. Initially, I had a great amount of dissociation for the first hour, which gradually dissipated. The day of the treatment, I felt great, but then it seemed to just go away. While on it, I had increased suicidal ideations. I was also hospitalized 2 months later with pneumonia and fluid in my lower left lung. THESE TWO COULD HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO RELATION TO EACH OTHER. But after that, I elected to stop taking Spravato. I think it is very promising, but it is too new to have a history, and I’m done being the guinea pig."

• Dan...
• April 4, 2023

For Major Depressive Disorder "I’ve just had my 9th Spravato at 84 mg. I have only today felt the effects on me. It was not a scary ‘trip,’ but it wasn’t nice. I felt distressed and a bit ‘out of it.’ For example, I have chronic lower back pain, I felt the pain but couldn’t feel my legs. I am trying to find the positive side of this in the fact that at least I did feel it. I was really worried that it wasn’t working at all. I now hope number 10 has an effect as well. They are talking about possibly moving me from the Spravato spray to ketamine infusions. So I will update you as soon as I can. At the moment, my mood is still desperately low, and suicidal thoughts are paramount. I hope my next ‘review’ is a more positive one."

• Bet...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• March 7, 2022

For Depression "I’m happy with my results. It took me until the 4th week to feel substantially better. I’m a few months into a weekly maintenance schedule. I found the treatments somewhat unpleasant initially, but soon grew used to them. My advice: It’s not a miracle cure, so try to temper your expectations—the limited studies have shown that Spravato + a new antidepressant is maybe 30% more effective than a new antidepressant alone. Although the manufacturer contends people might feel better within days, not everyone will. It’s not a psychedelic therapy; any dissociation is a side effect—talk to your doctor about how Spravato works. The intensity of the dissociation is not an indication of how strong a given treatment is. It’s not a treatment for bipolar, anxiety, or PTSD."

• Win...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 4, 2022

For Major Depressive Disorder "I only tried Spravato once, but it was too bad to continue. A few minutes after the nasal sprays, I had a horrible taste in my mouth, then nausea, then crying, dissociation, sweating, etc. Now I’m back home after a few hours with somewhat of a hangover feeling: headache, still nauseous, and now also a sore throat. I can’t accurately “rate” this drug since it needs to be taken for quite some time to get the results, but the side effects were just too horrible to go on. *Side note: I have also done several ketamine infusions prior to this, with only a bit of nausea once."