Positives

• An ME/CFS patient named Jason Boyce called ketamine a “game-changer” in describing his treatment experience Health Rising.
  
  
• A fibromyalgia patient with severe back pain reported that ketamine is “the only drug that helps her,” with one infusion dropping her pain from an 8 to 2-3 for several weeks Health Rising.
  
  
• A 1997 ME/CFS patient treated by Dr. Goldstein experienced complete remission of CFS symptoms for one week after a single ketamine infusion, after which symptoms slowly returned Health Rising.
  
  

Negatives

• An analysis of Reddit threads on ketamine therapy found patients describing terrifying dissociation at higher doses, with one user writing “800mg sent me into a terrifying dissociative state. I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. Genuinely thought I was dying,” and another reporting a psychotic episode on 600mg STAT News.
• One patient who started ketamine infusion therapy reported the treatment helped initially but stopped working after about seven months, and another on lower-dose oral ketamine wrote “After three months on oral ketamine, I feel absolutely nothing. No improvement in depression, just side effects” Mayo Clinic Connect.

Hurdles & Side Effects

• Off-label IV ketamine for ME/CFS or Long COVID is rarely covered by insurance, leaving patients to pay $400-800 per infusion out of pocket and to repeat infusions every few weeks to maintain benefit.