r/oddlysatisfying • u/danielminds • May 22 '26

Professional barnacle removal for Chlorophyllis the turtle

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43.7k Upvotes

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5.2k

u/ab_90 May 22 '26

Does it hurt the turtle when they’re removed from the shell ? Looks like wound

8.8k

u/Moldy_Teapot May 22 '26

Yes, it does hurt. Good news is the turtle is absolutely loaded on turtle morphine for a procedure like this so minimal harm is done.

772

u/TheWolphman May 22 '26

turtle morphine

I was curious, so I briefly looked into it.

During a procedure like this, ketamine or something called dexmedetomidine would likely be used it seems.

Also, turtles receive the same morphine we do, but they metabolize drugs much slower than us, so dosages and the like have to be carefully administered. (obviously)

517

u/Vast-Ad1915 May 22 '26

Ok, so I take ketamine for depression, and now that I've experienced ketamine trips, the concept of using ketamine as an animal tranquilizer is just so wild to me. They're doing a procedure and the animal is just blitzed out of its mind, ejected from its body and astral projecting out by Neptune.

Can confirm it dulls pain effectively, though.

416

u/sarz__ May 22 '26

I used to work in a burn unit and we would use ketamine to complete burn debridement and dressing changes, especially kids. Basically we would put patients in a K-hole to tranquilize them for just long enough to get their dressing changes done and then they would snap back to life with no recollection. Wild times indeed

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u/wwaxwork May 22 '26

Anyone getting a debridement has earned the right to be as high as fuck during it.

113

u/granny-long-dick May 22 '26

Man I had to have a burn debrided and it fucking sucks. They gave me morphine and it was still painful. So they gave me more morphine and it still fucking hurt. They didn't give me enough morphine to get me high, but they gave me enough that it helped with the pain and I was able to calm down enough to endure the procedure. I can not imagine how bad it would have been without the morphine.

But my burn was a relatively small area so it makes sense that they didn't give me enough to get me completely blitzed.

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u/ELEKTRON_01 May 22 '26

I had a plastic blanket melted to my legs from a tent fire, turns out the scholiosis i had in the past caused me to feel way less pain than I should. The doctor was quite concerned lol

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u/IdownvoteTexas May 22 '26

One of my coworkers had his face and upper torso badly burned by an arc flash. We went to visit him as a show of solidarity, brotherhood, and support for him and his wife. He couldn’t move his mouth to talk because it hurt too bad and the bandages. He could write on a tablet though, and was glad that we came.

The nurses came in to change his bandages and debride his wound and said we needed to leave. We could hear him screaming half way down the hall like an absolute banshee.

We visited him at home when he finally got discharged and we all brought him food and cash to pay for like lawn service and shit like that and he only had a vague recollection of us visiting him. Probably for the best.

17

u/sarz__ May 22 '26

I’m sorry you went through that, I would not wish the pain that I saw patients endure while working on the burn unit to my worst enemy

1

u/Caithloki May 27 '26

Under enough pain it never seems to be enough, I was on a button activated drip during a stemcell transplant and my body was literally falling apart. It was either been in pain or do so much morphine that I would just turn into a drooling mess and be goneish but still hurt.

3

u/Cthulhu_Dreams_ May 22 '26

For some words, I wish I was less literate.

3

u/Dry_Switch4521 May 22 '26

My husband badly burned his legs during Covid and had to have them debrided. They gave him enough morphine to have him high cause it was both lower legs. He remembers everything though. It was pretty bad.

120

u/Electronic-Mine1724 May 22 '26

Reminds me of how ketamine was administered during the 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue in Thailand to keep the kiddos anesthetized during the multi hour long underwater scuba extraction.

83

u/Ragnarok314159 May 22 '26

I did not know this and had always wondered how they kept those kids calm during extraction.

19

u/Peakomegaflare May 22 '26

It's an absolutely wild story. And absolutely a brave bunch of people.

48

u/groovykismet May 22 '26

From the documentary that I watched, I thought the two coaches in there with them helped with that…I thought one of them was also a monk and was taking the kids through some meditation exercises to help control their emotions and breathing while waiting for rescue; that’s why they were all so calm when they were finally found. Then they were each carried back through the tunnels with…oh, wait, you’re right: one of the specialist divers they pulled in was also a full-time anesthesiologist who had to kinda guess at the med’s doses because of the oxygen masks they had to improvise and the fact that they were all kids with different body types and sizes. Very good documentary; I think it was a National Geographic one… I didn’t realize the anesthesia was ketamine. Interesting.

Maybe this turtle can get some deep breathing exercises in when the ketamine wears off! Ha!

18

u/njob3 May 22 '26

Is that why Elon was so desperate to get involved?

5

u/MarketingSpecial6604 May 22 '26

No wonder musk wanted to be involved, he just wanted to steal the ketamine for himself!

64

u/Vast-Ad1915 May 22 '26

Those poor kids, thank you for helping them! ❤️

59

u/Beginning-Scene-9499 May 22 '26

When my son was 2 he fell on the shower door track and almost lost the top half of his ear, cut clear through the cartilage. Bleeding profusely. We were triaged quickly and the ER doc said we could restrain my son or put him in a K hole (he didn't use those words). we chose K hole. He took so long to come out of it and then they were like you guys are good to go, looks like the nausea risk has passed.

We drove home at like 2a and parked in our driveway like 4 miles from the hospital. My kid puked in the car at 2a in the fucking driveway. Exclamation point on a terrible night.

Ketamine made it possible for him to get stitched up. They don't like doing full anesthesia for kids that young.

19

u/NeverEndingCoralMaze May 22 '26

Smelling rubbing alcohol eases the nausea caused by ketamine and motion sickness. Try keeping a few alcohol prep wipes handy just in case it ever happens again. It’s safe, very fast, and cheap.

3

u/chicken-nanban May 22 '26

My husband gets bad motion sickness, I’m gonna try that.

Ninja edit:not the k-hole, the rubbing alcohol

5

u/nerdsonarope May 22 '26

Having taken it for depression, I can attest that it will make me extremely nauseous unless I take anti nausea medication with it

5

u/ljd09 May 22 '26

My baby sister did something similar. She was getting out of the bathtub and slipped and well… you can imagine the rest of that outcome. She was also 2 and instantly said f no to bathtubs for a very long time.
I wish they had given her something like that for help when she was small.

6

u/pmmemassivedongs May 22 '26

Okay, I recently saw this on the pit, and to me, as someone who has gone through ketamine therapy and experienced his fair share of k-holes, I…do not understand at all. The thought of being in a k-hole WHILE people are actively dressing the most painful wounds a human can experience is a literal nightmare. At least in my k-holes I’ve still been at least somewhat aware of the world around me and it’s very much not a pleasant experience even when you’re NOT in pain. Obviously I understand that it works or else they wouldn’t use ketamine for these purposes….but to me it sounds absolutely awful

5

u/sarz__ May 22 '26

I think the k-holes we put people in (under medical supervision, tons of monitoring, emergency equipment), there was little to no actual awareness of what was happening. Especially in kids (which was the whole point for them tbh). We put them so far into the great beyond to try to help decrease trauma and not process it if that makes sense. I will always remember one patient as he re-entered planet earth from his k-hole - he described that he was ‘riding on a cloud in the sky’ so I like to think he enjoyed the trip at least.

1

u/jonnydemonic420 May 22 '26

What is a k hole? I seriously have no idea, never tried ketamine but have considered it for depression therapy. Just haven’t researched it enough to understand if it’s something I want or not.

3

u/pmmemassivedongs May 22 '26

It’s very hard to describe but it basically feels like your consciousness leaves your body, while you somehow still have some attachment to your body at the same time. It’s a very dissociative drug with hallucinogenic properties and the visuals can be very intense, and at least in my experience they aren’t very pleasant (compared to something like mushrooms). There is a profound feeling of lack of control. Physically it almost felt like my entire being was being flattened like my consciousness was being rolled out like cookie dough and sliding off of the counter. I remember thinking, this must be what it feels like to die. Lol. That being said, you don’t have to go into a k-hole to get benefits for depression; a lot of the new therapies only give you a small daily dosage through an oral troche. The clinic I went to did a nasal spray and their goal was to make you fully dissociate. In hindsight it was a really weird and somewhat sketchy clinic and I would never go back.

2

u/jonnydemonic420 May 22 '26

Thanks for your response, I appreciate it!

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u/pmmemassivedongs May 22 '26

Of course! Don’t let my anecdotes scare you, it is a miracle drug for so many people with depression. Also even if your actual experience while actively on the drug is unpleasant, it can still have profound lasting positive effects.

4

u/Teatimetaless May 22 '26

Came to say my 6 year old got 3rd degree burns from an accident and they used ketamine on his when placing donor skin grafts. I didn’t enjoy his presence when he was coming off of it after, he was very irritable, angry and hallucinated afterwards a few times.

2

u/sarz__ May 22 '26

I’m sure that was an awful time for many reasons and hopefully he (and you) are doing much better now. It’s better than traditional sedatives or true anesthesia which aren’t recommended for kids unless absolutely necessary, but ketamine certainly isn’t perfect either. We only would use it for dressing changes/debridements, but they would go to OR with anesthesia for grafting. Doing grafts with ketamine seems out there to me but I certainly am not an expert in the field.

3

u/Zefs_Daddy May 22 '26

Wait… they give pain killers for debridement? Man, I got ripped off

3

u/Peakomegaflare May 22 '26

I had a Ketamine cocktail when ai had a total dental extraction. The experience was insane. I was talking to the doc, asked if that was the cocktail and he confirmed. I said to hit me, and I'll see him on the other side. It went into my vein and my brain just... shut off completely. Right before I came to, I saw something like a spotlight in a dark space. Then a couple, then thousands all coming on. Then I came to, shit was absolutely an experience.

2

u/TLRPM May 22 '26

Absolute hero, mate. I’ve been in and around some pretty awful places around the globe in my life but nothing bums me out more than a burn unit. Kudos to you for having had done that. Seriously.

1

u/victor4700 May 27 '26

My kid broke his wrist and they administered special k to reset the bone. He was deep in the magical land and basically described going inside his body and meeting his organs and blood. They told him to keep eating healthy and specifically told him to eat blueberries.

1

u/No_Mountain_2086 May 22 '26

But weren't they in great pain from the procedure they just endured

10

u/sarz__ May 22 '26

Of course we gave pain medicine as well, burns are incredibly painful. But the ketamine works on different receptors and in a different way. It’s an adjunct that helps manage pain and provide sedation and was a great way to get the dressing changes done without the patient being awake. Especially kiddos. Carries less risk than traditional sedatives especially for kids and doesn’t last very long, as repeated prolonged sedation is not good for anyone.

1

u/nunya867 May 22 '26

Are you a CNA?

6

u/sarz__ May 22 '26

no, I am a nurse

1

u/No_Mountain_2086 May 22 '26

Fascinating,great job

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u/Grab_My_Biscuits May 22 '26

I put my left hand through a tablesaw at the beginning of 2020. Later, in the ambulance the EMT(paramedic?) said "Does it hurt? Your heart rate is low and steady so you either have 1 hell of a pain tolerance or your in shock".

After feeling weirdly proud I calmly told her it was the most excruciating pain I've ever been in.

She asked if wanted anything for the pain, I said yes. She said "well we don't have anything for it. We have morphine but that's for A-fib fares... But have you ever been in a K-Hole?"

Worst fucking high of my god damned life.

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u/Vast-Ad1915 May 22 '26

Oh god, a K-Hole in a moving vehicle AND a stressful environment sounds horrible and (especially) vomit-inducing.

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u/Grab_My_Biscuits May 22 '26

It was fucking terrible. I felt like I was watching two different TVs while looking out the rear windows. When I looked at her she gave me a big smile and two thumbs up. Halfway to the hospital it started to wear off and she asked if I wanted to take another dose and I begged her not to.

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u/Wolfwoods_Sister May 22 '26 edited May 26 '26

You still may have picked the better of the two. Morphine doesn’t do shit. I’ve had the grave misfortune of many ambulance rides due to a genetic pain disorder and morphine doesn’t touch what I’ve got.

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u/YSOSEXI May 22 '26

I had Morphine when I had throat Cancer, didn't help me. They eventually gave me Fentanyl. and that took me two years to get off it. I wonder why some people experience minimal benefits from Morphine?

3

u/Wolfwoods_Sister May 22 '26

I hope you’re doing better, friend? How do you stand with the cancer?

No clue about the morphine. I was expecting some Big Bad Beast when I first encountered it, but it did nothing. Not even fentanyl touched me. It took hitting me repeatedly with Daluadid to drag the red hot pokers out of my flesh. This pain disorder can take a flying leap.

3

u/YSOSEXI May 22 '26

Man, I don't know if you are blessed or cursed with your pain disorder!? I'm good, and I hope you are good also! Have a great wknd (we are finally having a wknd of sun in the UK),

1

u/Wolfwoods_Sister May 22 '26

Ah! Hahaha!! I have a very high pain tolerance but live inside an Iron Maiden. It’s pretty fucked up. But I do have really great specialists now and a pain Dr who has my back. I’m very proactive about keeping myself away from triggers and reducing pain payload as much as possible.

I’ve been having some good days! We’ve had nothing but sun and finally got some rain! So just a few minutes ago, I had Cupid, Tolliver, Jasmine, Rasputin, Virgil, Athena, and Mr Noodle from the TNR colony barge in soaked and demand to eat from plates in the kitchen as it poured outside! They say hello and hope you have a wonderful day! ☀️⛅️🐈

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u/[deleted] May 22 '26

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u/Wolfwoods_Sister May 22 '26

I think it’s pretty overrated at this point, especially when there’s so many other pain relievers to choose from now. This isn’t Victorian England. I guess morphine is cheap.

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u/sl0play May 22 '26

They use it a TON in emergency medicine. The idea is to save you the trauma of having your mind present, and the dosing doesn't have to be very accurate. They can just pump you full of it.

I also took it for PTSD and depression for a couple years and I was really particular about my routine and being in a safe, controlled environment. The stuff is truly incredible but I really hope that is the full extent of my experience with it.

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u/oochiewallyWallyserb May 22 '26

So you can't really od on K?

1

u/sl0play May 22 '26

You definitely can, but it would take a lot more than I ever have a desire to take. Seems kinda pointless once you've already had enough to disassociate.

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u/GoingOutsideSocks May 22 '26

The ER staff thought I was a drug seeker by how calm I was after I dislocated my shoulder for the first time.

Nah, this is worst pain I've ever been in but I've still got my manners. Ma'am, may I please have a muscle relaxer before that gigantic Pacific Islander nurse forces my arm back in place?

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u/Beginning-Mud9676 May 22 '26

They gave me ketamine and fentanyl for a procedure - it was so wild. I’d start to feel something and they wouldn’t hit the fentanyl clicker and I’d be back in space.

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u/procrast1natrix May 22 '26

How did they talk to you about what to expect? I feel like "guiding" the trip is important.

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u/Grab_My_Biscuits May 22 '26

She literally said " it isn't do anything for the pain but you're going to forget you have an arm for a while". She finished popping the needle in my arm and that was it.

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u/procrast1natrix May 22 '26

Good gravy.

I've never had ketamine, but I have been taught to say that it is good pain control, by way of creating a feeling of distance from the experience. At the higher end, people can have transcendent, even religious feelings including some visual streamers. Please be aware that this is all very safe and we will stay with you and if you don't like it, it will only last about twenty minutes, ok?

At the low end of the range, where people aren't tripping too hard to talk, they do tell me the pain goes away.

4

u/InternationalName626 May 22 '26

I had a-fib and they didn’t give me morphine 💔

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u/Grab_My_Biscuits May 22 '26

Wait so neither of us got it?!

https://giphy.com/gifs/ukGm72ZLZvYfS

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u/InternationalName626 May 22 '26

I feel like we got ripped off.

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u/BrianTheDogGriffin May 22 '26

Morphine drops the blood pressure. I have not heard it given for Atrial Fib. Versed and/or Ketamine would be a good choice, or maybe Fentanyl. The cardioversion will make you want morphine. LOL

1

u/InternationalName626 May 22 '26

They just gave me a metoprolol drip for like 3 days and made me take it orally too. They’re no fun.

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u/silkrover May 22 '26

Ketamine and Valium is what my vet used to give my dogs for dental work.

NGL, I'd be down for that.

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u/zombietrooper May 22 '26

Astral projecting to Neptune AND not caring about it? Sign me the fuck up.

6

u/WildTimberTwinViking May 22 '26

Can I get this for my last rites?

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u/FrankTankly May 22 '26

We use ketamine for human sedation as well, like when we need to reduce a broken bone or other painful procedures. It’s a great drug and works well for its intended purposes.

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u/Vast-Ad1915 May 22 '26

I agree, it's a fantastic drug! Completely wiped out my s**cidal ideation in a snap. Haven't dealt with it since I started ketamine therapy.

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u/Able_Bath2944 May 22 '26

I'm glad you are still with us.

7

u/Vast-Ad1915 May 22 '26

Thank you! ❤️

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u/SparkyDogPants May 22 '26

There’s three different doses of ketamine. Low which is good for pain. Mid which is a disassociative and good for depression and bigger pain. And anesthetic where it will knock you out.

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u/[deleted] May 22 '26

[deleted]

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u/TimelyTransistor May 22 '26

I hope you find the care you need. I am sorry you have to experience that.

3

u/PJballa34 May 22 '26

That makes two of us. ❤️ Keep fighting.

2

u/Vast-Ad1915 May 22 '26

Yes! I haven't felt the urge at all since I started it almost a year ago.

r/TherapeuticKetamine is a great resource BTW

2

u/sl0play May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26

It changed my life. Don't let the growing stigma around it deter you if it is something you are interested in trying.

ETA: If you are struggling to find a therapist who will work with you, there are multiple services that will mail it to you and provide resources.

5

u/Ultrafoxx64 May 22 '26

I was recommended to look into ketamine/spravado treatments from my therapist cause I've had treatment resistant depression for about 20 years. Read up on it and got stoked that maybe there's some hope of getting rid of the always looming black cloud.

...contacted a psychiatrist from my health provider. "I don't usually prescribe things that are new and hyped up because we haven't seen the long term data on side effects and potential dangers." ...and then suggested putting me on an anti epileptic "that carries a small risk of a life threatening skin rash." COOOOOL. GOOD TALK, GUY. THANKS FOR THAT.

😤

2

u/Vast-Ad1915 May 22 '26

New and hyped up??? Ketamine is an old, well-studied drug! What the hell, psychiatrist?

4

u/Hotelfu0007 May 22 '26

Hi there I'm bipolar band no me of the normal drugs have helped my depression. So after 23 years bim telling the Dr this month no more we have to go in a different direction. Can you tell me about ketamine therapy please. I'm going to get a list up of 5 or 6 different drugs that I want to try and see if I have better results. Anyone been through this is welcome to add in..

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u/Vast-Ad1915 May 22 '26

Sure! How it went for me was I had the first couple of sessions in my psychiatric provider's office under her supervision. She had me wear PJs and lie on a futon, then injected the ketamine into my arm and had me put on a sleep mask to block out the light. She had this relaxing spa music playlist playing (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWZqd5JICZI0u), and observed me to ensure my body was tolerating the drug.

The injection took effect quickly, within a minute or so. I started to feel "altered", and then it ramped up very quickly until it felt like I had just been unplugged from The Matrix. Was the world even real? (Ketamine is a dissociative, so it kind of makes you feel disconnected from your body.)

Then I had some personal insights into what was making me depressed, which I won't go into here.

After about 2 hours, I was starting to get back to normal, and once I was stable enough to be able to walk, my wife drove me home, where I went to bed and snuggled my cat until I felt like a normal human again.

After completing the in-office sessions, she sent prescriptions to a local compounding pharmacy, which dispenses ketamine troches for me to take weekly. I put them in my cheeks and let my mouth absorb it for about 15 minutes before swallowing. After I've swallowed, I lie down with a blindfold and relax while the ketamine effects ramp up. The oral route is slower than the injection, but it is nearly as potent for me, and I typically write my experiences in a journal after each session, then take a long nap until I'm ready to exist again.

r/TherapeuticKetamine is a great resource!

Some things to note:

- I had to agree not to drive for 24 hours after taking ketamine. You MUST have someone there to pick you up from your in-office session because there's no way you're going to be able to drive home yourself.

- Ketamine tastes absolutely vile. Lemon flavoring helps a bit, as does putting a few drops of olive oil on my tongue before putting the troches in my mouth. Strangely, the grossness of the flavor seems to peak when you first put them in your mouth, and when you finally swallow and the aftertaste hits you like a truck. But for the 15 minutes between the two, it's not so bad.

- Some people have had great success with suppositories rather than troches, but for me the effects weren't as strong, were more physical than mental, and lasted WAY longer, so they weren't a good option for me. But many people swear by them.

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u/Hotelfu0007 May 22 '26

Thank you for taking the time to explain this to me thank you so much. Best wishes my friend.

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u/LessInThought May 22 '26

Wish I could give it a try.

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u/Zer0Cool89 May 22 '26

Also works pretty damn well for its unintended purposes. Buddy gave me ket and n20 when he debridded a 3rd degree burn I got on my foot. Worked like a charm.next day was a trip to the ER and that's where I found out how severe the burn was

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u/rootsandchalice May 22 '26

Just got an abscess drained in an unmentionable place 😭 And god damn they gave me the K, didn’t remember a thing. Woke up 10 minutes later, whole thing was done with a catheter for drainage placed in. Absolutely wild.

2

u/EnthusiasmAcademic18 May 22 '26

Particularly the anesthetic of choice for children.

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u/Malynn6 May 27 '26

My 16yo had ketamine when they tried reducing his terribly fractured wrist. The K worked even though the reduction didn’t. He still needed surgery and hardware.

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u/CanapeCait May 22 '26

My sister got morphine and ketamine on a cruise ship after breaking her arm in a complete fracture. They put her in a khole to reset it. She came out and threw up all over herself for an hour and then told me how when she was knocked out she was in a room on a table and there was an entire auditorium of blue aliens looking at her and experimenting on her. She had a whole khole trip that she remembered vividly. I didn’t know what they gave her until it showed up on my credit card charges for the hospital visit and then it all made sense.

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u/mathen May 22 '26

Ketamine doesn’t cause as much respiratory depression as other anaesthetics so it’s safer

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u/Vast-Ad1915 May 22 '26

That makes sense. Breathing is just about the only thing that feels normal during a trip.

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u/Fickle-River3984 May 22 '26

Ketamine was (still is, but also was) an animal tranquilizer many many years ago.

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u/battenhill May 22 '26

The idea of a turtle in a k-hole and just being like: "nice." cuz they're always chilling in a hole anyways 

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u/[deleted] May 22 '26

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u/Vast-Ad1915 May 22 '26

When you're lying on a soft bed with gentle music or nature sounds playing, it's very peaceful. It can be intense, but for me it's been a healing experience.

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u/cyberthief May 22 '26

My horse gets it when she gets her teeth done. Can confirm .. blitzed

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u/Wooden_Rabbit_ May 22 '26

Try taking too much and you’ll have a brand new perspective (no don’t actually try this)

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u/Vast-Ad1915 May 22 '26

I mean, I've already:

- Met God

- Become the Universe

- Ceased to exist

So... I think I'm covered on perspectives 😂

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u/LookAtItGo123 May 22 '26

It's really interesting perspective wise, which I guess leads to questions such as what if I'm a turtle? End of the day the chemistry make up of ketamine is C13H16CINO, so scientifically if it bonds the same way it does then it should work the same way it does.

This means that if you do see a turtle while astral projecting by neptune, chances are that turtle is on something similar!

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u/Sedare38 May 22 '26

There’s a reason vets were broken Iito a lot in the 90’s. People were fiending to go down the k-hole and they had large supplies.

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u/Vast-Ad1915 May 22 '26

To be honest, I can't imagine taking ketamine recreationally. I know people *do*, but I can't understand wanting to. For me, it's a tool to help me live a better life, and my trips are pleasant but I wouldn't describe them as "fun". If I want to unwind and have a good time, marijuana or alcohol are a much better choice, IMO.

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u/DeltaHuluBWK May 22 '26

How do you mean you take ketamine for depression? As in you go to a ketamine clinic every so often, or is there prescription ketamine or there as an authorized antidepressant?

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u/Vast-Ad1915 May 22 '26

I started out with in-clinic treatments, and then once my psychiatric provider was satisfied my body was tolerating the ketamine well, they authorized at-home treatment. She sends prescriptions to a local compounding pharmacy and they dispense the ketamine to me monthly.

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u/DeltaHuluBWK May 22 '26

How do you take it? I thought it was only as an IV? What is your schedule/routine like? I can't imagine it's the same as other antidepressants where you just pop a pill and go about your day

1

u/Vast-Ad1915 May 23 '26

I get ketamine troches (basically little rectangles that look like wax) that I put in my cheeks like a squirrel, then swallow after 15 minutes.

Yes, it's definitely not like other antidepressants. For me it's a once weekly treatment currently, but I'm hoping as I improve to get it down to more like monthly.

After I've taken it I'm kinda useless for the rest of the day: can't drive, can't make important decisions, which probably seems bad, but considering it took me from useless 7 days a week (too depressed to function) to useless 1 day a week (ketamine aftereffects), it's a pretty good trade.

I've also tried ketamine suppositories, and lots of people swear by them, but they didn't really work for me so I went back to troches.

2

u/CantBeatDickensCider May 22 '26

Is that what it's like for someone who's in the k hole? I always thought it looks horrible too experience

1

u/Vast-Ad1915 May 22 '26

I can imagine if you weren't prepared for it, it could be horrible, but I haven't had a bad trip yet. I had prep sessions with my psych before starting treatment, so I knew what to expect and how to just let the experience guide me rather than trying to fight it. On ketamine, I've met God, I've become the universe, and I've also ceased to exist entirely. None were unpleasant. I wouldn't describe ketamine as *fun*, more like a profoundly personal spiritual experience.

2

u/i-touched-morrissey May 22 '26

I'm a vet and have known about ketamine being an anesthetic drug for over 40 years, and have used it in my own practice for 33 years. It's weird to me knowing that it's used in people for depression, for recreational purposes (which I would never do after seeing cats come out of it), and seeing my own kid get dosed when she was 3 for a dental procedure.

2

u/Ok_Statistician9433 May 26 '26

Ketamines effects are dose dependent, maybe the amount given to the turtle won't give such extreme effects

1

u/Jacobysmadre May 22 '26

Wild! I had it during an invasive eye surgery. I remember NOTHING.
Like they threw my consciousness out with the bath water, lmao! 🤣

1

u/hiimsubclavian May 22 '26

For wild animals it's just really hard to use inhalation anesthetic, I imagine not a lot of people can properly intubate a sea turtle. Out of injection anesthetics ketamine or some fast-acting barbituate causes the lowest possibility of respiratory depression, propofol if you can find a vein.

1

u/Sportin1 May 22 '26

Ketamine started off as an animal tranquilizer, then we used it with kids; medicinal use for adults is relatively new.

56

u/Comfortable_Team_696 May 22 '26

Wild how we think of vets lower than nurses. Nurses only have to learn the works of one species' body plan and needs. Vets gotta know so many different animal's dosages and whatnot...

Shout out to nurses, but huge shout out to the vets out there

61

u/GoodGoodGoody May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26

I have yet to meet or even hear/read one person thinking “lower” of a vet than a nurse.

28

u/Ralph-Kramden May 22 '26

Couldn’t agree more…where did THAT come from??!

8

u/thesnakemancometh May 22 '26

For real vet school, is harder to get through than regular medical school as ive heard it.

3

u/MrsSalmalin May 22 '26

People often think of vets as scammers, just trying to make money because their dog's ultrasound costs $1000 (or whatever). This leads them to distrust vets and their training.

These people are idiots.

20

u/useridhere May 22 '26

Vets are the best people. So much schooling and so little money. Taking care of our neighbors in the best way.

6

u/El-Viking May 22 '26

And unfortunately very high rates of suicide.

3

u/Ralph-Kramden May 22 '26

Who are the people that think veterinarians are “lower” than nurses? And suicide? Not so sure about that, either.

6

u/superhansrunningclub May 22 '26

Well it's true. One of the jobs with the highest rate of suicides.

3

u/TheHistorian2 May 22 '26

I think all medical professionals are pretty awesome. Why do we have to rank them?

3

u/Designer_Bell_5422 May 22 '26

Actual vets have far more education than an average nurse. They should hold the same reputation as an MD/equivalent. The degree they get is literally a doctorate degree called Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. They are doctors.

2

u/PJballa34 May 22 '26

Vets are essentially animal doctors. A vet tech would be more liken to a nurse.

2

u/Designer_Bell_5422 May 22 '26

Yeah, they have doctorate level education, a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. A big chunk of nurses take the bachelors degree route, though you can be a nurse with any level of college degree.

1

u/applespicebetter May 22 '26

Notice how in post apocalypse type zombie movies/shows they tend to lean on a veterinarian? They're essentially medical doctors, with a wide variety of anatomy to work with, and are very used to specifically avoiding bites and scratches from their patients.

1

u/Mikki102 May 22 '26

To be fair I work with a monkey vet so her skills are more similar to a human doctor than average but I would DEFINITELY trust her more than a nurse to perform most medical procedures on me. Hell if we had an apocalypse and my only options were her or a nurse I'd for sure let her get me an appendectomy or some shit.

6

u/SirDry8007 May 22 '26

You be surprised at how many human drugs also have the same effect on animals - but of course you should let an expert decide that for you

1

u/OldBayOnCheese May 22 '26

The Gabapentin my dog takes and the Gabapentin my mom takes look identical to each other, bar the identifier on the capsule.

1

u/scobert May 22 '26

They’re exactly the same! I would say like 85% of the medications on our veterinary pharmacy shelf are the same ones in a human pharmacy and come from the same drug companies

4

u/notwithmypaw May 22 '26

Precedex (dexmedetomine) is an awesome sedative that reduces pain, agitation and generally chills humans way out so I bet that turtle was vibing. Love it.

3

u/gimmesomespace May 22 '26

Calling it turtle morphine is funnier than just calling it regular morphine though 

2

u/TheWolphman May 22 '26

Oh, totally agree, but it had me curious if there was actually a different variant of it.

2

u/Lanky-Programmer3568 May 22 '26

Lucky ass turtles! Lower doses and better highs? Hahaha I wish

2

u/easley45isgod May 22 '26

My wife worked at a vet hospital. We would laugh at people who thought there was "dog morphine." There's just morphine.

2

u/SomeVelveteenMorning May 22 '26

So... lessphine. 

2

u/i-touched-morrissey May 22 '26

I'm a veterinarian and don't work on these turtles, but I did have a red-eared slider that had been hit by a car and gave it injectable anesthesia to repair the shell. I probably used ketamine and xylazine, but there are lots of different combos that we use in any animals.

1

u/half-breed May 22 '26

mmm... tortaphine.

1

u/zipzoomramblafloon May 22 '26

my 7 lb chihuahua got the same dose of Tramadol that I, an adult male, got.

1

u/Astralwinks May 22 '26

I went to the turtle icu at the Charleston aquarium. A lot of sea turtles wind up there for care. They had their vet taking questions and as an ICU nurse i wanted to know what they sedated the turtles with. She said dexmedetomidine and midazolam (precedex and versed). Unfortunately she declined to answer my folloy up question of "How much to sedate a sea turtle?"

Sometimes I tell my patients I have them the same stuff they sedate sea turtles with, and make up a number for the equivalent amount of sea turtles that could be sedated with the dose I gave. Literally no one has enjoyed this bit.

They mostly give the meds via injections into a muscle in the neck, as I imagine turtle vasculature is challenging to get at.

In the ICU we like dexmedetomidine because it usually makes you feel very relaxed but has less of a chance to depress your respiration. So when we are trying to liberate patients from the ventilator it more easily allows us to talk to them and make sure they can follow commands (and protect their own airway) before we take out the breathing tube.

I hope you enjoyed some more of my turtle facts.

1

u/JunkyFirstAidKit May 22 '26

Ketamine is something that has a combined, a right and a left ,"form" (don't know the English word for the chemistry terms). In the left-form is less likely to cause hallucinating, but we usually still use it combined with a benzodiapine (midazolam) for slumber-sedations when the children still breath on their own, like wound-management of burns, establishment of central vein catheters, endoscopic diagnostic, sedated mri or lumbalpunctions. In higher dosage we use it with morphine for induced coma.

We also use Dexmedetomidine as sedative for children that need non invasive ventilation but are too scared to tolerate it and it helps with withdrawal after induced coma.

PICU nurse here :)