"I've been taking ketamine since I was 16... now my bladder needs removing"
Warning: This article contains discussion of drug addiction which some readers may find distressing.
A man who has been taking ketamine for more than a decade after he started using when he was just 16 has told of how his bladder now needs removing.
Josh, who appeared candidly on Stacey Dooley's Down the K Hole documentary, told of the brutal reality of using ketamine.
Severe ketamine usage can cause irreversible damage known as ketamine bladder syndrome or ketamine-induced uropathy. This is because the class B drug destroys the bladder lining, causing immense pain.
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The BBC show follows Dooley as she visits rehabilitation centres and speaks to those who are actively fighting their addictions.
It follows the harrowing stories of ketamine addicts in active recovery, amid reports that the admissions due to the use of the drug in the UK has increased by 20 percent since 2023.
According to the Government, ketamine use and related harms have surged significantly across the UK, driven by low street prices and high popularity among young people.
The official statistics have revealed that past-year ketamine use among 16–24 year-olds has jumped by more than 230 per cent compared to a decade ago.
"My bladder and kidneys aren't functioning"
One participant on the show, Josh, explained how he had been using the drug since he was 16 years old, and in the last four years had been taking it 'every day'.
“I started using ketamine ten years ago and it was pretty much every weekend without fail," he explained.
"It has caused a lot of damage to my health. It got to the point where it was life or death and I had to do something serious about it, because it was specifically my bladder and my kidneys.
"They aren't functioning at the moment. The urine wasn't draining to my bladder and so my kidneys were swelling up."
Josh told of how he then underwent surgery, which saw tubes put into the kidneys to drain urine into bags he attaches to the outside of his body.
"I've been through the wars," he said. "I am lucky to be here."
According to the British Association of Urology, long-term ketamine use can cause severe damage to the urinary tract, which is known as Ketamine Urinary Tract Syndrome (KUTS) or ketamine bladder.
Scars to the bladder and ureters cause them to shrink, meaning the tubes connecting the kidneys to the bladder become blocked, and so doctors use a nephrostomy tube to drain it into an external bag.
Josh then went on to explain that his bladder was being fully removed and that he was awaiting a major operation.
"They're going to remove my old bladder," he explained. "And reconstruct a new one out of my small intestine.
"I'm very lucky to have been given that opportunity but at the same time, there could be complications that go with it."
Speaking from rehabilitation while four months clean, he explained how he has to now wear baggy t-shirts due to the bags holding his urine.
He is also facing the prospect of being on dialysis for the rest of his life should there be any complications.
"When I first got them it really held me back. I was very depressed and couldn’t leave the flat and socialise," he told Dooley.
"While using ketamine, it masks all your feelings and emotions so you don't really have to deal with it.
"I used when I came out of the hospital, because my head was all over the place. I thought I'd just have a small bit, but once I had that it was again and again."
"I have been praying to God to take the pain away"
Another participant on the show, Liam, spoke about his immense bladder pain as a result of using the drug every day for five years.
The addict, who was also undergoing rehab treatment in south Manchester, said the agony he was in due to his bladder and inability to pee are what forced him to stop.
He features in an emotional scene alongside his family, in which his older sister said they feared he would've died due to the extent of his use.
"I have been addicted for five years, but in the past year my bladder got so much worse," he said.
"I just want to live a normal life after this. I was losing everything because of ketamine. I lost job after job, which was the sad thing because I've always worked.
"I couldn't think of anything else. It was ket, or nothing. I thought I could do it every day."
Liam also told of how his addiction was so bad that he would take ketamine everywhere, including before going shopping 'like it was normal'.
But he too started experiencing horrendous cramps and bladder pains. He too experienced the need - but inability - to urinate often and regular pain which is medicated.
"I started getting the cramps, but my downfall was that I kept taking ketamine. And then my bladder just went.
"The pain is unbearable. This time, I've been praying to god to take the pain away."
The documentary description states how rehab centres are treating 'some of their youngest-ever and most physically damaged addicts' who used ketamine.
Stacey Dooley gains access to a rehab centre in Stockport and gets to know former users, with many facing chronic pain and serious health issues.
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can talk to FRANK. You can call 0300 123 6600, text 82111 or contact through their website 24/7, or livechat from 2pm-6pm any day of the week
James Holt