My £280-a-day ketamine habit left me peeing every 2 seconds, plagued by ‘ket cramps' and passing out in the bath

The Sun

16-07-2025

DANIELLE Littlewood was just 19 when she tried ketamine for the first time - a drug that would soon turn her world upside down.
"I watched ket take everything from my life," the 21-year-old from Southport, Merseyside, said.
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"It took my car [and] it ruined a lot of relationships because I couldn't pay anyone back."
The former party girl revealed the class B drug left her desperate for the toilet "every two seconds".
She was often confined to the bath for hours on end to ease 'ket cramps', where she would sometimes pass out.
"I couldn't get changed, couldn't move, constantly laying on the bathroom floor shaking," Danielle said, recalling the peak of her addiction.
"Once I fell asleep and woke up to the bathtub nearly overflowing," she added.
"I definitely feared for my safety because I had no one around me, I was really scared that if I carried on like this I would drown."
Friends' star Matthew Perry died in a hot tub after taking a high dose of ketamine in October 2023.
At first, Danielle would only take the drug when partying and at festivals.
Ketamine, also referred to as 'K' or 'Ket', is a powerful anaesthetic sometimes used in medical settings as pain relief.
But it's also known for causing a trippy, dissociative high that can be addictive.
Long-term abuse can cause severe inflammation, pain, and irreversible damage to to bladder and urinary system, as Danielle painfully discovered.
After battling depression, Danielle's ketamine use crept up last year as she started using at least one bag to get through the day.
'I would have a bag every night and I couldn't feel anything in my body. I'd wake up the next day feeling okay,' she said.
'The pain was like someone stabbing me'
Just three months later, Danielle was rushed to hospital with 'ket cramps', stabbing, excruciating stomach pains.
'It was the worst pain I've ever felt,' she explained.
'I couldn't wee, I was in the bath constantly, I was on the toilet all the time.
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'I had to crawl from the shower to my bed.
"For days, I was stuck in bed. I tried to control the pain with paracetamol and a hot water bottle.'
As her tolerance grew, Danielle needed more ketamine to feel the same effect, pushing her to take two bags a day, spending £280 a week.
By then, she was 'constantly on the toilet, every two seconds.'
'My bladder couldn't hold much at all," she said. "As soon as I had a drink, I had to rush straight to the toilet.'
THE TOLL 'K' TAKES ON YOUR BODY
KETAMINE can lead to death by putting pressure on the heart and respiratory system.
But its other effects on the body, which are often irreversible, are horrifying, too.
'Ketamine bladder syndrome is one of the worst symptoms,' Dr Catherine Carney, an addiction specialist at Delamere, told Sun Health.
This is where the breakdown of ketamine in the body causes inflammation in the bladder wall.
It leaves people unable to hold urine and passing chunks of their bladder tissue.
Some users face the prospect of having their bladders removed entirely.
Dr Carney explains: 'The lining of the bladder can shrink over time and be extremely painful for those experiencing it.
'This can often lead to lower abdominal pain and pain when passing urine, as well as bleeding.
'It's usually what has forced people to get help because they can't tolerate it any more.
'We've had young men in agony, wetting the bed.
'Their whole life is focused on where there's a toilet because they can only hold urine for ten minutes.
'For a teenager or someone in their early 20s, that's absolutely life-changing.
'In some cases, the bladder damage progresses to the kidneys and people get kidney failure, too.
'This is developing in people who have been using for two years, so it is relatively quick.'
Dr Carney adds that the urine samples of new guests checking into the clinic are often just a 'pot of blood'.
This is followed by weeks of agony coming off the drug. An irony of ketamine use is people tend to take more and more to numb the pain of the side-effects it causes.
Dr Carney says: 'There's nothing that we can give which is as strong as a medical anaesthetic (the ketamine). We can use codeine-based products or anti-inflammatories.
'Some antidepressants help at night, but the pain is hard to manage in the early days.
'Most people that come to us, the bladder will improve to the point that they don't need to have it removed.
'But once you've got a bladder that has shrunk to the size of 70ml, that's never getting better.'
She would spend her days rolled up on the floor into a ball, which was the only position she felt comfortable. Or in a bath where the heat would ease her agony.
"The pain was like someone stabbing me," she added.
Doctors warned her that if it continued, she'd need a catheter.
She eventually managed to get off the drug.
"[When detoxing], the first few days were so painful," Danielle explained.
"But by the end of the week my bladder started to feel better again," she added
'Everyone is on ket'
The ex-addict said ketamine has exploded in popularity among young people due to how cheap and easy it is to get, with many now using it instead of alcohol.
"I was always ketted. I'd go everywhere ketted, even to the shop. It's the new drug now," she said.
"Everyone is on ket, especially my age. When you go out partying, people are using ket, it's become more popular than cocaine," she added.
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"People aren't really drinking anymore, just using that instead. It's so easy to get a hold of, and it's so much cheaper. I spent £40 a day."
Now in recovery, Danielle is urging other young people to steer clear before it's too late.
"I don't want anyone else to go through this because so many people have started to get on the ket," she said.
"I'm very lucky I stopped now and can turn this around."
She added: "I'd really say stop before it gets worse, it will happen to you.
"I always used to think it wouldn't happen to me, that my bladder's not going to get that bad.
"I really hope people can stop before it's too late. It causes permanent damage."