A mum has told how her ketamine addiction 'ruined' her life and left her in need of a new bladder at the age of 27.
Amber Currah has spoken out about the devastating impact that the party drug, which she first began taking as a teen, has had on her body.
Now aged 27, she is unable to work as she's 'fully incontinent' and she barely leaves the house due to the damage which her ketamine use has had on her bladder.
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She explained that she first tried the class B substance on a night out with friends when she was 17-years-old and didn't actually like it, saying it made her feel 'like a zombie'.
But Amber ended up becoming hooked on ketamine over the next few years - and she says it was getting to the point that if she didn't stop, 'it would've killed' her.
She admitted that at some points, she would even wake up from her sleep to get her fix, while each day started off with a line of the stuff.
"I just kept taking it now and then over a couple of years, then ended up liking it," Amber explained. "It was a gradual thing. I started taking it more and more. I found that every time I took ketamine, it seemed to calm my mind. At around 21, I just started taking it every single day.
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"I would wake up in the mornings and sniff a line of ket. I'd wake up sometimes in the middle of the night and just sniff another line - that's how addicted I was."
The mother-of-one, from Morecambe, Lancashire, said she was spending around £30 a day on her drug habit and confessed she was consuming up to 25 grams each week.
It took her two years to realise that she was 'fully addicted' to ketamine - although the impact it was having on her health was hard to ignore.
The 27-year-old recalled how she began to experience symptoms which she thought were down to a 'pretty severe UTI', while her toilet trips became more and more frequent.
"A few years later, my bladder started getting really bad," Amber said. "On nights out, I was going to the toilet so much that people were noticing.
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"That was the first sign that I noticed issues with my bladder. Then I had to start wearing [incontinence] pads. For five years now, I've been fully incontinent.
"I wet the bed every single night. One time, I was stuck on the toilet for 26 hours because I was in so much pain. My mum brought a duvet and pillow and I slept on the toilet. I've not been able to work for years now or go on holiday, I'm at home all the time."
The only source of relief she found from her crippling bladder pain came from lying in the bath for hours on end each day.
After eight years of relying on the drug, Amber decided to wean herself off of ketamine in summer 2023 - however, the damage to her bladder is already done.
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Despite being clean for nearly two years, she still needs to urinate every 15 minutes and she continues to suffer from health complications.
Chronic ketamine use can affect the lining of the bladder, leading to an increase in the frequency of needing to urinate, infections, bleeding, blockages and incontinence. But even more shockingly, tests revealed that Amber's bladder has shrunk to a fifth of the size of a normal bladder - with medics saying she is in desperate need of a new one.
She is currently on the waiting list to receive a neobladder, which involves an operation in which a new bladder is created surgically from a section of the bowel.
Amber said: "They put a camera up my bladder and said it's an absolute mess. I was told it was a fifth of the size of a normal bladder.
"They said it's covered in scar tissue, which makes me prone to getting UTIs. Straight away, [the doctors] said your bladder needs to come out. That's how I knew it was an absolute mess.
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"After the surgery, my bladder should be able to function as normal again," Amber said. "I would do it tomorrow if I could live a normal life. I still feel like I'm paying for what I did to myself even though I'd had all this time off ketamine."
She is urging others to steer clear of ketamine, saying she 'regrets' ever trying it when she was 17.
"If I hadn't stopped taking it, it would've eventually killed me," Amber added. "This drug has affected me in every way. I've not been able to work for five years because of it. Ketamine ruined my life."
According to Talk To Frank, ketamine is a 'very powerful anaesthetic that can cause serious harm', warning that using it 'can be fatal, particularly if it is mixed with other drugs'.
It explains that the substance can 'cause serious bladder problems', abdominal pain and even liver damage, adding: "Although stopping using ketamine can help, sometimes the damage can be so serious that the bladder needs surgical repair or even removal. The urinary tract, from the kidneys down to the bladder, can also be affected and incontinence may also develop."
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
Olivia Burke