My £300k ketamine use left me completely psychotic, seeing dead people and passing blood clots – I may never pee again
K-HOLE My £300k ketamine use left me completely psychotic, seeing dead people and passing blood clots – I may never pee again
A YOUNG man who spent more than £300,000 on ketamine says the drug has wrecked his body - leaving him peeing out clots so big he pops blood vessels in his eyes.
Oliver Westall says he goes through 10 incontinence pads a day and is now facing life without a bladder, as the damage to his organ is now completely irreversible.
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Oliver Westall, 24, was first introduced to ketamine at the age of 15
Credit: Jampress
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Oliver, with his mum Emma, says he took the drug to help ease his crippling anxiety
Credit: Jam Press
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The party habit soon developed into an addiction that wrecked his bladder and saw him passing clots so large he popped the blood vessels in his eyes
Credit: Jampress
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Oliver would sometimes take as many as 21 grams in a day
Credit: Jam Press
The 24-year-old is now waiting for an operation to remove his destroyed bladder, meaning he will never pee naturally again.
'Ketamine bladder' is a severe complication of the drug that experts have warned is leaving people incontinent before the age of 30, amid a spike in addiction cases.
Oliver saw his life spiral out of control after he fell into a deep ketamine addiction.
He was only 15 when he was first introduced to the party drug, which he says made him feel 'warm inside' and helped numb the pain of his crippling anxiety.
But what started as recreational use quickly turned into an everyday habit that had devastating consequences.
'At my worst, I was using 21 grams every single day,' Oliver, from Neath in South Wales, tells Sun Health.
'The first time I used it, I felt like I was floating on a bubble.
'It instantly took away my anxiety and made me feel warm and numb inside.
'But at the height of my addiction, I wasn't functioning.
'I sat in my flat all day and night sniffing ketamine.
How ketamine can change someone's life at 'startling' speed revealed by Dr Catherine Carney
'I would lock myself in my flat with my head in a bag.
'Sometimes, no one would see me for two weeks.
'I was completely psychotic - speaking to and seeing dead people, including past relatives.
'Overall, I've easily spent over £300,000 on the stuff.'
Aged 16, just one year after he first touched ketamine, he decided to start dealing to fund his £55k-a-year habit, meaning he was around it 'constantly'.
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Oliver suffered agonising 'ket cramps' and unable to sleep or leave the house
Credit: Jampress
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Yet he struggled to kick the devastating addiction, as ket was the only thing that numbed the pain
Credit: Jampress
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Oliver said he was too far gone to accept the support of his family - pictured with his mum and stepdad Owen
Credit: Jam Press
Alongside the mental toll, the drug began wreaking havoc on his physical health - particularly his bladder.
By the time he was 18, the physical consequences of his addiction were already setting in.
Oliver said: 'After about 18 months of using it heavily, I started getting what's known as 'ket cramps'."
These are severe abdominal pains, a telltale sign that ketamine use is causing damage.
Everything is affected by the ketamine - my walking, my sleeping, my mental health, everything. I can't walk far, I can't sleep for longer than two hours without waking up
Oliver Westall
'That's when the bladder problems began," Oliver recalled.
"I couldn't leave the house because I needed to pee every two seconds.
'Then I started bleeding, passing clots the size of £2 coins.
'I popped the blood vessels in my eyes trying to push them out.
'I looked like I'd been beaten up for three weeks. I was in so much pain.
'I knew it was destroying me, but the only thing that helped the pain was more ket.'
'Felt like my body was dying'
Despite numerous attempts to quit, Oliver struggled to stay clean for more than a few weeks.
His bladder problems eventually became so severe he needed to wear incontinence pads full-time at the age of 20.
He said: 'It was horrible. I was going through 10 pads a day. I still do.
'My bladder has shrunk to 10ml. I still urinate every 60 to 90 seconds and I haven't slept a full night in five years.
'I wake up every morning soaked in urine. This has massively impacted my mental health and wellbeing.
'The ketamine cramps felt like my body was dying.
The devastating impact of ketamine
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.'
'I experienced them daily, along with constant bleeding and clots. I lived like this for about five years.
'Everything is affected by the ketamine - my walking, my sleeping, my mental health, everything.
'I can't walk far, I can't sleep for longer than two hours without waking up.
'I'm constantly peeing and it's very draining at times.
'On some days, I do feel like my world is falling apart, but it's all about being strong and pushing through the bad days to get to the good.'
'Massive blow'
Oliver says he has visited the hospital more than 20 times over the years with bladder problems and was repeatedly turned away.
Sadly, at the age of 22, he discovered the damage to his bladder was completely irreversible.
He added: '[Hospital staff] kept turning me away - then finally I had my first camera inserted into my bladder.
'The urologist told me: 'It's end game.'
'It was really scary. I spiralled and lost all hope. I had been clean for 11 months at that point and then relapsed.
'They told me my bladder was way past the point of healing and I needed surgery to remove it to stop my excruciating pain.
If I had quit four years ago, I might still have my bladder
Oliver Westall
'I'm now waiting to have my surgery."
Once surgeons remove his bladder, it is likely Oliver would require a bag - either inside or outside of his body - that collects urine.
The most common way to collect urine after a bladder removal is an urostomy, which is a bag outside the body. A stoma - an opening created by a surgeon - allows urine to pass out of the body.
'It's a massive blow and it's going to be life-changing, but it's something I've had to accept for a better quality of life," says Oliver.
'Accepting that my body won't heal has been incredibly hard - it's something I've really had to come to terms with and push through.
'I'm only 24 and I'm going to have a bag for the rest of my life, but I know I've got this.
'I know my life is worth living and my story can help others. I want to show people the true destruction that ketamine can cause.'
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Oliver hit rock bottom when he was told he would need surgery to remove his bladder
Credit: Jam Press
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Oliver is now waiting for surgery to remove his bladder - but managed to turn his life around after finding comfort in religion
Credit: Jam Press
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The 24-year-old has learned to love and forgive himself
Credit: Jam Press
Reach out for help
Things finally turned around for Oliver when he checked himself into The Carpenter's Arms, a Christian rehab in Loughborough.
Through the support of mentor and spiritual guide Padre Alan, Oliver says he found comfort in religion and began rebuilding his life.
He officially became clean on June 17, 2024, and hasn't looked back since.
The 24-year-old hopes to eventually run his own church to help other addicts.
Oliver said: 'Padre Alan saved my life and I owe everything to him and the team.
'Through recovery, I learned to love again and to forgive myself and others. My addiction didn't just ruin my life, it broke my family.
'My mum and brother were always there, but I was too far gone.
The 'heroin of a generation'
Party drug ketamine has been dubbed the 'heroin' of a generation as users warn its true toll has yet to be fully seen.
The potent painkiller and sedative has become a hugely popular street drug due to its hallucinogenic and relaxing effects.
But for some, a party habit can spiral into a devastating addiction.
Exeter University researchers who interviewed 274 ketamine addicts warn the drug causes 'high levels of physical health problems and psychological consequences'.
They estimated that nearly half – 44 per cent – of British users suffering devastating side effects from ketamine do not get professional help.
Sixty per cent had bladder or nasal problems, while 56 per cent suffered from organ cramps.
Six in 10 interviewees had mental health problems and reported psychological issues including cravings, low mood, anxiety and irritability.
One anonymous ketamine user in the study said: 'I feel it is the heroin of a generation.
'More information will only become available once more people my age begin to suffer so greatly from misuse that it can't be hidden anymore.'
Another added: 'People know the risks of heroin and cocaine but not how addictive ketamine can become.'
Read more here.
'Now my mum can sleep at night knowing I'm safe. That itself is worth its weight in gold to me.
'I found faith in God through my recovery. Finding my faith truly transformed my life."
Oliver now runs a Facebook page called God's Grace of Sobriety and a TikTok account called Oliver's Recovery.
'I plan to turn the page into a charitable organisation once I recover from my operation," he said.
'My message to others is break those toxic relationships, even if they're with friends or family. Put your recovery first.
'If I had quit four years ago, I might still have my bladder.
'Reach out, be vulnerable. Don't try to do it alone like I did for so many years.
'I know where you are because I've lived it. I know that with the right help, you can find freedom too.'
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