Ketamine Addiction Treatment
Speak to a clinician, without charge, for free and confidential advice on all aspects of Ketamine addiction treatment, detox, rehab, withdrawal, therapy, counselling, cost and availability.
Ketamine Addiction Treatment is essential if you are dependent on it.
If ketamine use has become difficult to control, or stopping leads to withdrawal symptoms, the next step should be a clinical assessment rather than trying to stop suddenly.
Find Me a Rehab provides totally free and completely confidential advice on Ketamine addiction treatment, detox and rehabilitation with support from experienced addiction clinicians.
We do not provide treatment, directly.
Our role is to understand what is happening, explain suitable options and signpost you to an appropriate service.
This can include registered residential rehabilitation, outpatient support or statutory services, depending on your needs.
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Find Out MoreWhen Ketamine Use Becomes a Problem
Ketamine is a very strong anaesthetic.
It is used by vetrinary surgeons when looking after large animals who need sedating, as well as by medical doctors at the roadside when an emergency amuptation is needed.
Ketamine is sometimes used in accident and emergency departments when bones need to be maniupulated.
Using it outside of these uses is always problematic.
Signs that it may be time to seek help include:
* Having to take more and more Ketamine to have the same effect as when you started
* Becoming unwell if you stop or reduce too quickly
* Strong urges to take Ketamine
* Spending long periods of time trying to buy Ketamine
* Continuing to use Ketamine despite the problems it is
causing
* Passing blood in your urine
* Constant urine tract infections
Get The Help You Need Today with Ketamine Addiction Treatment .
Low-cost available treatment is available if you need to find a rehab. For free 24-hour rehab advice and to find a residential rehab centre UK call 0333 041 9922.
Contact UsWhy you should not stop using Ketamine suddenly
Stopping Ketamine suddenly can cause very severe withdrawal symptoms: Very quickly.
In less than 24 hours after you stop taking Ketamine you are going to experience what is known as a "Come down".
This will mean:
* Chronic fatigue: You will feel completely exhausted
* Extreme irritability: Despite the best efforts of friends and
family, you will not be able to shift this
* Crashing low mood: Your mood will crash and some people
experience suicidal thoughts
* Severe anxiety: Your anxiety will peak within a few hours
* Insomnia: You will not be able to sleep
Some of these may begin to get better after three days but your low mood, anxiety will continue as will mood swings.
After a week, things will improve but you will continue to feel tired all the time and your mood will remain low.
Cravings will continue to be a problem.
Even after a month, some of these problems will continue.
These problems are entirely due to the way your brain responds to Ketamine,gets used to it and then struggles to cope when you stop using it.
Experiencing withdrawals is everything to do with science and nothing to do with willpower, or a lack of it.
What Does Ketamine Addiction Treatment Involve?
Treatment starts with an assessment.
An addiction clinician will usually need to understand how much Ketamine is being taken, how long it has been used, how it is taken, any other drug use, alcohol intake and prescribed medication and your underlying general and psychological health.
While there are some people whose Ketamine use is sporadic, most are physically dependent on it (meaning if they do not use they become unwell).
Treatment, nearly always, involves residential rehab and this is because of the significant physical withdrawals when you stop taking Ketamine.
Some clients can be treated, either at home or as an outpatient, but for Ketamine, this is the exception rather than the rule.
The experienced addiction clinicians at Find Me a Rehab can help you identify the best fit for your needs with a CQC registered rehab centre that provides expert medical care, addiction specialised group and individual therapy as well as relapse prevention and aftercare.
Treatment centres, usually, operate on a 12 STEP model but non 12 STEP centres are available.
For those who do not want to undertake group work, there are a handful of centres that use an entirely one to one therapy approach.
Ketamine, Alcohol and Other Drugs
Ketamine is a very strong anaesthetic.
It is designed to suppress your Central Nervous System (CNS) which is also what alcohol does.
If you take Ketamine, as well as drink alcohol you are going to run into trouble because your CNS will be very significantly impaired.
This can, in some situations, be fatal.
There is no medication that can be given for Ketamine overdose.
If you mix Ketamine with stimulants such as MDMA and Cocaine, you run the risk of seizures due to the effect the two drugs have on the brain.
Ketamine can either raise or lower your blood pressure and heart rate, as can Cocaine and MDMA.
A combination of stimulants and Ketamine can cause a heart attack, stroke or fatality.
Due to the way the brain develops, young people, under the age of 25, are at far greater risk of immediate and long term damage if they take Ketamine, especially if they mix it with other drugs.
Get The Help You Need Today with Ketamine Addiction Treatment.
Low-cost available treatment is available if you need to find a rehab. For free 24-hour rehab advice and to find a residential rehab centre UK call 0333 041 9922.
Contact UsFree Clinician-Led Rehab Advice
Find Me a Rehab is a clinician-led advisory, signposting and referral service.
The service is completely free to use and totally confidential.
It's addiction clinicians have many decades of experience across private rehab centres, outpatient services, NHS and local authority funded (free to use) services, prisons, private hospitals and other treatment settings.
Find Me a Rehab states that only signposts clients to legally registered services. If private treatment is not the right option, the team can also provide information about local authority funded (free to use) services.
You can learn more about Find Me a Rehab and how the referral service works before making an enquiry.
Get Help With Ketamine Addiction Treatment
You do not need to decide on a treatment plan or choose a rehab centre before asking for advice.
Start by explaining, to one of our addiction clinicians, what you are taking, how often you take it, what happens when you take it and what happens when you stop taking it. It will also help if you explain about any other drugs and alcohol you use and prescribed medications.
Contact Find Me a Rehab for free and confidential advice about Ketamine addiction treatment and suitable referral options. Call 0333 041 9922 or email info@findmearehab.net. The helpline is available 24/7, every day of the year.
Frequently Asked Questions on Ketamine Addiction Treatment
Unsurprisingly, we get asked a lot of questions, to make things easier for you, we have included some of the most common one below.
Why does Ketamine damage your bladder?
Ketamine is processed in the Liver which, in turn, produces a chemical called Norketamine which leaves the body in urine.
When urine goes through the bladder, this chemical attacks the protective lining of the bladder.
Healthy cells, in the bladder lining, are killed off , a process known as apoptosis.
This leads to chronic pain, inflammation and passing blood clots when you pass urine.
Frequent, very painful, urine infections are not uncommon.
Some people need to be permanently catheterised and may even need a bladder transplant.
Can I go cold turkey with Ketamine?
No.
While there is no detox for Ketamine in the same way there is for Alcohol or Heroin it would be extremely dangerous, to say the least, to attempt to go “cold Turkey” with Ketamine.
When you stop taking Ketamine , aside from the crushing psychological reactions which can lead to suicidal thinking, your blood pressure and heart rate will spike. Without the correct medical monitoring and treatment this can lead to stroke, seizures and death.
How does Ketamine affect your brain?
Users will tell you that Ketamine provides more of a trip than LSD or PCP because the effects are shorter in duration, typically 30 minutes to an hour rather than several hours.
Slang terms, relating to the effects are not uncommon and include:
“K land” : A mellow and colorful experience
“K Hole” : Out of body/near death experience
“Baby food”: Users report sinking into a blissful, infantile inertia
“God”: Users are wholly convinced that they have met their maker
Ketamine produces rapid effects and it only takes a few minutes for the effects to take hold.
When injected, the effects are even quicker.
It is not unknown for users, several weeks after using Ketamine, to report a condition known as Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD). When this happens, the user can experience the same negative side effects as they did when they initially took the drug.
Ketamine can also cause agitation, depression, cognitive impairment, amnesia and unconsciousness.
How does Ketamine affect your body?
Very shortly after taking K the user will experience an increase in both heart rate and blood pressure, this spike will begin to drop after about ten to twenty minutes, during this time it is likely that the user will not be able to respond to stimuli. When under the influence of Ketamine at this early stage, the user will experience:
- Rapid eye movement
- Dilated pupils
- Excessive drooling
- Tearing from the eyes
- Muscle stiffness
- Feeling sick
If excessive amounts are taken it can render the user unconscious and cause dangerously slow breathing and death.
Why do people who use Ketamine need a catheter?
Ketamine is processed in the Liver which, in turn, produces a chemical called Norketamine which leaves the body in urine.
When urine goes through the bladder, this chemical attacks the protective lining of the bladder.
Healthy cells, in the bladder lining, are killed off , a process known as apoptosis.
This leads to chronic pain, inflammation and passing blood clots when you pass urine.
Frequent, very painful, urine infections are not uncommon.
Some people need a bladder transplant.
Many need a catheter to relieve the pain of going to the toilet.
How is Ketamine addiction treated in a residential rehab centre?
There is no detox for Ketamine as there is for alcohol or heroin.
However, as with all admissions to a residential treatment center, the first stage is a thorough assessment with a clinician.
A treatment plan may well include various medications to reduce the signs and symptoms of withdrawal.
Ketamine, as with cocaine and cannabis (amongst others) is a drug that users stop taking immediately before admission and the aim of the treatment plan is ensure that the user is fully supported in a safe and therapeutic environment during the withdrawal phase which, as above, could be up to two weeks.
While some centers have enhanced medical cover, they can not treat the long lasting effects of Ketamine cystitis and someone seeking treatment may be required to share medical information from their GP and hospital consultant.
Close medical monitoring may be needed for the first few days, especially with regards to pulse and blood pressure monitoring.
Medication such as Diazepam or another benzodiazepine for a few days on an as and when required basis may help as may beta blockers and other adjunctive medications.
The main focus is on providing a safe, therapeutic and calming environment so that the person can safely withdraw and stay abstinent.
As with all admissions , those entering treatment will be participating in a therapeutic environment based, either on a 12 step or SMART recovery model.
In addition, many centers augment this with music and art therapy, yoga, mindfulness, breathing exercises and , for those staying more than a week, individual therapy.
Those in treatment build up a mental toolkit of resilience and techniques to prevent relapse and capitalize on recovery capital: This is using motivating factors for becoming abstinent and learning how to maintain it.
Clients are linked in with local support groups (NA/SMART) so that they can continue on their recovery post discharge.
Can I have a home detox for Ketamine addiction?
Possibly.
If your Ketamine use is sporadic and you are not physically dependent on it, then it may be possible to arrange treatment at home.
This would involve sessions with an addiction specialist therapist and clinician.
You would be encouraged to participate in a local recovery group.
Should you be physically dependent, you would only be able to have a detox at home with 24/7 live in expert nursing care and the supervision of a consultant psychiatrist (addiction specialist). This can be arranged but is very cost prohibitive.
Is that a medication to stop Ketamine craving?
No.
Cravings occur because, when you stop taking Ketamine (as with any drug) your brain, which has become used to you taking Ketamine and adjusted to it, needs time to readjust.
While your brain readjusts it sends out incorrect chemical messages. It is these that cause the withdrawals.
When you are in withdrawal, the brain tells you what you already know: Taking Ketamine will stop the cravings.
There is no medication that will stop the cravings though there are medications that can help you to overcome the withdrawals.
With Ketamine, medication, during the withdrawal stage, can be life sustaining.
How long do I need to go to rehab for Ketamine addiction?
Rehab provides four elements of treatment:
- Detox
- Group and individual therapy
- Relapse prevention
- Aftercare
In rehab, the therapy programme is a rolling one. This means you can join on any day of the week: Even Christmas day.
While there is no detox, as such, medication can often be absolutely essential when stopping Ketamine.
There are different stages of Ketamine withdrawal:
- Acute (24-72 hours)
- Sub acute (3-7 days)
- Protracted (1-4)
- Long term (one month to a year)
There are some centres that will admit you for a week.
As clinicians we fully understand that cost is a very significant factor when deciding on treatment.
If you are able to stay for, at least two weeks, you stand a better chance of lasting abstinence.
Should you go into rehab for a week, you may find that you experience, when you go home:
- Lingering depression, fatigue, and occasional cravings may persist.
- Insomnia and emotional dysregulation gradually start to improve.
What is the cheapest Ketamine rehab for a week?
£1,975
Our addiction clinicians can signpost you to a fully CQC registered, fully staffed, rehab centre with 24/7 nursing and support staff cover and in house clinicians with a full therapy team and 7 day a week therapy sessions for £1,975 a week.
Still Have Questions on Ketamine Addiction Treatment?
Take a look at some more frequently asked questions.
Call UsMichael Imonirhua
Michael has been a qualifed substbance misuse practitoner since 2007.
He overcame his own addiction and thrives in recovery by using is lived experience to enhance his work with clients.
He is extremely passionate about person centred care having experienced the drawbacks of traditional community service provision.
Michael holds diplomas in:
* Counselling
* Conflict management
* Group work
* Cognitive behavioural therapy
* Advanced group facilitation
Michael maintains a busy caseload of clients who are overcoming addiction as well as those seeking treatment for PTSD, tramua and other mental health conditions.
In addition Michael is a skilled and experience educator and trainer aside from his role as clinical director of a private treatment service in London.
Contact Support for Ketamine Addiction Treatment
if you find yourself in need of assistance at any hour, we're here to support you around the clock.
Whether it's the dead of night or the crack of dawn, our team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, ready to lend a helping hand whenever you require it.
So, if you ever find yourself in a pinch or simply need someone to talk to, don't hesitate to reach out.
We're committed to being there for you whenever you need us, no matter the time.
We only signpost to legally registered centres.