Overview
- Ellie Wight says weekend ketamine use in her late teens escalated to daily heavy use and she has been clean for about 10 months while living with permanent bladder damage.
- Doctors diagnosed her with ketamine urinary tract syndrome, a condition in which repeated ketamine exposure causes bladder scarring, extreme pain, urgent need to urinate, blood in urine and reduced bladder capacity.
- Ellie reports her bladder now holds about 50–100ml compared with a normal 300–600ml, she has received intravesical Botox to ease symptoms and she continues to need ongoing urological care.
- She estimates the addiction cost her roughly £35,000 and has set up a peer support group, SSKR, plus fundraising efforts including a planned 96‑mile walk to raise money for recovery services.
- The case has fed a wider debate over ketamine policy after a coroner linked a death to long-term use, but the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs reviewed and decided not to upgrade ketamine from Class B.