Ketamine Side Effects & Symptoms - Footprints to Recovery

Many signs of ketamine addiction can be obvious, while others might be harder to notice. If you believe someone you know is abusing ketamine, it’s important to learn about the signs and symptoms.

What Is Ketamine?

Ketamine comes in a white or off-white powder or clear liquid. The powder is snorted or smoked, often in tobacco or marijuana cigarettes. In its liquid form, ketamine is either injected or mixed into drinks.

Ketamine’s street names include:

Special K
Super K
Super Acid
Vitamin K
Purple
Kit Kat
Cat Valium
Jet K

Ketamine has a reputation as a “club drug” since it is frequently abused by young adults and teens at dance clubs and raves, despite being a legal anesthetic for both humans and animals. Ketamine usage, however, has major negative effects, such as disorientation, memory loss, elevated heart rate, and in extreme situations, the possibility of permanent kidney and bladder damage.

What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Ketamine Use?

Physical Signs of Ketamine Addiction

Physical changes can be some of the first noticeable differences in someone abusing drugs. The short-term physical signs of abuse can start to appear minutes after the drug is taken. The long-term physical signs will be present after extended ketamine abuse. Make sure to pay close attention if you notice these symptoms, as they could be signs of addiction.

Short-term physical signs of ketamine addiction include:

Dilated pupils
Disorientation or confusion
Agitation
Raised blood pressure
Loss of coordination
Changes in processing of sights, sounds, shapes, and time
Being frequently distracted
Decreased ability to feel pain

Behavioral Signs of Ketamine Addiction

Drug abuse and addiction can severely impact your behavior. There are short and long-term effects of ketamine that can include symptoms ranging from changes in mood to changes in how you interact socially. It is important to pay attention to these signs in conjunction with the physical symptoms of ketamine abuse.

Behavioral signs of ketamine addiction include:

Withdrawing socially
Aggression
Disrupted sleep (insomnia)
Slurred speech Long-term behavioral signs of ketamine addiction include:
Continued use despite negative impact on work or health
Craving for the drug
Developing a tolerance (needing to take more to get the same effect)
Withdrawing from family or friends

Mental and Emotional Signs of Ketamine Addiction

While the effects of long-term abuse of dissociative drugs are still being studied, there have been documented mental and emotional symptoms. For example, studies report that there can be long-term adverse effects on the brain, including impaired memory recall after extended abuse. There have also been reported long-term effects on mood.

Mental and emotional signs of ketamine abuse include:

Poor memory
Difficulty paying attention
Hallucinations
Feeling detached from yourself or your environment
Anxious feelings

Slang Terms for Ketamine Side Effects

There are a couple more things to keep in mind about the signs of Ketamine abuse. For example, there are several slang terms associated exclusively with experiences had during ketamine use, such as:

K-hole – An out-of-body, near-death experience, this experience can be terrifying for the user and can make them feel as if they are completely detached from their senses.
Baby food – A blissful and childlike experience
K-Land – A colorful and calm experience
God – Feeling as if the user has had a divine experience

If you have heard a loved one use these terms to describe an experience they had, they could be abusing ketamine.

Long-Term Effects of Ketamine

Ketamine, initially celebrated for its anesthetic properties, has increasingly become a substance of abuse with significant long-term consequences that extend far beyond its temporary dissociative effects.

Unfortunately, chronic use of ketamine can lead to severe psychological issues. Long-term mental and emotional side effects of ketamine addiction include:

Anxiety
Depression
Detachment from reality
Memory lapses
Poor recall
Persistent flashbacks

As a dissociative drug, ketamine can warp reality, causing people to feel cut off from both their environment and themselves. Along with lingering feelings of panic and anxiety, this can also result in dissociative episodes stretching from weeks to months or even years after using ketamine. Long-term ketamine use can also impair your memory and cause depressive or delusional thinking.

Mental and emotional symptoms of ketamine addiction make daily functioning challenging, affecting relationships, employment opportunities, and the ability to engage in meaningful life activities. Often, the illusion of escape that ketamine provides can lead people to continuously use and abuse the drug, exacerbating mental health issues and potentially leading to dependence or addiction.

Physiologically, long-term ketamine abuse wreaks havoc on the body. Long-term physical side effects of ketamine addiction include:

Bladder pain
Painful urination
Blood in urine
Bladder ulcers and reduced bladder capacity, or “ketamine bladder syndrome”
Urinary tract issues
Liver damage
Abdominal pain also known as “k-cramps”
Potentially irreversible harm to the central nervous system

Ketamine is also commonly taken with other substances. If used with high levels of alcohol or other depressants, it can cause respiratory distress or even death.

The cumulative effect of these physical ailments combined with cognitive decline underscores the critical need for awareness about the dangers of long-term ketamine usage. This also highlights the importance of seeking help early to mitigate the consequences of ketamine abuse and addiction.

Withdrawal Symptoms from Ketamine Addiction

The abuse of dissociative drugs, such as ketamine, can lead to dependency. This means your body becomes dependent on the substance and reacts negatively when the drug is no longer taken. If you experience symptoms once you are no longer taking ketamine, you could be experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Common withdrawal symptoms are:

Headaches
Sweating
Cravings for the drug
Shaking

If you or a loved one is exhibiting symptoms of ketamine addiction or withdrawal, it is important to seek professional help immediately.

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How To Get A Loved One Help for Ketamine Addiction?

Although the long-term adverse effects of dissociative drug use are still being studied, there have been reports of physical, emotional, and mental symptoms documented after long-term abuse. Also, while it is rare, there have also been documented deaths associated with ketamine abuse. With that in mind, it’s important to pay attention to changes in behavior and address those changes with your loved ones.

Talking to a loved one about suspected ketamine abuse can feel scary and daunting, but approaching them with care and without judgment can go a long way. They may be defensive when discussing the addiction, but explaining your concern and being knowledgeable about options for help can be beneficial. Keep in mind that those struggling with their addiction often go to great lengths to hide it, and being faced with it can be extremely difficult.

So while it can be a challenging conversation to have, it can also lead to your loved one getting the help they need. It can be comforting to know what to expect if you or your loved one decide to seek treatment for an addiction.

Don’t Wait Too Long to Get Help

When seeking treatment for addiction, the first step is usually detoxification or detox. This is the process of removing drugs from the body, and it should ideally be done while managing withdrawal symptoms under the supervision of medical professionals.

After the detox process, the recommended next step is individual mental health counseling. In counseling, individuals learn about triggers for their substance abuse. They then learn about healthy coping strategies to use when exposed to these triggers. They’ll learn other helpful tools as well, like how to build a support system and how to avoid high-risk situations in sobriety. There are many different treatment options available. The option that is right for you or your loved one depends on the severity of the ketamine addiction. You can learn more about the different options here:

If you or a loved one is struggling with ketamine addiction and you would like more information, contact Footprints to Recovery treatment center. All calls are free and confidential. We’re happy to help you find the best option available for ketamine addiction treatment for you or your loved one.