Taipei City Hospital

Huang Ming-Chyi, attending doctor of the Addiction Prevention and Treatment Department in Taipei City Hospital Songde Branch, says that Ketamine is often abused together with ecstasy to increase the pleasure of taking ecstasy and cause the central nerve to produce hallucinations. Ketamine was originally used to induce anesthesia; its main functions were to relieve pain and relax muscles.

Some people say that taking ketamine is harmless to the health and that a small dosage won’t be addictive. When you believe this and start to try it, you will be at the point of no return. Ketamine has been commonly considered as a low-addictive and harmless drug, but this is not true.

Dr. Huang points out that Ketamine has a lot of side effects, including immediate supraventricular tachycardia after taking it, hypertension, muscular clonus and sudden death. Some people will experience nausea, headache, unconsciousness, unreasonable behaviors and even such psychotic symptoms as hallucinations and delusions, which will make the addicts have decreased reactions and even face danger, together with severe loss of coordination and decreased pain perception.

The researches also show that Ketamine can affect the cognitive ability and cause poor memory, inattention and decreased logical thinking ability. The toxicity of Ketamine can induce interstitial cystitis accompanied by frequent urination, painful urination, bloody urine, lower abdominal pain and other symptoms. In severe cases, there will be hypourocrinia and even artificial bladder surgery will be needed, which will affect the renal function in the long term or lead to hydronephrosis and acute renal failure.

Long-term use of Ketamine will lead to increased dosage as well as psychological and physiological dependence. After stopping the intake of Ketamine, such symptoms as sleep disorder, melancholia, dysphoria, strong desires and severe anxiety will appear. If the patient has already suffered bladder damage, the lower abdominal pain and painful urination will be aggravated and the addict will take Ketamine again to alleviate the pain and melancholia, which will lead to a vicious cycle, intensifying the emotional and body imbalance, and consequently affecting academic or work performance and damaging interpersonal relationship, especially causing serious conflict with other family members.

Thus, Dr. Huang warns us that if you or people around you are taking Ketamine, you should not belittle the damage of Ketamine. Stop using it and seek professional help immediately, so as to recover a healthy body and mind.