'I knew I had a problem but I didn't stop - then jelly started coming out of me'

A woman has spoken out about the severe side effects ofketamine misuse.

Megan Taylor, 22, from Walton, Merseyside, tried ketamine for the first time when she was 18 and did not realise the drugshe would take "once every few months" would take over her life. By 20, Megan's ketamine use became more frequent after she became pals with "the wrong people."

She eventually started to take the drug daily and even used it when on her own. "I knew it was a problem, but I didn't want to stop," she told the Echo.

Megan was diagnosed with ADHD when she was five and autism at about four or five, and believed this played a part in her addiction. She added: "I needed a routine and once I got into taking the ket every day, I had to stick to that routine. My routines can't just change."

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Her drug use continued and Megan started to experience so-called "ket cramps" on Boxing Day in 2022. The side effect left her feeling as though someone was "stabbing her in the ribs," only subsiding when she took the drug again.

She did not realise at the time this was a severe side effect of the drug that would continue for months. Megan added: "It [ket cramps] was making me burn myself with a hot water bottle just to try and get rid of the pain.

"My back was all scarred, my belly was scarred. The pains were that bad I couldn't go out with my mates without having to bring that hot water bottle with me and sit in places looking like a scruff."

Ketamine use caused Megan to lose weight and she dropped to 4st 11lbs. She was left "blowing out blood and scabs" after she damaged the inside of her nose and was hospitalised several times as a result of her drug use.

She said: "Eventually, it [side effects] got into my bladder. I was going in and out of the hospital with water infections and yet again I didn't have a clue that it [ketamine] did that to the bladder back when I started taking it.

"So I just kept taking it. I was in that cycle then of just taking it." She added: "The symptoms you get with ket bladder is like someone pouring boiling water into your bladder. It's just burning and burning and burning. Then it's swollen.

"I had so many bits of like, jelly, coming out of me. I didn't realise until a few months ago that this is the lining of your bladder. There's no saving your bladder, you're going to end up with a bag. I know people don't want that."

Regular and high dose ketamine misuse can also cause severe bladder, urinary tract and kidney damage and in severe case can lead to the bladder being removed. The latest government figures show the drug's usage among 16-24 year olds in England has tripled since 2016.

Around 269,000 people aged 16-59 reported using ketamine in the year ending March 2024. Megan was put into detox in the Hope Centre on July 30, 2025 and she has now reached more than four weeks without taking the drug.

She told the ECHO: "I just imagine it being my kids. I just think it's awful. A bit more awareness needs to be raised about it because I don't think people realise how serious it is and I don't think kids realise how bad the drug is."

Megan added: "I want to try and raise as much awareness as I can around ket. I personally think it's a devil's drug. It's not made to be put in humans, it's a horse tranquiliser. You're getting it when it's mixed with all sorts. It's not just ket.

"Heroin is in ket, fentanyl is in ket. It's all mixed with anything. I feel better in myself than I ever thought I would be. I thought I was going to die off this drug."

In a message to those considering using the drug, Megan said: "Just stop while you can. When you get the ket cramps and bladder pain, you're going to wish you never, ever took it."