A 25 year-old whose life has been ‘ruined’ by a popular party drug has warned others never to touch it — adding she wouldn’t wish the side effects on her ‘worst enemy’.
Paige Collins, from Hampshire, first began taking the addictive anaesthetic ketamine aged 19 during nights out with friends.
But within a year, the ‘once in a blue moon’ habit morphed into a destructive addiction that saw her snorting the drug most days and spending around £1000 a month.
At her worst, she was using between five and 10 grams of the class B substance everyday — roughly 30 times the dose experts consider to be ‘high’.
Despite quitting her habit nine months a go, she’s been left with irreversible damage to her organs.
Specifically, her bladder has been practically destroyed, causing her to urinate the lining of the organ (which she described as ‘jelly’).
It has dramatically shrunk, meaning the organ can now hold just a shot glass worth of liquid — five per cent of the amount of a healthy bladder.
She is now unable to work due to complications related to her bladder problem.
Paige Collins said the health problems caused by her ketamine habit left her unable to leave the house
‘I want to raise awareness as I know the physical and emotional pain this has caused me and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy,’ she said.
The warnings follow the tragic death of drag star The Vivienne — whose real name was James Lee Williams — from a cardiac arrest caused by the effects of taking ketamine.
Recalling how the addiction began, Ms Collins said: ‘I was 19 — my friend asked me to get some for a rave we were going to and it started from there.
‘It started as a once-in-a-blue-moon thing then it was a weekend thing then [it] started picking up during covid to once a week, then several days and then every day.
‘Initially I really enjoyed it. It took me three years to realise I was addicted.’
Over time, she started to develop unpleasant symptoms.
‘It started with more frequent toilet trips, but after a little while I started peeing jelly,’ she said.
Ms Collins was using the toilet around 50 times a day, and had began to excrete the lining of her bladder.
Her bladder shrunk dramatically and can now accomodate just 5 per cent of the volume of liquid of a healthy bladdder
Ms Collins described herself as a ‘party girl’, but has been clean for nine months
‘I had absolutely no clue this could happen,’ she said. Despite these alarming complications, she struggled to quit.
‘It was awful, I was in pain,’ she said. ‘I was stuck in a cycle of waking up, doing it, crying, saying I’m never going to touch it again then picking it up again.
‘It was ruining my life. I couldn’t go out for four or five months of 2023, I didn’t leave the house.’
She first sought medical help in 2021, when she visited her local hospital complaining of abdominal pain — which drug users ofter refer to as ‘K cramps’.
But it wasn’t until January 2023 she was finally given her first ultrasound and a cystoscopy where doctors discovered her bladder had drastically shrunk.
‘They’ve said the damage is irreversible. There’s nothing I can do to make my bladder the way it once was.’
She now regularly undergoes bladder instillation treatment, where a liquid medicine is inserted to help with pain, and attempt to stretch her bladder.
She’s sharing her story to warn of the dangers of ketamine use.
‘Ket was an escape mechanism for me, which I know it also is for lots of other people,’ she said.
‘I was a party girl. Even now I still like going out dancing, but I don’t take ket when I go out.
‘Ketamine can have a devastating effect on people from all different backgrounds, including celebrities.’
