'Ketamine made me someone I didn't want to be'

A recovering ketamine addict has described how the Class B drug controlled his life.

Finley Worthington said he was 18 when he first took the powerful horse tranquiliser drug, and six months later he was using it daily.

The 26-year-old is set to speak about the dangers of the drug at an event in Blackburn.

He said: "I very naively thought I could take it and get away with it because I could eat, sleep, go to work and afford it. The sad thing is, you find out very soon about the consequences."

Finley described how, at one point, he was seeing blood in his urine through prolonged exposure, yet it got to a stage where that became normal to him.

"The first time I saw it it kind of scared me, but by the time it gets to this you're in addiction.

"It got to a point where if I didn't see blood in my urine, that was more worrying than seeing blood," he said.

The talk being held in Blackburn will be chaired by Finley and children's doctor Dr Nigel Laycock.

Dr Laycock, from Blackpool Teaching Hospital, said ketamine's rise "worried" him more than a lot of other things he had seen in the 20-plus years he had been a children's doctor.

One of the many side effects of prolonged usage of ketamine is developing what is called a 'ket bladder' - where the user suffers from incontinence.

Health body Fylde Coast Medical Services (FCMS) has been trying to improve education and awareness of ketamine, amid a rise in its usage across the Fylde Coast.

The rise along along the Fylde Coast is in keeping with the problem nationwide.

According to a government report, the number of people being treated for ketamine misuse in 2025 in England is more than 12 times higher than the same figure in 2015.

Finley, who now runs a support group for recovering addicts in Burnley, said he also got into debt to fuel his habit and his relationships broke down.

"I became the person that I really didn't want to become," he said.

The FCMS said the condition was "serious and often debilitating", which could affect users of "any age".

The body said early-diagnosis was vital, with symptoms including frequent trips to the toilet, trouble sleeping and a "hot knife" pain in the lower abdomen and pelvis.

Dr Laycock said: "Ketamine causes difficulties at an earlier age for those who are taking it - with it causing damage to the kidneys and bladder."

He added ketamine renders the bladder harder, and smaller, meaning over time it stops working and can sometimes start to leak.

"People talk about it as a bit of a laugh, but ketamine can be a real killer," he said.

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