Ketamine Uropathy Treatment
If you are using ketamine recreationally, your first line of defense is to stop using ketamine recreationally. It is progressively, and for 25% of you, irreversibly damaging your urinary tract. No treatment can counteract the damage that ketamine is doing every time you use.
SUPPLEMENTS
Some supplements used for interstitial cystitis may help to calm and soothe the bladder in patients with ketamine uropathy, including:
LACTOFERRIN was found in a 2024 study to reduce redness and inflammation in the bladder and almost completely healed lesions in patients with IC. It also reduced inflammation throughout the body, which makes it our first suggested choice.
BLADDER BUILDER, BLADDER REST and CystoProtek are chondroitin supplements that help to coat the bladder wall.
Palmitoylethanolamide (PEAORA) was found to progressive reduce pain and discomfort in 87% of IC patients over time.
ALOEPATH® combines the soothing effect of aloe with PEA for painful urinary flares.
SELF-HELP - DIETARY MGT
The first thing that every bladder and prostate patient learns, very quickly, is that certain foods and beverages can make bladder pain and symptoms much much worse. Thus, diet modification is vital so that you avoid foods that could be irritating your bladder even more. (1)
In general, foods high in acids, foods that can stimulate nerves (caffeine) in the bladder, foods high in histamines and foods high in salt are usually avoided for three to six months for interstitial or ulcerative cystitis. We assume that this would also be helpful for patients with ketamine cystitis. We have much more information on the diet at icnetwork.org.
CONVENTIONAL TREATMENTS
Therapies that can help reduce irritation and inflammation are vital. Luckily, the treatment protocol used for interstitial cystitis is available, including oral medications, amitryptiline, hydroxyzine) and intravesical instillations (anesthetic cocktails, rescue instillations, heparin instillations). Please note, however, that the data on the effectiveness of these therapies in treating ketamine induced bladder damage simply does not exist at this time.
Researchers in Canada found that the oral medication Elmiron (pentosan polysulfate) offered some symptomatic relief (1). Unfortunately, Elmiron® has been linked to progressive eye and bowel damage.
Robert Moldwin MD (USA) reported that he treats this aggressively with oral and intravesical agents, particularly the use of anesthetic cocktails comprised of lidocaine, marcaine, triamcinolone and heparin sodium. (2)
A Hong Kong research team shared one experience with bladder augmentation used to expand bladder capacity in an end stage patient. Unfortunately, the patient continued ketamine use after surgery, resulting in more serious complications. However, the authors report that other centers have found success in reducing symptoms and improving voiding through substitution cystoplasty (3). Several more case reports have been published documenting the success of various bladder surgeries.
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