Ketamine addiction treatment: what the assessment involves and costs

Key points

• The first step is a confidential online questionnaire about your health and your ketamine use, answered in your own time.
• The assessment costs £299, which is held on your card and only taken if the clinicians accept you for treatment.
• If you are not accepted, the hold is released and nothing is charged.
• You upload photo ID, the clinical team reviews your answers, and a private video consultation follows once you are accepted.
• Detox at home is only for people a clinician has assessed as suitable, who also have a safe home and a nominated carer.
• There is no obligation to go on to detox after the assessment, and detox alone is not the whole of recovery.

Who is the first step for?

The assessment is for adults who use ketamine and want medical help to stop, or who are not sure what kind of help they need. You do not have to be certain about everything before you start. The questionnaire is designed to let you explain your use, your worries and the kind of help you are looking for.

Many people put this off because they feel ashamed, or because they have tried to stop before and found that cravings, anxiety, poor sleep or low mood pulled them back. That pattern does not mean you lack willpower. Stopping ketamine can be hard, and a structured plan with clinical oversight often gives you a better footing than trying alone.

You may be reading this for someone else. If so, the assessment has to be completed by the person who uses ketamine, because it asks about their own health and use. You can help by sitting with them, talking through what to expect, and, if they agree, offering to be considered as their nominated carer. More on that role below.

When this is not the right route first

Some situations need urgent medical care before any assessment. Seek help straight away if you have any of the following:

• Blood in your urine.
• Difficulty passing urine, or being unable to pass urine.
• Severe abdominal or bladder pain.
• Severe confusion, or thoughts of ending your life.

Call NHS 111 for urgent advice, or 999 if the pain or symptoms are severe or you are in danger. Do not try home remedies, painkillers or more ketamine for pain. Ketamine can damage the bladder and urinary tract, and these symptoms need proper medical assessment.

What are the steps from first enquiry to recovery support?

The clinic sets out its ketamine detox at home process in six steps. This section follows them in order and adds the practical detail of what you do and what you will see at each one.

Make an initial enquiry

You begin by completing the initial questionnaire on the clinic's website. It lets you explain your ketamine use, your concerns and the kind of help you are looking for. It is confidential and you answer it online in your own time, so you can stop, think and come back to it.

The online assessment has four stages: Answers, Plan, Details and Payment. First you answer the confidential questions about your health and your ketamine use. Then you choose your plan, and the first plan is the assessment itself. Next you give your details, and finally you pay.

The payment is held on your card, not taken. It is only taken if the clinicians accept you for treatment. If they do not, the hold is released and nothing is charged. When you are ready, you can start the online assessment.

Arrange your assessment

You are offered an appointment with a clinician. The initial assessment costs £299, and where appropriate the consultation takes place by video. Before that appointment, a few things happen behind the scenes.

Once you have sent your assessment, the clinic emails you a private link to upload photo ID. The clinicians cannot accept anyone for treatment until the ID is in, so uploading it promptly avoids delays. The clinical team then reads your answers and checks your photo ID. This is the clinical review.

If you are accepted, the payment is taken and the clinic emails to tell you. If you are new, you are asked to set up your patient account. The clinic then emails a link to arrange your video consultation, and you book and join a private video consultation from your patient account.

Comprehensive clinical assessment

This is the conversation with the clinician. You discuss your ketamine use, your physical and mental health, other substances, prescribed medicines and previous attempts to stop. The clinician uses this to understand your risks and work out whether community detox is suitable.

Any test kits are sent to your address. You do not have to give a urine sample in front of staff. A temperature gauge on the kit confirms the timing of the sample, so your privacy is protected.

Your individualised treatment plan

If community detox is appropriate, the clinician explains the approach, the follow-up, any medication, your carer's responsibilities and when you would need more medical care. Plans are individual because there is no single medication or standard prescription that suits everyone withdrawing from ketamine.

Where it is clinically appropriate, a clinician may consider medicines for specific symptoms. For example, a short course of a sedative such as diazepam may be considered after assessment, limited to a maximum of seven days at the start. It carries risks, including drowsiness and dependence, which is why it is only used with careful judgement and monitoring.

Your nominated carer completes a brief suitability assessment with the clinician and signs the safe storage of medication agreement before any medication is supplied for storage at home.

Begin supported detox

You follow the agreed plan with daily nursing contact and your carer's support, and the clinical team reviews your progress. The daily nursing check-ins run for the first 7 to 10 days, at a time arranged with you. Follow-up continues for up to one month.

The 7 to 10 days is a period of active support, not a guaranteed recovery window. Your recovery follows your actual symptoms rather than a fixed timetable.

Continue with recovery support

After the initial detox phase, the clinic encourages psychological, social and medical support, including counselling, relapse prevention and peer support. The clinician arranges support after detox. Stopping ketamine is the start of recovery, and these ongoing supports address the reasons use continued.

What will the questionnaire ask you?

The questionnaire is more specific than most people expect, which is a good sign. Clear, honest answers help the clinician spot risks, avoid potentially dangerous medication interactions and recommend a suitable treatment pathway. The questions cover:

• About you: your contact preferences, an emergency contact and your GP.
• Your ketamine use: how often and how much you use, for how long, and any previous attempts to stop.
• Other substances: alcohol, other drugs and any prescribed or bought medicines.
• Your health: bladder and abdominal symptoms, physical health and mental health.
• Your home and support: your nominated carer, children at home and safe storage of medication.
• Your goals: what you would like to achieve by working with the clinic.

Please include everything, including substances or medicines you feel uncomfortable mentioning. Your safety matters more than embarrassment. Withdrawal from alcohol or benzodiazepines can sometimes be life-threatening, and ketamine treatment cannot be planned safely without knowing what else you take. The clinician decides whether other substances need managing together, in stages or in a different setting.

How much does the assessment cost, and when is the money taken?

The initial assessment is £299. It is the first payment, made through the online assessment. The hold on your card is a reservation of that amount. It becomes a payment only if the clinicians accept you for treatment after reviewing your answers and ID.

You pay at each stage rather than paying for the whole pathway upfront. That is why there is no obligation to go on to detox after the assessment. If detox goes ahead, the standard community detox is £650. Additional post-detox support, where it is needed, is £100 to £250 and is arranged by the clinician.

For eligible people, a community programme of up to about one month may be available for less than £1,000, depending on the assessment, the services needed and the agreed package. That is not a guarantee of suitability, or that every person's treatment will fall within that amount. The clinic explains the proposed care and fees before you decide.

Further investigations, specialist referrals, or medicines not in the agreed package may carry separate charges. These are explained before you agree to them. The £650 detox fee includes drug screening and blood pressure monitoring.

How to stop taking ketamine without going it alone

Some people stop ketamine without professional help. It can be difficult, though, especially with heavy use, health problems, or use of alcohol, sedatives or other drugs alongside it. Without an assessment, you may miss complications that need treatment and find cravings or low mood hard to manage.

Withdrawal can include anxiety, irritability, low mood, poor sleep, strong cravings, fatigue, headaches, sweating, abdominal cramps and bladder symptoms. Some bladder or urinary symptoms may come from the damage ketamine has caused rather than from withdrawal, and they should not be assumed to disappear when you stop. They need medical review.

A plan built around you can include advice on stopping and managing cravings, guidance on sleep, food and fluids, and a clear idea of when to seek more help. Daily nursing check-ins are a support, but they are not continuous observation and cannot detect every complication remotely. If you need closer medical supervision, community detox may not be suitable.

Is private ketamine treatment or ketamine rehab right for you?

The most important question is not what you can afford. It is what is clinically appropriate and safe for you. The assessment is how that gets decided.

Private ketamine treatment at home

Private ketamine treatment by video suits people who are medically and psychologically suitable for community treatment, with a safe home and a nominated carer. It may suit you if you prefer to recover at home, have family or work responsibilities that make residential care hard, or want a more affordable option. You must be willing to take part in assessment, monitoring and follow-up.

It does not suit everyone. Home treatment may be unsafe with serious physical complications, significant psychiatric symptoms, suicidal risk, dangerous withdrawal from another substance, complex medical needs, or no adequate support at home.

Ketamine rehab and residential care

Residential detox and ketamine rehab can be appropriate, and sometimes necessary, for people with more complex needs. If the assessment finds community treatment unsuitable, the clinical team explains why and helps you consider an alternative. The priority is the safest effective treatment, not keeping someone in a community programme at all costs.

What a nominated carer does

A nominated carer is a trusted friend, family member, neighbour or support worker who is reliable, willing to take part and free from active drug misuse. That requirement is a practical safety measure, not a judgement. The carer may help you follow the daily plan, keep medication secure, record doses where asked, notice changes in your health or alertness, and contact the clinical team when symptoms worsen.

They do not need to be with you 24 hours a day in every case. The level of supervision depends on your assessment, medicines and risks, and it is agreed in advance.

What should you have ready before you start?

A little preparation makes the process smoother:

• A phone or computer with a camera and a private place where you can talk freely.
• A photo ID, ready to upload when the clinic emails the private link.
• A list of any prescribed or bought medicines you take.
• Details of your GP and an emergency contact.
• A person you could ask to be your nominated carer, and a conversation started with them.
• A card with enough available balance for the £299 hold.

You do not need to have everything perfect. Be as honest as you can, and the clinician will work with what you tell them.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to go ahead with detox after the assessment?

No. The initial assessment is a standalone service and does not oblige you to proceed. You pay at each stage rather than for the whole pathway upfront, so you decide after the clinician has explained the proposed plan, any medication, the follow-up and the fees. If community detox is not suitable, the clinical team explains why and helps you consider alternatives.

Why does the clinic ask for photo ID?

Once you have sent your assessment, the clinic emails a private link for uploading photo ID. The clinicians cannot accept anyone for treatment until it is in. The clinical team checks it alongside your answers as part of the clinical review. Uploading it quickly helps your application move on, because acceptance and payment both wait for it.

What happens if I am not accepted for treatment?

If the clinicians do not accept you, the hold on your card is released and nothing is charged. The clinical team may identify that community treatment is not safe for you, for example because of other health needs or the absence of support at home. In that case they explain why and help you consider a more suitable option.

Do I have to give a urine sample in front of staff?

No. Any test kit is sent to your address, and you do not give the sample in front of the clinic's staff. A temperature gauge on the kit confirms the timing of the sample. The standard detox fee includes drug screening, and the test is a 10-panel kit that checks for a range of drugs, not just ketamine.

Can I be treated if I also use alcohol or other drugs?

Possibly, but it needs careful assessment. Withdrawal from alcohol or benzodiazepines can sometimes be life-threatening, so you should never assume everything can be stopped together. Tell the clinician about every substance and medicine you take. They decide whether substances should be managed together, in stages or in a different setting.

What if I have bladder pain or urinary symptoms?

Mention them in your questionnaire and assessment. Ketamine can cause significant damage to the bladder and urinary tract, and these symptoms need medical evaluation rather than being treated as withdrawal alone. Blood in your urine, being unable to pass urine or severe pain needs urgent medical attention. Call NHS 111, or 999 if it is severe.

Is detox enough to overcome ketamine dependence?

Detox can help you stop using ketamine and manage immediate health needs, but it does not necessarily address the reasons use continued. The clinic encourages psychological, social and medical support afterwards, including counselling, relapse prevention and peer support. Bladder or urinary problems may also need continued medical review.

How quickly will I recover?

There is no guaranteed timeline. Some symptoms may ease over the first days or weeks, while cravings, low mood and urinary problems can last longer. The first 7 to 10 days of daily nursing contact and follow-up for up to one month are designed to support you through the early period. Follow-up matters even when you begin to feel better.

Starting your assessment

At Adexcel Clinic, the next step is simple: start your assessment. It is confidential, you answer in your own time, and there is no obligation to go on to detox afterwards. If you or someone you care about is in danger, call 999, call NHS 111 for urgent medical advice, or ring Samaritans free on 116 123.

Pricing

Prices can change, and the current price is on the website.