How Does Ketamine Affect Your Heart
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The heart is a muscle that never rests. From before you are born until the last day of your life, it beats about a hundred thousand times a day, pushing blood to your brain, your lungs, your muscles and every other part of your body. It does this work quietly, without you having to think about it, and most people only notice their heart when something goes wrong: a fast beat after running, a thump of fear, a pain in the chest. Ketamine is a drug that can make the heart work harder, beat faster and less evenly, and raise blood pressure, and those changes can be dangerous, especially for a person whose heart is already weak, or who takes the drug again and again.
Ketamine is used by doctors as an anaesthetic in hospitals, in carefully controlled settings, where trained staff watch the heart, the blood pressure and the breathing throughout. Outside a hospital, the same drug is sometimes taken without any of that care, and that is where the danger to the heart begins. In a hospital, the amount is measured, the patient is checked first, and help is there at once if the heart rate rises too high or the blood pressure climbs. Outside a hospital, the amount is unknown, the person may have taken other substances as well, and there may be no one nearby who knows what to do if something goes wrong. A drug that is managed safely in one setting can be dangerous in another, and the heart is one of the organs that pays the price.
This article explains, in plain words, how ketamine affects the heart: why it can make the heart race, why it can raise blood pressure, how it can disturb the normal rhythm of the heartbeat, and what the risks are for people whose hearts are already under strain. It is general information, not individual medical advice. It does not tell anyone how to use ketamine, and it does not suggest any dose or method. If you are worried about your heart, or about someone you care about, a qualified health professional is the right person to talk to, and chest pain, breathlessness or fainting should always be treated as urgent.
How It Strains the Heart
The heart works best when it beats at a steady pace and at a pressure that suits the body. Ketamine disturbs that balance. It stimulates the part of the nervous system that prepares the body for action, the same system that makes your heart beat faster when you are frightened or excited. When ketamine is taken, the heart rate often rises, sometimes sharply, and blood pressure often rises with it. The heart has to push harder against that higher pressure, and it has to do so more often, because it is beating faster. For a healthy heart, that extra work may be manageable for a short time. For a heart that is already weak, or for a person who has high blood pressure, heart disease or an irregular heartbeat, that extra work can be too much.
Think of the heart as a pump that has to work every second of every day. A pump can cope with a short burst of extra work, but if it is forced to work hard again and again, day after day, it wears down. Ketamine can create that pattern. Each time it is taken, the heart is pushed to beat faster and harder than it should, and over time, that repeated strain can weaken the muscle. The heart may become less able to pump blood efficiently, and the person may notice that they get breathless more easily, that they tire more quickly, or that their chest feels tight or uncomfortable. These are signs that the heart is struggling, and they should not be ignored.
The strain is worse when ketamine is taken alongside other substances. Alcohol, stimulants and other drugs that affect the heart can add to the strain, and the combination can push the heart rate and blood pressure higher than any one drug would on its own. A person who takes ketamine at a party, after drinking, or after taking another drug, is asking their heart to cope with several pressures at once, and the heart may not be able to do it. That is one of the reasons that deaths linked to ketamine often involve other substances as well. The danger is not only in the drug itself, but in the way it combines with everything else the person has taken, and in the setting where it is taken, far from medical help.
Rhythm Problems to Watch
A healthy heart beats in a steady rhythm. The top chambers fill with blood, the bottom chambers pump it out, and the whole cycle repeats in a smooth, regular pattern. That rhythm is controlled by small electrical signals in the heart, and ketamine can disturb those signals. When the rhythm is disturbed, the heart may beat too fast, too slowly, or in an uneven pattern. A person may feel their heart fluttering, skipping a beat, pounding in their chest, or racing for no clear reason. These feelings, which doctors call palpitations, are a sign that the heart is not beating normally, and they should be taken seriously.
In some people, ketamine can trigger a fast, irregular heartbeat that does not settle quickly. The heart may beat so fast that it does not have time to fill properly between beats, so less blood is pumped out with each beat, and less oxygen reaches the brain and the body. The person may feel dizzy, light-headed, breathless or faint. They may feel anxious or frightened, and they may not know what is happening to them. In a hospital, staff can watch the heart on a monitor and act at once. Outside a hospital, the person may be alone, or with friends who do not know what to do, and the minutes spent waiting can matter a great deal. Anyone who feels faint, very breathless or in pain in the chest after taking any drug should seek emergency help straight away.
The risk of rhythm problems is higher for people who already have a heart condition, even if they do not know about it. Some people live with an irregular heartbeat, a damaged heart valve, or a heart that has been weakened by earlier illness, without ever having been told. Ketamine can bring that hidden problem to the surface, suddenly and without warning. That is one of the reasons the drug is dangerous for people who have never had their heart checked. They may believe their heart is healthy, because they have never had a problem before, and then discover, in the worst possible way, that it was not. A heart problem that has never caused symptoms can still become serious when the heart is pushed hard by a drug.
When the Heart Is Already Weak
Not everyone who takes ketamine has the same risk. A young person with a healthy heart may cope with the extra strain for a short time, although the risk is still real. A person whose heart is already weak faces a much greater risk, and that risk deserves to be said plainly. People with high blood pressure, heart disease, a previous heart attack, heart failure, an irregular heartbeat, or a family history of early heart disease are more likely to be harmed by ketamine. So are older people, whose hearts have already worked for many decades and may have less reserve to cope with extra strain. So are people who smoke, who have diabetes, or who carry extra weight, because all of those things already place a burden on the heart.
For a person with a weak heart, ketamine can do more than make the heart beat faster. It can raise blood pressure to a level that strains the blood vessels, including the vessels in the brain, and that raises the risk of a stroke. It can disturb the heartbeat in a way that the heart cannot correct on its own. It can reduce the amount of blood the heart pumps, so the brain and the body receive less oxygen, and the person may feel confused, weak or faint. These are not small effects. They are the signs of a heart that is being asked to do more than it can do, and the consequences can be severe. A person who knows they have a heart problem should not take ketamine at all, and a person who is unsure about their heart should talk to a doctor before taking any drug that affects the heart, rather than finding out the hard way.
There is another group at higher risk that is easy to forget: people who are already ill, tired, dehydrated or overheated. A person who has been dancing for hours in a hot, crowded room, who has not drunk enough water, and who then takes ketamine, is placing their heart under strain from several directions at once. The heat makes the heart work harder to cool the body. The lack of water makes the blood thicker and harder to pump. The drug makes the heart beat faster and raises blood pressure. Together, those pressures can overwhelm a heart that might have coped with any one of them alone. That is why heart problems linked to ketamine often happen in exactly those settings: late at night, in a hot room, after hours of dancing, when the body is already exhausted and the heart is already working hard.
The Heart and the Heat
Heat and the heart are closely linked, and ketamine makes that link more dangerous. When the body gets hot, the heart beats faster to push blood to the skin, so heat can escape. When the body is dehydrated, the blood becomes thicker, and the heart has to work harder to push it around. When a person takes ketamine in a hot, crowded place, after dancing or moving for hours without drinking enough water, the heart is already working hard before the drug takes effect. The drug then pushes it harder still, raising the heart rate and the blood pressure further, and the heart may struggle to keep up.
Overheating can also change how the body handles the drug itself, and it can make the effects on the heart less predictable. A person who is hot and dehydrated may feel the drug more strongly, or for longer, than they expected, and they may not realise how much trouble their heart is in until they feel dizzy, sick or faint. The warning signs of overheating, feeling very hot, sweating heavily or not sweating at all, feeling confused, feeling sick, having a very fast heartbeat, are easy to miss in a loud, crowded room, where everyone is hot and tired. That is why anyone who feels unwell in that setting should move to a cooler place, drink water if they can swallow safely, and seek help, rather than waiting to see if the feeling passes.
It is also worth knowing that ketamine can affect the body’s ability to sense temperature and to judge how hot it is. A person on ketamine may not realise they are overheating, because their brain is not putting the signals together properly. They may keep dancing, keep moving, keep taking more of the drug, while their body temperature climbs and their heart works harder and harder. That loss of awareness is one of the most dangerous things about the drug, because it removes the very warning system that would normally tell a person to stop, to rest, to drink water, or to get help. The heart does not have a voice of its own. It relies on the brain to notice the warning signs, and when the brain is dulled by ketamine, those warnings can go unheard.
A Faster Pulse, A Harder Job
The most common effect of ketamine on the heart is a faster pulse. Most people who take it notice their heart beating harder and faster than usual, and that feeling can be frightening, especially if they were not expecting it. A fast pulse is not just uncomfortable. It is a sign that the heart is working harder than it should, and that it is using more oxygen to do that work. The heart muscle itself needs oxygen to keep beating, and when it beats very fast, it needs more oxygen, while at the same time, the fast beating gives it less time to receive that oxygen between beats. That is a difficult balance, and in a person with narrowed heart arteries, it can lead to chest pain, because the heart muscle is not getting enough oxygen for the work it is being asked to do.
Blood pressure often rises alongside the heart rate. Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries, and when it rises sharply, it places strain on those walls, including the walls of the blood vessels in the brain, the kidneys and the eyes. A sudden rise in blood pressure can cause a headache, dizziness, blurred vision, or a nosebleed, and in a person with weak blood vessels, it can raise the risk of a stroke or a bleed in the brain. These are serious outcomes, and they can happen without much warning. A person who feels a sudden, severe headache, who cannot see clearly, or who feels weak on one side of the body after taking ketamine should seek emergency help at once, because those can be signs of a stroke, and strokes need treatment quickly.
Over time, repeated rises in heart rate and blood pressure can leave a lasting mark. Blood vessels that are stretched again and again can become stiffer and less able to cope with changes in pressure. The heart muscle, forced to work harder again and again, can become thicker and less flexible, and a thick, stiff heart does not pump as well as a healthy one. These changes do not happen in a single evening. They build up over months of repeated use, quietly, in the same way that the brain changes build up quietly. A person may feel fine the morning after, and still be carrying the effects in their heart and blood vessels, in a way that only becomes obvious when the heart is put under strain again, by exercise, by illness, or by another dose of the drug.
What a Bad Day Looks Like
It helps to understand what a bad day with ketamine and the heart can actually look like, because the warning signs are often missed until it is too late. A person may take ketamine and feel their heart racing, but they may think that is normal, or that it will pass. They may feel hot, sweaty and breathless, but they may blame the room, or the dancing, or the drink they had earlier. They may feel a tightness in their chest, but they may think it is anxiety, or indigestion, or a stitch from dancing. They may feel dizzy when they stand up, but they may sit down and wait, thinking it will settle. Each of these signs on its own can seem small. Together, they are a heart asking for help, and the longer they are ignored, the greater the danger.
In the worst cases, the heart can stop beating properly altogether. The rhythm can become so fast and chaotic that the heart cannot pump blood at all, and the person collapses. This is called a cardiac arrest, and it needs help within minutes, or the person may not survive. A cardiac arrest linked to ketamine is more likely when the drug is taken with other substances, when the person is overheated or dehydrated, or when the person already has a heart problem. It is also more likely when no one nearby knows what to do. If a person collapses and is not breathing normally, the people around them should call emergency services at once and start chest compressions if they know how, rather than waiting to see if the person wakes up. Knowing basic first aid, and knowing where the nearest help is, can make the difference between life and death in those minutes.
It is important to say that most people who take ketamine do not have a cardiac arrest, and this article is not trying to frighten people with a rare outcome. But the risk is real, and it is higher than many people realise, because the heart effects of ketamine are often talked about less than its effects on the brain. A person who takes ketamine thinking only about how it will make them feel, and not about what it will do to their heart, is missing half the danger. The heart does not announce its problems loudly. It whispers, in a fast pulse, in a tight chest, in breathlessness, in dizziness, and those whispers are easy to miss in a loud room, late at night, when everyone is tired and no one is thinking clearly.
Protecting the Heart Starts With Honesty
The simplest way to protect the heart from ketamine is not to take it outside medical care. That is easy to say and hard to do, especially for a person who has come to rely on the drug, or whose friends all take it, or who does not believe the risk applies to them. But it is the truth, and it deserves to be said plainly. No amount of ketamine taken without medical supervision is safe for the heart, and the risk is higher for people with heart problems, high blood pressure, or a family history of heart disease, and for people who take it with alcohol or other drugs, or in hot, crowded places. If you know you have a heart problem, the safest choice is to avoid ketamine entirely, and to talk to your doctor about what that means for you.
For people who do take ketamine, or who are worried about someone who does, honesty is the first step. Honesty with yourself about how often you take it, and about what it is doing to your body. Honesty with a doctor, who can check your heart, your blood pressure and your overall health, and who can explain what help is available, without judgement. Honesty with the people around you, so that if something goes wrong, they know what you have taken and can tell the medical staff who arrive to help. Medical staff are not there to punish anyone. They are there to save a life, and they can do that better when they know the truth. A person who is afraid to tell the truth about what they took is in more danger than a person who tells it straight away.
There are also practical steps that reduce risk, although none of them make unsupervised use safe. Avoiding alcohol and other drugs at the same time, avoiding hot, crowded places, drinking water, resting, and not taking more of the drug when the effects are already strong, all reduce the strain on the heart. But these steps are not a guarantee. They lower the risk; they do not remove it. The only way to remove the risk is to stop taking ketamine outside medical care, and that is a decision that is easier with support. A doctor, a drug support service, or a trusted friend can help a person make that decision and stick to it, and asking for that help is a sensible step, not a sign of weakness.
The Strain Builds Over Time
The heart remembers strain, even when the person does not. Each time ketamine pushes the heart to beat faster and harder, the heart muscle and the blood vessels carry a small amount of that strain forward. Over weeks and months, that strain adds up. The heart may become less able to cope with exercise, with illness, or with stress. Blood pressure may stay higher than it used to be, even on days when the drug was not taken. The person may notice that they get breathless walking up stairs, or that their heart pounds after a small amount of effort, or that they feel tired more often than they used to. These are not the signs of getting older, or of being unfit, although those things can play a part. They can also be the signs of a heart that has been strained again and again by a drug, and that is now struggling to do its ordinary work.
The good news is that the heart, like the brain, can recover when the strain stops. Blood pressure often falls after a person stops taking ketamine. The heart rate settles. The heart muscle has a chance to rest, and over months, its ability to pump blood can improve. That recovery is not instant, and it is not guaranteed to be complete, especially if the heart was already damaged, but it is real, and it is worth working towards. A doctor can check how the heart is doing, can explain what has improved and what still needs care, and can help a person make the changes that give the heart the best chance to recover. Stopping is the most important step, and it is a step that is easier with support, not alone.
It is also worth remembering that the heart does not work alone. It works with the lungs, the brain, the kidneys and the whole body, and when one part is harmed, the others feel it too. Ketamine harms the brain, it can harm the bladder, and it strains the heart, and those harms add up together to make a person less healthy overall. A person who stops taking ketamine is not just protecting their heart. They are protecting their brain, their bladder, their mood, their sleep and their ability to live a full life. That is a lot to gain from a single decision, and it is a decision that deserves support, patience and respect, not judgement.
My Take:
What stays with me about ketamine and the heart is how quietly the damage builds. The heart does not complain loudly. It does not send a clear message the first time it is strained. It beats a little faster, it works a little harder, and then it settles, and the person thinks nothing has happened. But the strain has happened, and the next time, the heart has a little less reserve, and the time after that, a little less again. By the time the person notices that they are breathless on the stairs, or that their chest feels tight, or that their heart pounds after a small effort, the damage has been building for months, and the person has already lost ground that is hard to win back. That quiet build-up is what makes ketamine dangerous for the heart, because it does not look dangerous in the moment.
I think the faster pulse is the part people understand least. A fast heartbeat feels exciting, or frightening, or simply strange, and people often think it will pass, and usually it does pass. But a fast heartbeat is the heart working harder than it should, and a heart that works harder than it should, again and again, wears out sooner. I would rather people understood that clearly than discovered it after a scare. The heart is not a machine that can be pushed without cost. It is a muscle, and muscles that are overworked without rest become weaker, not stronger. Ketamine asks the heart to work hard, and it does not give the heart the rest it needs to recover, because the drug is often taken again before the heart has settled from the last time.
What worries me most is the person who does not know their heart is already weak. Some people live for years with high blood pressure, or with a heart that is not pumping as well as it should, and they never know, because they have never had a check, and they have never had a symptom. Then they take ketamine, and their heart, which was already struggling, is pushed beyond what it can do, and the result is a collapse, or a hospital admission, or worse. That is a tragedy, and it is a tragedy that could have been avoided by a simple check, or by a simple decision not to take the drug. I think anyone who is thinking about taking ketamine should know that, and should think about it seriously, because the risk is not only for people who already know they are ill. It is also for people who do not know.
I also think about the setting, because the setting makes the risk worse. A hot, crowded room, hours of dancing, not enough water, alcohol, other drugs, and then ketamine on top of all of that, is a recipe for a heart in trouble. The heart is already working hard to cool the body, the blood is already thicker because of dehydration, and then the drug pushes the heart rate and the blood pressure higher still. It is not hard to see how that ends badly, and yet it happens again and again, because in that moment, no one is thinking about the heart. Everyone is thinking about the music, the friends, the feeling, and the heart is forgotten until it stops working properly. I would ask anyone in that setting to think about their heart, and about the hearts of the people around them, and to take the warning signs seriously: a racing pulse, a tight chest, breathlessness, dizziness, feeling faint. Those are not small things. They are the heart asking for help.
If someone asked me what to do, I would start with the simplest advice: do not take ketamine outside medical care, and if you have a heart problem, do not take it at all. That sounds strict, and it is strict, but it is strict because the heart is not something to gamble with. If you have already taken it, and you feel unwell, do not wait to see if it passes. Seek help, tell the medical staff what you took, and let them do their work. They are not there to judge you. They are there to save your life, and they can do that better when they know the truth. I know that telling the truth can feel hard, especially when you are frightened, but it is the bravest and the wisest thing you can do in that moment.
I think about the people who love someone who takes ketamine, because they carry a lot of worry in silence. A parent who notices their child coming home breathless, or tired, or complaining of chest pain, may not know what to say, and may be afraid of pushing the child away. A partner who watches someone they love take a drug that strains their heart may feel helpless, and may not know how to help. If that is you, I would say that noticing is already a good step, and that talking to a health professional about what you have seen is a sensible thing to do. You do not need to have all the answers. You need to start a conversation, and to let the person know that you care, and that help is available. That conversation can be the beginning of a change.
I am also honest about the fact that stopping is hard, and that the heart does not recover overnight. Blood pressure falls slowly. The heart rate settles slowly. The ability to walk up stairs without getting breathless returns slowly. That slowness can be discouraging, and it can make a person wonder whether stopping was worth it. It was worth it, and it is worth it, because every week without the drug is a week in which the heart is not being strained, and every month without it is a month in which the heart has a chance to heal. Recovery is not a single moment. It is a direction, and if the direction is right, the heart will follow, slowly but surely.
Finally, I would say this to anyone who has never taken ketamine: do not start. There is nothing in those few hours that is worth the risk to your heart. The heart you have is the only one you will ever have, and it has to last you a lifetime. It beats a hundred thousand times a day, without rest, without complaint, and it deserves to be treated with care. Do not ask it to work harder than it should, for a feeling that passes in a few hours, and do not gamble with it in a hot room, late at night, far from help. Walk away from the first offer, and your heart will thank you for it, quietly, beat by beat, for the rest of your life.
I want to add one more thing, because it matters, and that is about blame. People who take ketamine are not foolish, and they are not bad people. Many of them started because they were curious, or because they were struggling, or because everyone around them seemed to be doing it, and by the time they understood the harm, they were already caught in the pattern. Blaming them does not help their heart. Listening to them, supporting them, and giving them honest information does. If you are reading this because you are worried about yourself, I would ask you to be kind to yourself, and to take one practical step today: talk to a health professional, get your heart checked, and talk to a drug support service if you need help to stop. You do not need to fix everything at once. You need to start, and starting with a check on your heart is a good place to begin.
I keep thinking about how easy it is to miss the warning signs, and how important it is not to miss them. A fast pulse, a tight chest, breathlessness, dizziness, feeling faint, a sudden severe headache, blurred vision, weakness on one side of the body: these are not things to wait out. They are things to act on, at once, by seeking emergency help. I know that in the moment, it can feel easier to wait, to hope it passes, to not make a fuss. But the heart does not wait, and the minutes spent waiting can be the minutes that matter most. If you remember one thing from this article, I hope it is this: when the heart warns you, listen, and get help. That listening can save a life, and it may save your own.
I also think about the cost in ordinary terms, because the heart does not live apart from the rest of a life. The money spent on ketamine is money that does not go to rent, to food, to a course, or to a saving for the future, and over months it adds up to a large sum. The time is a cost too: hours lost to the drug, hours lost to feeling tired and breathless the next day, hours that could have been spent working, learning, resting properly, or being with people who matter. And there is a cost that is harder to count, which is the worry that a person carries when they know their heart is not right but they keep taking a drug that strains it. That worry sits in the background of every day, and it takes its own toll on sleep, on mood, and on the ability to enjoy ordinary life. When I add those costs together, I see a drug that takes a great deal and gives very little back, and that is a practical reason to stop, alongside all the health reasons.
There is another point I do not want to leave out, and that is how a heart problem changes the people around a person. A partner who watches someone they love come home breathless, or pale, or complaining of chest pain, carries that worry with them, and may not know what to say. A parent who sees a child struggling to climb stairs, or fainting, or looking grey and tired, may feel frightened and helpless. Those feelings are real, and they deserve to be taken seriously, because a heart problem does not affect only the person whose heart it is. It affects the whole household, in worry, in hospital visits, in money spent on care, and in the fear of what might happen next. Stopping is not only a gift to your own heart. It is a gift to the people who love you, because it takes some of that worry away, and it gives them back a person who is healthier, stronger and more present.
I would also ask people who have never taken ketamine to think about what they would say if a friend offered it to them. It is easy to say yes in the moment, when everyone else seems to be doing it and the offer feels friendly, and it is much harder to say no. But saying no is not rude, and it is not a sign that you are afraid or boring. It is a sign that you value your heart, your health and your future more than a few hours of feeling distant from the world. If you are the person who says no, you may also be giving the person next to you the courage to say no too, and that is a small act that matters more than it looks.
One last thing I would say is that getting your heart checked is never a wasted step. A doctor can measure your blood pressure, listen to your heart, and tell you plainly how it is doing, and that knowledge is useful whether you have taken ketamine or not. If the check finds a problem, you will be glad you found it early, when something can still be done about it. If it finds nothing wrong, you will have the peace of mind of knowing your heart is healthy, and a clear reason to keep it that way. Either way, a check is a small step that can make a large difference, and it is a step I would urge anyone who is worried to take.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is most at risk from Ketamine heart effects?
People with high blood pressure, heart disease, a previous heart attack, heart failure, or an irregular heartbeat are most at risk, as are older people and people with a family history of early heart disease. People who smoke, have diabetes, or carry extra weight also face a higher risk, because those things already strain the heart. The risk is also higher for anyone who takes ketamine with alcohol or other drugs, or in a hot, crowded place when they are dehydrated or exhausted. Anyone who is unsure about their heart should talk to a doctor before taking any drug that affects the heart.
Why does Ketamine make the heart race?
Ketamine stimulates the part of the nervous system that prepares the body for action, the same system that makes your heart beat faster when you are frightened or excited. That stimulation raises the heart rate and the blood pressure, so the heart has to work harder and faster than usual. The effect is strongest while the drug is active, but with repeated use, the heart can stay under strain for longer, and the pulse may take time to settle after stopping.
Does Ketamine raise blood pressure?
Yes, ketamine often raises blood pressure, sometimes sharply, because it stimulates the nervous system and makes the heart beat faster and harder. A sudden rise in blood pressure places strain on the blood vessels, including those in the brain, and can cause headache, dizziness or blurred vision. In a person with weak blood vessels or existing high blood pressure, it can raise the risk of a stroke. Blood pressure usually falls after use stops, but repeated rises over time can leave the vessels stiffer and less able to cope.
Can Ketamine damage your heart?
Yes, it can. Each time ketamine is taken, the heart is pushed to beat faster and harder, and repeated strain over weeks and months can weaken the heart muscle, making it less able to pump blood efficiently. It can also disturb the heartbeat, raise blood pressure, and strain the blood vessels. A person may notice breathlessness, tiredness, or a tight feeling in the chest. Some of the damage can improve after stopping, but the recovery is slow and may not be complete if the heart was already damaged.
Can Ketamine cause a heart attack?
Ketamine can raise the risk of a heart attack, especially in a person whose heart arteries are already narrowed, because it makes the heart beat faster and work harder while giving it less time to receive oxygen between beats. The risk is higher when ketamine is taken with other drugs, when the person is overheated or dehydrated, or when they already have heart disease. Chest pain, breathlessness or fainting after taking ketamine should always be treated as urgent, and emergency help should be sought at once.
Is chest pain after Ketamine dangerous?
Yes, chest pain after taking ketamine should always be taken seriously. It can be a sign that the heart muscle is not getting enough oxygen for the work it is being asked to do, or that blood pressure has risen sharply, or that the heartbeat has become irregular. Chest pain, especially with breathlessness, sweating, dizziness or pain spreading to the arm or jaw, needs emergency help straight away. Do not wait to see if it passes, and tell the medical staff what was taken, so they can help as quickly as possible.
