A man was admitted to hospital after injecting a ‘tea’ he made from magic mushrooms, and the fungus began to grow in his veins.
A report published in the Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry doctors describes a 30-year-old man, called ‘Mr X’ for anonymous purposes, who attempted to do self-medication for opioid dependence and depression. Doctors only took notice when he was brought by his family to the emergency department, who was worried about his state of confusion.
The family reported that he had recently stopped using medication prescribed for type I bipolar disorder, after which he began to swing between depressive and manic mood states. During this period, he began researching the therapeutic effects of microdosing on LSD and psilocybin, a natural psychedelic drug produced by more than 200 species of mushrooms.
Numerous trials have shown that the compound can have psilocybin therapeutic effects, including the relief of major depression, as well as anxiety and existential anxiety in patients with fatal diseases. However, it is all in controlled trials where the drug has been taken orally. Mr. X obtained magic mushrooms and prepared the so-called “mushroom tea” by pouring boiling water on the fungus, which contains the water-soluble psilocybin.
Drinking mushroom tea is a method used by some users of the drug. Mr. However, X took the unusual step of preparing it for injection by pulling it through cotton before injecting the concoction into his veins.
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After the injection, he began to develop a number of problems. When his family discovered him days later, he had jaundice, nausea, diarrhea, extreme confusion and vomited blood. His organs began to fail, including his kidneys and his lungs, and he sustained an acute liver injury. His heart rate was elevated and he experienced septic shock. In essence, things did not look good in any way, and he was placed in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Clots that formed in his blood needed examination and treatment. In perhaps the worst part of the case study, the team describes how they took cultures out of his blood and found that ‘the kinds of mushrooms he injected are now growing in his blood’.
Whether the fungus growing in his blood contributed to his confusion is not clear, given the other problems that occurred in his body at the time.
“It is unclear whether active intravascular infection with a psychoactive fungus such as Psilocybe cubensis ‘can cause persistent psycho-effects as seen with the ingestion of the same species, which can further contribute to changes in perception and cognition,’ ‘the team wrote in the report, adding that the case emphasizes the need to educate the public about the dangers of drug use. in ways not prescribed.