Psychedelic Mushrooms Grew in a Man's Veins After He Injected Them

gizmodo ^ | 01/12/2021 | Ed Cara

[BenLurkin]

Days before the ER visit, he had decided to use mushrooms by first boiling them down into what he called “mushroom tea,” then filtering the mixture through a cotton swab and intravenously injecting it. Soon after, he developed symptoms including lethargy, jaundice, diarrhea, and nausea, along with vomiting up blood.

By the time he was admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit, multiple organs had started to fail, including his lungs and kidney. Tests revealed that he had both a bacterial and fungal infection in his blood, meaning that the mushrooms he injected were now literally feeding off him and growing. Among other treatments, he was given an intense course of antibiotics and antifungal drugs.

At the time his doctors had finished writing the case up, though, he was still being treated with a long-term course of antimicrobials.

McKnight and his co-authors note that psychedelic mushrooms—consumed in a safe way—really do seem to be hopeful treatments for depression and substance use disorders. There are ongoing efforts to legalize these drugs for psychiatric use in the U.S. (Oregon became the first state this November to do so), but in the meantime, there will be people who turn to them as an alternative or in addition to their current treatments on their own, as this man did. For those people, it’s important to emphasize the potential risks of these drugs and the safest ways to use them. Though mushrooms can cause side effects like nausea and increased anxiety, for instance, they’re not thought to pose much risk of serious long-term harm, assuming you’re not injecting them.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Dude!

[fishtank]

Drugs + Stupid = No surprise

[jacknhoo]

Dumb as the day is long.

[Carriage Hill]

Why do people do such stupid shit?

[chopperk]

Not surprised this is out of Oregon. The whole state is on drugs.

[BBB333]

Breakfast Customer: ‘Waiter, can you bring me a cup of Constant Comment, some cream, a two foot length of surgical tubing and a new syringe?”

Happens ALL the time...

[Candor7]

The injection is scientifically interesting.

Maybe we have a symbiotic cure for cancer.

[EEGator]

[Hot Tabasco]

The Colorado river toad is famous for the hallucinatory effects one gets from licking it. The question is, who was the first idiot to try it?

"Hey dude, there's a toad, lets lick it and see what happens,,,"

[showme_the_Glory]

So he’s a farmer?

[cnsmom]

IOR med school applicant or Gates Vaccine researcher.

[Dutch Boy]

"Why do people do such stupid shit?"

Nature's way of thinning the herd.

[NY Cajun]

... and he never had to pay to get high again for as long as he lived. (which was for about 3 days).

[wildcard_redneck]

"The Colorado river toad is famous for the hallucinatory effects one gets from licking it. The question is, who was the first idiot to try it?"

Frynophilia.

[Fresh Wind]

Not surprised this is out of Oregon.

I would have guessed Floriduh.

[Delta 21]

Dont harsh my buzz, bump!

[ConservativeInPA]

What a strange trip that must have been.

[Carriage Hill]

Good point!

[Carriage Hill]

I remember that years ago. Never even crossed my mind, so I guess i’m OK.