Man injects mushroom tea in vein, lands in hospital

A dose of mushroom tea proved too costly for a man who, in the hope of finding a cure for his mental issues, landed in hospital with multiple organ failure and fungal infections, and nearly died.

According to a report published in the Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, the 30-year-old man was brought to a Nebraska hospital by his family after they noticed he was suffering confusion.

The man was type 1 bipolar disorder and started taking self medications after stopping prescription drugs. It was during one his manic depressive bouts, that he read about the effects of psilocybin on depression and anxiety and decided to try it out. This drug is found in psychedelic mushrooms or magic mushrooms.

According to a study conducted by Johns Hopkins and New York University on cancer patients who experienced anxiety and depression, after being given psilocybin, a number of patients showed an improvement in their symptoms.

The man, then boiled the mushrooms in water, filtered the liquid through a cotton swab, and then injected himself with the liquid. Few days later, he started suffering lethargy, jaundice, diarrhoea and nausea. It took a serious turn when he started vomiting blood.

Noticing this, family members then took him to the emergency room, where he was found to be suffering from multiple organ failure, including the kidney and liver disfunction.

Blood tests revealed that he had a bacterial and fungal infection, and the mushroom had started growing in his veins.

He was treated with an intense course of antibiotics and anti-fungal drugs, following which he recovered. He was discharged from the hospital and has been put on long-term anti-fungal medicines to prevent the mushrooms from regrowing.