The gist of the following tale is that I had what I was told was seizure the other night while I was on shrooms, and I'd like to figure out, as best as possible, if the shrooms were indeed to blame and to what extent there is a danger of this recurring.
From the beginning, with all the variables covered:
I went to see some concerts this past weekend. Night one, I drank a healthy amount of beers, had a nice trip, smoked a tiny bit of pot, and got a few hours of sleep.
The next day, I had lunch and drove by myself to the next city. I stopped at a beer store/bar there and had about 4-5 beers starting at about 5pm. I went to my hotel, had another beer or two, summoned Uber, and got to the venue by about 8 pm. Recommenced drinking beers and started taking shroom capsules by probably 9 pm or so. I had brought at least 15 with me, at 0.4+ grams each, and gave away 4 to some other people but, over the course of the night until around 1:30 am, consumed all the rest. So a little over 4.5 grams, I think. These are potent shrooms (I can get pleasantly high off just 2 capsules). I also had some caffeine pills with me and I took at least two of those. At around midnight I also hit someone's vape pen. I think it was wax or oil (as opposed to flowers). I continued to drink beers until the show ended a little shy of 2 am.
I remember the concert ending, and the next memory I have is being on the floor right by one of the exits with people surrounding me. They said I had had a seizure. I could tell I'd bit my tounge and lower lip. I was very confused but I kept telling these people I understood what they were telling me and that everything was fine. Then, I go out of it again and the next thing I know I was standing, looking at a woman who was talking on a phone asking me how old I am. I started to answer and then said "wait, who are you talking to?" I knew it had to be some kind of authorities. She said "I'm calling an ambulance." I insisted I was OK and verified when she asked that I was denying medical treatment. Another woman urged me to go outside for air, which I did. I leaned against the building for a while, scared and shaken.
Soon I went back inside to thank the employee who was there looking after me and also collect my credit card at the bar. I was still shook up but was able to talk reasonably coherently to the people inside. I went back out, pulled up Uber and got my ride back. I was, again, impaired but not unable to communicate with my driver. I spent the next few hours at my hotel room trying to make sense of what had happened.
I have no history of epilepsy. I did faint once in high school after being struck on the knee (doctors speculated a pressure-point situation) and then I had a seizure that they think was because I landed face-first on the asphalt; subsequent brain scans were negative. The only other fainting spell I've had was about 11 years ago and was likely due to overheating. No seizure then.
So, I'm now left wondering: - What caused me to collapse? Again, the factors could include: fatigue, drunkenness, caffeine, dehydration, body heat, undernourishment, marijuana and of course an unusually (for me) high dose of shrooms. - Did I in fact seize? That's what the people were saying, but most of them seemed rather fucked up themselves. Would there be a difference between seizing and other forms of spasm or convulsion? Could the seizure (or whatever it was) have been caused by my falling (as seems to have been the case in high school) rather than inextricably related to it? - Am I at risk of repeating this incident, and if so, what might trigger it? Just mushrooms? If so, any amount or just a recklessly large amount?
I have no problem taking an indefinite break from mushrooms in the wake of this, but I'm sure it won't be long before I would like to consider myself not permanently retired. I do not, however, want to worry that the next time, or any subsequent time, could result in the same episode.
I've seen a few reports around the web of people experiencing seizures with shrooms, and reputable sources confirm this risk, but it seems to be mysterious as to what the risk factors or subsequent risk levels are.
Thanks!
Edited by Anonymous (12/16/14 08:07 PM)
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