Can shrooms kill you?

[Trek234]

My friend just told me her sister (16) is throwing up/biting her self and generally going crazy because of some shrooms she took. (like the kind from cow manure) She has some drug problems.

But I'm wondering if shrooms can kill you? She's used to this and I'm sure if it was worse than before she would be freaking out... but wondering if there may be some need for a doctor? Already asked her if she thought it was needed, but she says it's not. So I suppose I'm just wondering for future reference... My drug experience doesn't go beyond very rare alcohol/smoking/and second hand marihuana but I have friends that do hard stuff so it could help to know these things...

on edit: Apparently she's mostly over it now. apparently she took them a while ago... this is common for her unfortunately. Her sister and parents are taking care of it but I don't know much else about it.

[proud patriot]

1. Call Poison Control and ask them please

NOW ....

[prolesunited]

2. That is NOT

a normal reaction to shrooms. She definitely needs medical attention NOW!

[bslater523]

3. Not likely.

They aren't very toxic, and unless they caused you to do something stupid (just like alcohol could) they're rather safe. Though some people with pre-existing psychological problems could have them excaberated. Check out www.erowid.com They have lots of really good information on just about any drug you could think of.

[G_j]

4. only if they are poison variety

,

[Old and In the Way]

5. There are poisonous mushrooms.

If you don't know what you have, I wouldn't risk it....call someone now.

Psyliciban (sp) usually has stomach discomfort too (from what I can remember), but I don't recall vomiting. Peyote will make you physically sick, too.

[hedda_foil]

6. YES

Some varieties of mushrooms are extremely poisonous and can definitely kill you. Call 911 and get an ambulance for her NOW!

[curse10]

7. No

they cannot.

They are good for you.

But I'm drunk. donm't take mu advice.

[dArKeR]

8. Where are you Hawaii? We've never had any problems with the Hawaiian

shrooms.

[Rhiannon12866]

9. I don't know about this kind of mushrooms,

but know that those who have eaten poison mushrooms have been saved by taking the supplement milk thistle or silymarin. My doctor prescribed a course of it for me when I was on prescription Tylenol for too long. It detoxifies the liver. I have seen this in health food stores.

[Sean Reynolds]

11. Your avatar reminded me of an old SNL skit

Where Jimmy Carter is taking phone calls about every subject known to man. A guy calls in with a drug problem a lot like this. :)

[nuxvomica]

19. "You are an organism on this planet and you are safe."

That's what Carter says to the caller. I am always repeating that to people that I think are unnecessarily upset about something.

[psychopomp]

28. LOL

That was a funny line in that skit!

The heaviest trip I ever had was on 3g. of cubensis coming down off of about 150 mics. I slightly underestimated the cumulative effect of it all but WOW:wow:

[Rhiannon12866]

30. I don't remember this

but it seems like a lot of other people do. Carter has always been my favorite and still is, so I should check this out. SNL is repeated all over the place, so perhaps I can catch this. Thanks!:hi:

[NYC]

10. Some mushrooms are poisonous. Call 911 now.

Only experts should pick wild mushrooms.

If the mushrooms consumed were not toxic, no harm. If they are poisonous mushrooms, and you don't call, there could be serious consequences.

[SyracuseDemocrat]

12. YES

some varieties of shrooms are highly dangerous. I would call 911 immediately!!!!!!

[Semi_subversive]

13. The son of a former neighbor

just got busted in Nevada for mushrooms. It's not going to do too many positive things for hs life. Encourage people to not do this stuff. It's counter-productive.

[librechik]

14. only if you eat them

otherwise, i doubt it--that'd be one strong mushroom.

[Booberdawg]

15. From cow shit?

[amazona]

23. Stropharia or Psilocybe cubensis...

This is the classic shroom, and it does indeed grow in cow pats, at least in the Gulf Coast area. It has stimulant as well as visionary properties, which can account for the agitation that people sometimes report, especially if they panic. I knew it grew in my Parish but when checking for the spelling of the Latin name on the internet, I just learned that it grows all over the Gulf Coast wherever cows are found. I have just been informed that:

"Thanks to the Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis), a colonizer of Old World origin (via S. America), spores of this mushroom are carried for vast distances, thereby infecting virgin pastures. The Cattle Egret first appeared in Texas in 1955 and is now an abundant resident of Gulf Coast pastures, as is Psilocybe cubensis. The relationship between cattle, cattle egrets, and Psilocybe cubensis is an example of symbiosis -- a situation in which dissimilar organisms live together in close association. Cattle egrets are fond of hitching rides on the backs of cows where they make easy prey of swarming insects ."

The Cattle Egret is a handsome white insect eating bird (with orange plumes in breeding season) which does not compete with our native Egrets (and can roost with them in peace in their rookeries). This bird introduced itself to the Americas in the mid-20th century, spreading across North, Central, and South America, quickly

I got this cool theory from this web page:

http://www.stainblue.com/cubensis.html

[mitchum]

16. CALL 911 NOW

if they're psychedelic she should be allright (nausea is common), but if of unknown origin, SEVERE liver damage can occur. It sounds as if she may not be the most discriminating user.

[phishhead]

17. Actually, its quite normal to throw up when eating shrooms.

n/t

[amazona]

21. same with our shrooms

It sounds like the young woman didn't know what she was doing and panicked, but many people vomit when consuming shrooms in my area. It is supposed to be part of the process of ridding yourself of impurities or whatever when receiving the vision. I never heard of anyone coming to permanent harm as a result.

[lilbub]

18. blegh

I know doing shrooms can upset your stomache very much. I didn't throw up, it all came out the other end.

[TheBigGuy]

20. hell yeah they can...remember that Clint Eastwood movie?

Where he played a Union soldier recurperating in a Southern girls school and they killed him by serving him a dish made w. poisnous mushrooms.

In Europe, too, there is sort of a folk knowledge of mushrooms...which can kill and which cannot....the ones w. the red tops and white dots (that you see sometimes in childrens fairy tale books) are poisnous.

[ForrestGump]

24. Quite a few species can and have killed people

A classic evildoer mushroom genus is Amanita, a group that includes those white-dotted red ones that elves dance around. I don't believe that these are used by hallucinophiles, possibly because some Amanita species can make you very dead without too much trouble. One mushroom can kill a man, if the mushroom is the wrong species.

The psilocybin-type mushrooms (a few genera) are the biggies for spurious mind-expansion -- it's possible that they've killed but they're apparently pretty safe (if you consider short-term meurological and gastric problems 'safe'). I wouldn't touch any of them, on general principle. For one thing, I don't really get excited at the idea of hallucinations.

Here's a picture of an Amanita mushroom (though most species, including the most deadly, are not red and white): whatever you do, don't eat one....

[amazona]

26. nice Amanita pic

Actually, in days gone by, in areas where safer hallucinogens were not available (like Siberia), it was not unknown for shamans and others to ingest red and white Amanita muscaria, despite the risk
of poisoning. It is said that among traditional Siberian peoples, the poor would get the first feeding of Amanita, since one of the chemicals that causes poisoning is neutralized by passing through the human body. The rich could then drink the urine of the poor for a less "noisy," safer high. Hey, that's what they say, anyway.

Thanks to the spread of the Psilocybe cubensis, not to mention modern taboos against drinking urine, modern seekers have turned away from Amanita and, perhaps, over-emphasize the danger of A. muscaria. Not that I'm advising anyone to ingest A. muscaria. I wouldn't, and it grows in my yard. But I have observed a squirrel, for example, feasting on this shroom with evident relish, and it didn't turn toes up. A big issue, I think, is the fact that many other species of Amanita are *severely* poisonous in any quantity, and in the interests of safety people are being advised to forget the whole thing. There is a white Amanita species called "Death Angel" which is a notorious killer. So a reasonable attitude is: Why take a risk with Amanita species when a better, safer shroom is growing in a nearby pasture?

It isn't altogether clear to me where P. cubensis came from or why it spread so widely in recent centuries, when it appears to have been unknown in ancient times. If I recall correctly, Terrence McKenna had a theory about aliens from outer space...I'm not qualified to weigh in on whether he was speaking poetically or whether there is any merit to this idea. The Cattle Egret theory I cited in another post in this thread captures my imagination -- the thought of the spores flying about on white wings is a nice one -- but I don't know enough to judge the validity of that theory either.

I've always thought mushrooms were nifty. Personally, I don't have the heart to pluck them and eat them. I like to see them growing. Their lives are short as it is. Kind of weird, I guess, considering I have no problem eating meat. But I just have to speak up and defend Amanita from the name of evil-doer! :-)

[salmonhorse]

22. Liberty Bells?

Naw...only to excess. Everything has a lethal dose ~



Though a chemical or alkaline reaction can't be seen as good.

[Elidor]

25. First: where did she get them & what did they look like?

You need to know what she took. Some images of psilocybe cubensis are at:

http://www.shroomery.org/index/par/3381

If she seems to be hallucinating or generally out of it, she may have eaten too much cubensis. Cubes are non-toxic, they have never killed anyone, but large doses make people do VERY strange things, like talking to people who aren't there, giggling uncontrollably, experiencing total ego-loss and merging with god, etc. If that's the case, she just needs soft light and soothing music played quietly for a while.

She could have taken Amanita Muscaria, which is nasty and dangerous - see it at:

http://www.shroomery.org/index/par/18131

If she ate mushrooms that she or a friend harvested from the wild, you should search her belongings and interrogate her friends. If she ate Amanitas, you should play it safe and get her to a hospital.

There are poisonous mushrooms that take many days to kill, with remissions and periods of feeling good. Don't take chances. And newbies should not eat massive quantities.

[Loonman]

27. Not necessarily

Like taking tons of LSD in one go. It won't kill you, but you may do something stupid while on it and get killed. Not too healthy for the brain, either.

Or stare into the sun, etc.

[noonwitch]

29. Bad trips are not fun

She just needs some valium or some other mild tranquilizer until the effects wear off (about 6-8 hours, depending on how much she took and how long ago). The reaction you describe is a typical "bad trip" from any type of hallucinogen. The hospital will pump her stomach and stick her full of thorazine, not the best experience for someone who is tripping. If she doesn't come down, then call the doctor.
Be careful what she's watching on tv, too. Don't let her watch the news or music videos! Is there a nice dog around? They can be really comforting, as can some music.

I'm thinking of Dan Ackroyd's impersonation of Jimmy Carter talking down a caller having a bad trip (on SNL). Something about listening to the Allman Brothers? It was a long time ago.