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Did mushrooms cause my seizures?
| Q: |
A little over a year ago I suffered an epidural hematoma from a skateboarding accident, and have been prone to seizures since. I was warned of the affects that alcohol and drugs would have on my seizure threshold, but was not bothered by regular marijuana use and alcohol consumption.
Several weeks ago I used mushrooms and took a dose of appx. 1.5 grams. After having reached the full extent of the trip, but while still feeling the "after effects" I had a seizure.
Does this sound like a typical occurence, and how long should I worry about parts of the mushrooms being inside of me? Is it the psilocybin that affected me or something else? Should I be worried about recurrent seizures from this point on? |
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| A: |
The psilocybin remained in your system for only a short time. Having taken mushrooms once will probably not increase your rate of seizing after the effects of the psilocybin have fully subsided (24-48 hours as an overly-long estimate).
People with no previous history of seizures have reported brief seizure-like episodes during the acute effects of psilocybin mushrooms. These people did not report a re-occurence of seizure symptoms after the drug effect wore off.
The fact that cannabis did not appear to affect your rate of seizures prior to your mushroom experience is not surprising -- some people who respond poorly to other medications use cannabis specifically to help control their seizures [see Valerie Corral's Story]. There have been some rare reports, however, of people having seizures after smoking cannabis.
As you were told about alcohol and 'drugs', anything that increases bodily or mental stress can decrease seizure threshold. While many people who experience occasional seizures report that they do not have a problem taking ecstasy, LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, etc, people who are prone to seizures have reported that they 'feel' more likely to seize after coming down in the 'hangover' period for about a day afterwards. As a person who is prone to seizures its extremely important to pay attention to what your body is telling you and respond accordingly.
If you plan to try taking a psychedelic again, be especially kind to your body and make sure you have a trusted sober sitter who knows about the issue and knows how to react if you seize. Be careful.
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