Kazakh woman nearly dies after experimenting with fly agaric mushrooms

A 40-year-old woman in Petropavlovsk nearly died after following a dangerous trend and consuming fly agaric mushrooms, doctors said. She arrived at the City Multidisciplinary Emergency Hospital in critical condition with severe intoxication, aggression, irrational behavior, loss of self-control and pronounced psychomotor agitation.

The woman told doctors she had eaten fly agaric, or Amanita muscaria, before the episode. After examinations, physicians sent her to intensive care with a diagnosis of acute poisoning by an unknown substance. They also identified co-morbidities and a dependency syndrome.

For four days, intensive care doctors worked to detoxify her body, support vital functions, correct the effects of the intoxication and prevent serious complications. After her condition stabilized, she moved to the therapeutic department for continued observation and treatment. The hospital recommended that she seek specialized help from a psychiatrist and an addiction specialist after discharge.

Petropavlovsk doctors said fly agaric “microdosing” became fashionable in neighboring countries several years ago and has recently spread to Kazakhstan. Online marketplaces openly sell dried caps, ground mushrooms and capsules containing purported microdoses of red and panther fly agaric. Prices range from 3,000 to 40,000 tenge, depending on the type and quantity. Sellers claim the products can reduce stress and depression, improve sleep, boost energy and concentration, and treat illnesses and alcohol addiction.

Doctors reject those claims as unsafe. “It is impossible to predict an individual's reaction or the severity of the resulting intoxication,” the Petropavlovsk hospital said. Poisoning can impair consciousness, trigger seizures, cause respiratory distress and disrupt heart function. Official medical data identifies muscimol, muscarine and ibotenic acid as dangerous toxic and psychoactive compounds that can cause severe poisoning, brain damage, psychosis and death.

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Fly agaric and other plants or substances used to alter consciousness are not a safe way to 'relax,' relieve stress, or seek new sensations. It is impossible to predict an individual's reaction or the severity of the resulting intoxication.