https://nypost.com/2021/01/13/man-in...ungi-in-blood/

A man took to medical experimentation on himself when he decided to mainline 'magic' mushrooms in order to kick his opioid use.

However, when the fungi started, well, mushrooming in his bloodstream ' he almost kicked the bucket.

The 30-year-old, who was known to have bipolar disorder type 1, was brought in to a Nebraska emergency room recently, with reports of vomiting blood, diarrhea, nausea, jaundiced appearance, confusion and fatigue.

Upon arrival, the man spoke incoherently, doctors said in a medical journal report of the incident. Tests revealed his liver had been injured by infiltrating fungi and his kidneys were not fully functioning. In other words, he was going into organ failure.

Doctors later learned that the man had ceased taking medication for his mental illness, which prompted episodes of mania and depression.

During one such occasion, he launched a personal investigation into the psilocybin-based therapies, including those speculated as potential treatment for addiction from opioids, as well as anxiety and depression. Touted as the 'safest' of all recreational drugs, 'shrooms may have seemed like a cure-all to the patient in question, whose case study now appears in the Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry.

'Magic' mushrooms, now legal for recreational use in some states, are being studied as a treatment for mental illness and addiction.

His nearly fatal flaw, however, was the decision to inject a 'tea' made of psilocybin mushrooms, rather than consume them as is customary.

Tests later revealed that actual fungus had cropped-up in his blood supply, and the man spent three weeks in the hospital recovering from the ill-conceived stunt, on a ventilator and attached to a machine that could filter his blood of toxins.

After 22 days in the hospital, the man recovered and was released to his family with orders of two courses of antibiotics and one ongoing anti-fungal treatment, the case report said.

'Magic' mushrooms became legal for recreational use in Oregon last year, while Denver, Colorado, and Oakland, California, became the first two cities to legalize the drug.