Gregory Robinson
A woman had a surprising reaction after snorting 550 times the usual dose of LSD.
Incredibly the woman - who is in her 40s - lived to tell the tale and she also found that the drug had an unexpected effect on her body.
The foot pain she had suffered since her 20s was dramatically reduced.
Her experience was included in case reports published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs in January 2020 along with the experiences of two other women.
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The woman, known as CB, suffered foot pain as a result of Lyme disease which she contracted in her early 20s. It left her ankles and feet in ‘significant pain'.
Lyme disease is an infection that is transmitted to humans when bitten by infected ticks. It is commonly caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and sometimes Borrelia mayonii, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states.
In September 2015, CB took 55 milligrams of what she thought was cocaine. It was actually ‘pure LSD in powder form’.
A recreational dose is defined as 100 micrograms, which is equal to 0.1 milligrams.
After the woman blacked out and vomited over the next 12 hours, she said she felt ‘pleasantly high’ for the following 12 hours. She still vomited, but it happened less often.
CB’s roommate said she mostly sat in a chair with her eyes open or rolled back and said the occasional word. She was able to hold a conversation after ten hours when she ‘seemed coherent’.
Her foot pain disappeared the next day and she stopped using morphine for five days.
Although the pain came back, she was able to control it albeit with a lower morphine dose and a microdose of LSD every three days.
She stopped using morphine and LSD in January 2018 and experienced no withdrawal symptoms. However, she did report an increase in anxiety, depression and social withdrawal.
The authors said CB’s accidental LSD ingestion was not fatal and had ‘positive effects on pain levels and subsequent withdrawal’.
CB’s experience and the other case studies into LSD use was compiled by Mark Haden, executive director of Canada’s Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies with Birgitta Woods, a psychiatrist based in Vancouver.
The authors note in their study that no lethal LSD overdose has been recorded although scientists have predicted that 14,000 mcg would be a lethal dose for humans.
LSD, otherwise known as Lysergic acid diethylamid, is used a recreational hallucinogenic drug. It is listed as a class A drug in the UK, along with cocaine, MDMA, heroin, magic mushrooms, methadone and methamphetamine (crystal meth). Possession of class A drug can lead up to seven years in prison, an unlimited fine or both.
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