Toxicity From Blue Lotus (Nymphaea caerulea) After Ingestion or Inhalation: A Case Series

ABSTRACT Plant extracts and other novel psychoactives can be ingested, vaped, injected, or insufflated. This includes products such as extracts from the blue lotus flower (Nypmhaea caerulea), which is known to produce euphoria and hallucinations at high doses. Blue lotus is sold in several forms, in...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Military medicine 2023-07, Vol.188 (7-8), p.e2689-e2692
Main Authors: Schimpf, Mackenzie, Ulmer, Thomas, Hiller, Hugh, Barbuto, Alexander F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Electronic cigarettes
Military personnel
Psychotropic drugs
Toxicity
Vaping
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:ABSTRACT Plant extracts and other novel psychoactives can be ingested, vaped, injected, or insufflated. This includes products such as extracts from the blue lotus flower (Nypmhaea caerulea), which is known to produce euphoria and hallucinations at high doses. Blue lotus is sold in several forms, including dried plant material, teas, and extracts for use in electronic cigarettes. Because newer generations of electronic cigarettes can deliver a variety of substances, practitioners need to be mindful of toxicity from a growing number of psychoactives, some of which are not detectable by standard urine drug screens. This case series describes five active duty patients who presented to the emergency department with altered mental status following the use of blue lotus products, four after vaping and one after making an infused beverage. Patients displayed similar symptoms, including sedation and perceptual disturbances. The patients in our series were successfully managed with supportive measures without the need for sedating agents. Recognizing and identifying new trends in substance use can help to provide directions in undifferentiated altered mental status.
ISSN:0026-4075
1930-613X
DOI:10.1093/milmed/usab328