Research, Technology

Antibiotics sometimes cause hallucinations - why do patients begin to "hear God"?

Perhaps everyone knows about the dangers of antibiotics -they, together with bacteria, kill the beneficial microflora, and sometimes cause an allergic reaction. But, in addition to the well-known side effects, there are those that even scientists know little about. Recently it was found that they slow down the growth of boys. But that's not all. Some people develop what is known as antibiomania after taking these drugs. One such case was recently recorded in a 50-year-old man who was being treated for bacterial pneumonia. As doctors note in their report, after the start of taking the drugs, the patient's worldview has changed dramatically. At the same time, such symptoms as irritability, sudden mood swings, incoherent speech appeared. But most importantly, there were serious hallucinations. The man was sure that he was communicating with God. But which antibiotics cause this side effect, and how often does it happen?

Some patients develop psychosis while taking antibiotics

Content

  • 1 Antibiomania is a rare side effect of antibiotics.
  • 2 Which people may experience hallucinations from taking antibiotics
  • 3 What antibiotics most often cause hallucinations
  • 4 Why Antibiomania Occurs

Antibiomania is a rare side effect of antibiotics.

The first thing that comes to mind after hearingthe man may have had mental health problems. Of course, doctors checked it first. The patient was previously completely mentally healthy. The only thing that experts paid attention to was that the man had never taken antibiotics before.

Once in the psychiatric ward, the manHe said that he felt ill after the first dose of antibiotics. He had a feeling that he was dying, and then began auditory hallucinations. The man began to "communicate with God." During such hallucinations, he was told that he was the chosen one and had a special mission entrusted to him. According to experts, these symptoms are indicative of psychosis.

After taking an antibiotic, the man began to "talk to God"

According to the report that was publishedin the journal BMC Psychiatry, the patient was diagnosed with antibiomania. The term first appeared in 2002 in an article in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology devoted to studies of mania associated with antibiotics.

Fortunately, this negative side effect is more commongoes away on its own after antibiotics are stopped. As reported in the report, approximately 12 hours after stopping the drug, the patient already showed improvement. Doctors then gave the man another antibiotic to treat pneumonia, and his mental condition worsened again. As a result, this antibiotic was also cancelled.

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A week after that, the man was no longerno symptoms of psychosis. However, in some other cases, doctors used neuroleptics, that is, drugs that are usually used in the treatment of psychosis, to treat antibiomania. Although, their use does not mean that the symptoms would not go away on their own.

Which people can hallucinate after taking antibiotics?

The case of a 50-year-old man “talking toGod”, far from being the only one. For example, 47 cases of anti-biomania were described in the Journal of Affective Disorders. In addition, 143 more cases are known, information about which has not been published.

“In my practice, I have observed at least threea case of antibiomania. Each of my colleagues also witnessed several such cases. If you add them all up, you definitely get more cases than the number officially reported,” Pascal Sinart, a psychiatrist at the Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven), tells Live Science.

A rare symptom has been documented in patientsof different sexes and ages, starting from 3 years. Some features that would distinguish patients with antibiomania from other people have not yet been identified.

Scientists have not identified a pattern among patients who developed antibiomania

What antibiotics most often cause hallucinations

According to the report, antibiomania in a manoccurred after taking clarithromycin. If you look at all the cases of this side effect, you will notice that it is against the background of taking this drug that antibiomania most often develops. In addition, drugs such as ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin often appear. Perhaps this is due to the fact that these drugs are the most common in the world.

Let me remind you that a 50-year-old man with inflammationlungs were also given another antibiotic, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, and it caused the same side effect. This may indicate that any antibiotic or a certain group of antibiotics can cause psychosis. However, we should not forget that very little is known about antibiomania. Therefore, it is too early to draw conclusions.

Antibiomania may be associated with a violation of the intestinal microflora

Why Antibiomania Occurs

This is perhaps the most interesting question.Scientists on it, too, can not yet give an exact answer. However, the authors of the report put forward several hypotheses. Some antibiotics are known to be inhibitors of gamma-aminobutyric acid, that is, a neurotransmitter that is responsible for suppressing excited neurons. Roughly speaking, uncontrollably excited neurons may lead to the onset of psychosis.

According to another hypothesis, as a result of violationmitochondrial dysfunction occurs in patients, which in turn causes malnutrition of cells. But, without further research, definitive conclusions cannot be drawn. Finally, let me remind you that scientists are now worried about another problem associated with antibiotics. Against the background of the coronavirus pandemic, they may become ineffective, as superbugs are actively developing.