I Ate a Poisonous Mushroom! Now What?
Go to the hospital or call poison control. Immediately. Bring the mushroom with you, if you can. Some toxic mushrooms wreak havoc quickly; others take 2-3 days for symptoms to set in. Some Cortinarius types take three weeks for symptoms to show, and by then it’s too late.
Common mushroom poisoning symptoms include:
- nausea
- vomiting
- diarrhea
- sweating
- lactation (in women)
- difficulty breathing
- confusion
- disorientation
- headaches
- chills
- lethargy
In the future, some mushroom-eating rules to follow:
- Never eat a mushroom that isn’t 100% accurately identified. Look-a-likes abound in the mushroom kingdom, and a simple mistake can become a fatal mistake very easily. Don’t guess! Don’t make assumptions!
- Anytime you are consuming a new-to-you mushroom, eat only a small portion in case you do have a reaction. Even mushrooms that are not commonly toxic may cause an allergic or fatal response in people with compromised immune systems or other medical conditions. Additionally, a non-poisonous mushroom can cause gastrointestinal upset. These are edible mushrooms by all standards. However, individuals have different reactions, digestive discomfort being the most common.
- Reserve some of the mushroom in the refrigerator, so there is a specimen to take to the doctor if needed.
- A mushroom in the US may look, act, and otherwise, be identical to a mushroom in Europe, yet be toxic here. The number one reason for poisoning in the United States is misidentification based on knowledge from other regions of the world. Look-a-likes are common. Also, regionality plays a part. Scientists discovered that the same species of mushrooms growing in different parts of the world have different toxicity levels. Be cautious! Do your research on edible species in your region and never ever make assumptions.
