Am i becoming uncomfortably insane?

[Auriclama]

Hi, about three weeks ago now i was out in the forest mushroom picking because in autumn i usually consume fly agaric mushrooms (the red ones with white spots) and has never done me any harm since. But this time i had put some brown white spotted mushrooms in bag with the fly agaric which i beleive were 'panther caps' and i hope they were not 'death caps' which are normally olive green! when i got home i tried to identify the mushrooms and i couldn't so i chucked them away just incase they were toxic. I then consumed the fly agaric which was slightly wet (what had been in the same bag as the brown ones with white spots, a stupid thing to do i know!!). I was ok for two days 'the fake recovery', but after that the day after i was laying in my bed listening to my music and relaxing and suddenly i started feeling like i couldn't breathe, like a panic attack etc. i then started developing cramps in my lower left side of my stomach. Also i started getting chills down my spine, like when you bump your head type of chill. I'm worried i have some type of liver failure, because some mushrooms like the 'death cap' contain toxic substances called amatoxins (even in very low amounts) that interferes with your RNA in your liver and stops it producing proteins that normally keep you healthy through cell division called 'mitosis'. The good news is i have not had hardly any diarrhea or vomiting or lost my appetite actually my appetite has increased freakishly. And when i go to sleep now i always have abnormal rumbling going on in my stomach, but it does digest 'eventually'. I am also very bloated and i can't let out any gas, it's very uncomfortable and i have been taking some intergestion tablets. I think i'm over-acting about it being a death cap! it was a brown mushroom and i didn't eat it, it was just simply in the same bag as the one i did eat, i don't suspect the fly agaric of my symptoms because they don't really cause any problems.. i use them for shamanic experiences. I'm tryng to narrow down my problems at the moment: 1. as i'm sitting here typing this whilst i have a horrible bloating feeling in my stomach and i'm finding it hard to take a big breathe without it interfearing with my stomach-intestines area. 2. Even though i can't take a deep breathe well, smoking seems to make it feel better and i know this is wrong! 3. My heart seems to be beating fast as though i'm going to vomit and i can't concerntrate on stuff! 4 I just don't feel myself anymore and feel like just ending it all, but i know there are people out there in this world with much-much worse. My eyes seem a little yellow so i hope i ain't developing jaundice and anemia. Also i read the 'death cap' causes red blood cells to burst, could this be why i'm finding it hard to breathe. I don't normally ever get ill, but i have pure-o ocd and it has interfered my life to the extent that i've tried to take 'liberty cap' mushrooms which do have a positive effect, i read it on the BBC news website, but mushroom picking can be so dangerous like i've mentioned above!! Some people may wonder why one would try such things but i have no friends, i hardly go anywhere and i have no job. I never visit my doctor but this might be a first? I'm kind of an agrophobic too, like i don't go anywhere apart from trips to nature and the odd trip round the shop.. i never go anywhere else but i wan't too, if i ever feel better i wan't to do something with my life.

[Auriclama]

Well greenlydia, i'm glad you have an open mind for this sort of subject. I ain't feeling as bad as i did, but i'm still going to pay my GP a visit 'just incase'. Yeah it is playing with fire in s sense, but the season is over so the temptation isn't there at the moment to pick them, well after that fright i don't think i will be picking anytime soon. Psychedelics shouldn't be frowned upon, but shouldn't be tampered with either.. so just say no kids! Well like i've said, when you have ocd you can over-react and it's so silly i know. I'm not now, but i used to be a constant hand washer. People don't understand what it's like to live with ocd, we obsessives are always over analyzing stuff and sometimes get carried away and think we might be alot more ill than we actually are. I feel stupid for playing russian-mushroom-roulette. Here is an interesting blog about the shrooms and ocd connection: http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2006/12/magic_mushrooms_for_.html

[RubyWitch]

WOW!
What I know about mushroom hunting you could fit in a thimble, but that information, while pretty slim, says it ALL. And YOU, of all people, know this far better than me!

ONE SHOULD NEVER NEVER NEVER EAT A WILD MUSHROOM THEY CANNOT POSITIVELY IDENTIFY WITH ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY THAT IT ISN'T POSINOUS!!!!!

I know mushroom "experts" have a name, but it escapes me at present. I get the feeling you know quite a bit about "mushrooming," but apparently you don't fit into the "expert" category since you state "I hope they weren't death caps!" As you are now freaking out that even by mixing this one particular type of mushroom in the bag with the others could have made you sick, my only advice is for you to get to a doctor or ER as soon as possible.

Twice in this post you said you had difficulty breathing..........this is a symptom you should never ignore for any reason.

And good Lord, if these "death caps" could cause your red blood cells to burst, what the heck are you waiting for? Your blood cells to burst before you figure out you've got a problem?

And taking these "liberty cap" mushrooms because you heard on the BBC they might have a positive effect on OCD!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't think you are becoming "uncomfortably insane," but I think you ARE playing with fire.

I'm very sorry you have OCD. I don't have it, but I know enough people who do and the hell it's made of their lives. AFTER you've been checked for any kind of posioing from the mushrooms, ask for a referral to a good therapist, preferrably a psychiatrist, who can help you control your OCD. When you start to feel better, you could perhaps get involved with a group of people who also hunt mushrooms and you could begin to make some friends there.

You CAN feel better and you CAN do something with your life. Perhaps this experience will spur you on to write a comprehensive guide to picking safe mushrooms. Or you could go around to schools and teach kids about mushrooms. Or you could become a mushroom grower of specialty mushrooms that many resturants will pay dearly for.

But I really urge you to begin with a visit to your doctor. Make sure your physical health is OK and then keep going from there.
Please let us know how you're doing, OK?
Peace
Greenlydia