The Strangest Medical Case Report I've Seen
I've read and written about some strange medical case reports over the years, from attempts to masturbate with vacuum cleaners, to accidental ingestion of toothbrushes, to an instance of psychedelic mushrooms growing in a man's blood. In their own quirky way, each of these reports reinforced just how mysterious and fascinating the human body is. They also showcased the exceedingly odd things that we do to it.
A case report I recently stumbled upon may be the most bonkers I've yet seen. "Injection of a Whole Black Widow Spider," published a quarter-century ago in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, doesn't bury the lede. As doctors from Loma Linda University described:
"A 37-year-old woman with a history of IV heroin use crushed a whole black widow spider, mixed it in 10 mL of distilled water, and injected the mixture intravenously. One hour later she presented to the emergency department complaining of severe, generalized muscle pain and cramping, mainly affecting her abdomen, thighs, and back, and of a headache and anxiety. She stated that she had given herself the injection with the intent of getting a high..."
Black widow spider venom is remarkably potent, about 15 times deadlier than a rattlesnake's. Still, despite the spider's noxious reputation, nobody has died from a black widow bite in decades, because the amount of venom injected in a bite is quite small. But what would happen if you crushed an entire black widow and injected it straight into the bloodstream?
The patient was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with a blood pressure of 188/108 mm Hg (120/80 is normal), a blistering pulse of 188, terrible pain, and difficulty breathing, no doubt exacerbated by her history of asthma. Her breathing problems persisted the next day in the ICU, but by the following day, she had made a miraculous recovery. Her doctors speculated that she may have experienced an allergic reaction to one of the proteins from the crushed spider in addition to symptoms from the venom itself.
A month later, she suffered no lingering effects from her misbegotten attempt to experience an unconventional high.
