Man hallucinates and 'hears God' while on antibiotics. What happened?

[Judi Lynn]

By John Arnst published 3 days ago

A man's perception of the world turned upside down after he began taking antibiotics to treat bacterial pneumonia, according to a report of his case. Within two days, the 50-year-old man — who had no psychiatric history and had never taken antibiotics in his entire life before that point — experienced mood swings, became irritable and began speaking incoherently. Such behaviors are symptoms of mania, a condition characterized by an abnormally high level of energy and erratic thoughts and behaviors.

Upon being checked into an emergency psychiatric unit in Geneva, the man told psychiatrists that the night after his first dose of antibiotics, he felt like he was dying and began experiencing auditory hallucinations that God was speaking to him, saying that he had been chosen for a special mission. These symptoms can be indicative of psychosis.

Doctors diagnosed the man with antibiomania, a rare side effect of treatment with antibiotics, according to the case report, published in the journal BMC Psychiatry in August 2021. The term "antibiomania" was coined in a 2002 review published in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology that examined case studies involving antibiotic-related mania.

According to Pascal Sienaert, a psychologist and psychiatrist at Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium who was not involved in the case report or the man's care, the timeline of the man's antibiotic intake and subsequent manic symptoms fits with reported cases of antibiomania.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/antibiotics-give-man-mania

[abqtommy]

1. We all need to realize that different people react very differently to the same medication.

Kudos to the psychiatric staff in Geneva who got right on this diagnosis of antibiomania.
That's a new one for me and it's getting bookmarked right now. Thanks Judi!

[I_UndergroundPanther]

2. Wow

My sympathies for the guy with antibiomania.
Psychosis is a horrible thing to live through.

[Iwasthere]

3. My father in law went through hallucinations from his antibiotic

After a botched prostate surgery he was in and out of the hospital MANY times. Nearly didnt make it the last couple times. The docs said "This antibiotic better do it, we're out of more powerful ones". I HATE ANTIBIOTICS! They are Way abused by docs. Take good care of your gut biome everyone, it essentially IS your immune system. In hindsight a fecal transplant would have been a Much better solution. We didn't know.