On May 9th, 2015, a 25 year old healthy male experienced seizures and sudden cardiac arrest after consuming 140mg of bk-2C-B and 0.25g of cannabis. The subject had never experienced a seizure or cardiac incident before, and has no heart condition. This was the 116th separate recreational drug he had taken.
"I was visiting my father at his house during the day on Saturday. The last thing I remember is getting ready to leave to visit my girlfriend (around 6:30pm). I came to in the cardiac unit of HCMC hospital (Minneapolis, Minnesota) on Tuesday, May 12th at 4:00pm. I had been awake for two days before this, but I lack all memory of this time."
What follows is a report compiled from my girlfriend (who called 911), EMTs, doctors, and my father.
I arrived at my girlfriend's house at 8:30pm on May 9th. We smoked a bowl of cannabis, watched Scrubs, and had sex. Around 10:00 pm, I took 140mg of bk-2C-B, and my girlfriend took 120mg. It was the first time either of us had taken the drug. 20 minutes later, I mentioned to her how strong it was (in a positive manner). 35 minutes after consumption, I started projectile vomiting in her room. 45 minutes after consumption, I had my first seizure (partial temporal lobe, not grand mal). My girlfriend immediately began to contact emergency services (she was hallucinating too much to dial 911, so she got someone else in the house to dial). 55 minutes after consumption, I had my second seizure and became unresponsive. Police and EMTs arrived within 3 minutes of my collapse. The arriving officer and two EMTs stabilized me and loaded me on a stretcher as the other two officers questioned the residents in the house.
It took 10-15 minutes to arrive at the hospital (I am unclear on the exact timing of this part). 12 minutes after arrival, I went into cardiac arrest. They used a Lucas chest compression machine for 3 minutes while applying several shocks with a AED. After three minutes, I experienced return of spontaneous circulation and I was no longer in cardiac arrest. I had not resumed consciousness, so I was intubated, given a cooling catheter in a femoral vein, and started on targeted temperature management at 1:30am on May 10th. (This used to be known as therapeutic hypothermia.) I achieved a 91°F temperature in 4 hours, was kept at that level for 8 hours, then was slowly brought back up to 98.4°F (my resting temperature at the time) over 12 hours. I had regained consciousness by the end of this procedure at 1:30am on May 11th.
I was kept in the cardiac unit until May 13th, when I was moved to general care (where I am right now writing this).
I had a million tests done, because of the rarity of a 25 year old experience cardiac arrest, and my worries that I had revealed an underlying heart condition.
My tox screen came back negative for everything except cannabis. Followup GC/MS confirmed bk-2C-B in my system.
I had an transthoracic echocardiogram performed on May 12th. It was negative for all cardiomyopathies and valve abnormalities. I had normal ejection fractions, no WPW, no blocked arteries, no takotsubo issues.
I arrived at the hospital with a lower than normal body temperature, which absolutely rules out serotonin syndrome (this was confirmed later with tests).
I had the most severe case of rhabdomyolysis that my doctors had ever seen. A normal creatine kinase level is 40, mine was over 200,000.
My doctors are not willing to go on record with this statement, due to the rarity of the substance, but they all believe bk-2C-B is innately cardiotoxic in the same manner as cocaine and amphetamines. They believe my cardiac arrest was purely chemically driven, with no prior conditions to exacerbate matters.
I do not believe that bk-2C-B is dangerous, however I do believe it is not as safe as other psychedelics. As mild as the reported effects are for most people, I cannot recommend that people consume it when other psychedelics are available.
"I was visiting my father at his house during the day on Saturday. The last thing I remember is getting ready to leave to visit my girlfriend (around 6:30pm). I came to in the cardiac unit of HCMC hospital (Minneapolis, Minnesota) on Tuesday, May 12th at 4:00pm. I had been awake for two days before this, but I lack all memory of this time."
What follows is a report compiled from my girlfriend (who called 911), EMTs, doctors, and my father.
I arrived at my girlfriend's house at 8:30pm on May 9th. We smoked a bowl of cannabis, watched Scrubs, and had sex. Around 10:00 pm, I took 140mg of bk-2C-B, and my girlfriend took 120mg. It was the first time either of us had taken the drug. 20 minutes later, I mentioned to her how strong it was (in a positive manner). 35 minutes after consumption, I started projectile vomiting in her room. 45 minutes after consumption, I had my first seizure (partial temporal lobe, not grand mal). My girlfriend immediately began to contact emergency services (she was hallucinating too much to dial 911, so she got someone else in the house to dial). 55 minutes after consumption, I had my second seizure and became unresponsive. Police and EMTs arrived within 3 minutes of my collapse. The arriving officer and two EMTs stabilized me and loaded me on a stretcher as the other two officers questioned the residents in the house.
It took 10-15 minutes to arrive at the hospital (I am unclear on the exact timing of this part). 12 minutes after arrival, I went into cardiac arrest. They used a Lucas chest compression machine for 3 minutes while applying several shocks with a AED. After three minutes, I experienced return of spontaneous circulation and I was no longer in cardiac arrest. I had not resumed consciousness, so I was intubated, given a cooling catheter in a femoral vein, and started on targeted temperature management at 1:30am on May 10th. (This used to be known as therapeutic hypothermia.) I achieved a 91°F temperature in 4 hours, was kept at that level for 8 hours, then was slowly brought back up to 98.4°F (my resting temperature at the time) over 12 hours. I had regained consciousness by the end of this procedure at 1:30am on May 11th.
I was kept in the cardiac unit until May 13th, when I was moved to general care (where I am right now writing this).
I had a million tests done, because of the rarity of a 25 year old experience cardiac arrest, and my worries that I had revealed an underlying heart condition.
My tox screen came back negative for everything except cannabis. Followup GC/MS confirmed bk-2C-B in my system.
I had an transthoracic echocardiogram performed on May 12th. It was negative for all cardiomyopathies and valve abnormalities. I had normal ejection fractions, no WPW, no blocked arteries, no takotsubo issues.
I arrived at the hospital with a lower than normal body temperature, which absolutely rules out serotonin syndrome (this was confirmed later with tests).
I had the most severe case of rhabdomyolysis that my doctors had ever seen. A normal creatine kinase level is 40, mine was over 200,000.
My doctors are not willing to go on record with this statement, due to the rarity of the substance, but they all believe bk-2C-B is innately cardiotoxic in the same manner as cocaine and amphetamines. They believe my cardiac arrest was purely chemically driven, with no prior conditions to exacerbate matters.
I do not believe that bk-2C-B is dangerous, however I do believe it is not as safe as other psychedelics. As mild as the reported effects are for most people, I cannot recommend that people consume it when other psychedelics are available.
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