Persons With Spinal Cord Injury Report Peripherally Dominant Serotonin-Like Syndrome After Use of Serotonergic Psychedelics

Stephanie Karzon Abrams; Brenden Samuel Rabinovitch; Rayyan Zafar; Aly Shah Aziz; Nicholas Paul Cherup; David W McMillan; Jessica L Nielson; Evan Cole Lewis

doi:10.1089/neur.2023.0022

Persons With Spinal Cord Injury Report Peripherally Dominant Serotonin-Like Syndrome After Use of Serotonergic Psychedelics

Neurotrauma Rep. 2023 Aug 22;4(1):543-550. doi: 10.1089/neur.2023.0022. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Stephanie Karzon Abrams¹, Brenden Samuel Rabinovitch^{1

2

3}, Rayyan Zafar⁴, Aly Shah Aziz⁵, Nicholas Paul Cherup^{6

7}, David W McMillan^{6

7}, Jessica L Nielson⁸, Evan Cole Lewis^{1

9}

Affiliations

¹ Numinus Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
² Division of Fundamental Neurobiology, Krembil Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³ Department of Physiology, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁴ Centre for Psychedelic Research and Neuropsychopharmacology, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom.
⁵ Pediatric Neurology Clinic, Oakville, Ontario, Canada.
⁶ The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA.
⁷ Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA.
⁸ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Institute for Health Informatics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
⁹ Department of Pediatrics, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Abstract

Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) may treat various mental health conditions. Despite its promising therapeutic signal across mental health outcomes, less attention is paid on its potential to provide therapeutic benefits across complex medical situations within rehabilitation medicine. Persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) have a high prevalence of treatment-resistant mental health comorbidities that compound the extent of their physical disability. Reports from online discussion forums suggest that those living with SCI are using psychedelics, though the motivation for their use is unknown. These anecdotal reports describe a consistent phenomenon of neuromuscular and autonomic hypersensitivity to classical serotonergic psychedelics, such as psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Persons describe intense muscle spasms, sweating, and tremors, with an eventual return to baseline and no reports of worsening of their baseline neurological deficits. The discomfort experienced interferes with the subjective beneficial effects self-reported. This phenomenon has not been described previously in the academic literature. We aim to provide a descriptive review and explanatory theoretical framework hypothesizing this phenomenon as a peripherally dominant serotonin syndrome-like clinical picture-that should be considered as such when persons with SCI are exposed to classical psychedelics. Raising awareness of this syndrome may help our mechanistic understanding of serotonergic psychedelics and stimulate development of treatment protocols permitting persons with SCI to safely tolerate their adverse effects. As PAT transitions from research trials into accepted clinical and decriminalized use, efforts must be made from a harm reduction perspective to understand these adverse events, while also serving as an informed consent process aid if such therapeutic approaches are to be considered for use in persons living with SCI.

Keywords: LSD; MDMA; psilocybin; psychedelics; serotonin; spasms.