Mysterious Magic Mushroom Retreat Death: Wood-Lover Paralysis?
In April of 2024, a loving mom by the name of Rachael Dixon became unresponsive and eventually died after drinking 2 servings of a magic mushroom tea at an unnamed, private retreat in Victoria, Australia.
Notably though, the main reason I bring this case up is because the coroner – Audrey Jamieson – stated that the symptoms appeared to be consistent with “wood-lover paralysis toxidrome” (WLP).
WLP wasn’t proven to be the cause of death though, and it seems to be a mere hypothesis in the absence of any other evidence of the cause of death.
And to be honest, the fact that the coroner referred to magic mushrooms as “illicit drugs” already greatly reduced my respect for any such hypothesis, but nonetheless, it sent me down a rabbit hole on the topic of wood-lover paralysis.
Here’s the short version of what I gathered (though this is not medical advice):
Wood-Lover Parylis sometimes but rarely occurs when consuming certain species of mushrooms which grow in decomposing wood, and these species include the following:
- P. Allenii
- P. Azurescens
- P. Cyanescens
- P. Ovoideocystidiata
- P. Stuntzii
- P. Subaeruginosa
- P. Weraroa
And the symptoms can include:
- Weakness or paralysis in the legs, hands or face
- Impaired walking, grip strength, swallowing and breathing
Notably though, the only 4 species reportedly mentioned as being associated with WLP by Paul Stamets – an authority on the topic of mycology (the study of mushrooms) – includes:
- P. Allenii
- P. Azurescens
- P. Stuntzii
- P. Ovoideocystidiata
And of course not everyone who consumes these species of mushrooms gets WLP, and of those, it’s even more rare for it to result in death.
Though according to the Australian Psychedelic Society’s factsheet on the topic, during severe cases, breathing may be so impaired that it may require CPR and ventilatory support to prevent death.
Apparently, WLP has been known in the magic mushroom community for quite some time, and even though there’s apparently no scientific evidence supporting this, it’s reported that antihistamines help resolve the symptoms – which by the way might have a delayed onset that doesn’t kick in until the day after your magic mushroom experience.
These symptoms are apparently only prevalent at higher doses though, so especially if one is harvesting mushrooms in the wild from a wood substrate, the age-old advice is go low and slow, even if you have extensive experience with foraging wild mushrooms in general.
And it’s important to note that WLP isn’t associated with Psilocybe Cubensis which is by far the most common magic mushroom.
Anyway, if you’d like to deep-dive on the topic, you can check out the scientific paper that formally summarizes the years of anecdotal research performed by the Australian Psychedelic Society, entitled “Wood-lover paralysis”: Describing a toxidrome with symptoms of weakness caused by some lignicolous “wood-loving” Psilocybe mushrooms.
Also, here are a couple links to some of the original news articles on the topic:
- Tragic details reveal moments that led to Rachael Dixon’s death at Victorian health retreat
- Coroner finds Rachael Dixon’s death at wellness retreat ‘in the context’ of taking magic mushrooms
In conclusion, while this isn’t medical advice, wood-lover paralysis (WLP) likely won’t affect anyone going to magic mushroom retreats unless 1) the specific species of mushrooms above are used instead of P. Cubensis or other species; 2) the mushrooms consumed have been foraged in the wild instead of homegrown; and 3) each batch hasn’t been first tested at lower doses.
