A case of toxicity from DMAA party pills in New Zealand
This is an incident but since we post a lot about DMAA I thought to let you know
‘Party pills’ are synthetic stimulants that emerged in New Zealand in the early 2000s. Most were 1-benzylpiperazine (BZP)-based and were widely consumed. Evidence accumulated of risk and toxicity and BZP was subsequently scheduled.1,3
Dimethylamylamine (DMAA) is one of the next generation of ‘BZP-free’ party pills.
This report describes a case of a serious complication associated with the recreational use of DMAA.
Case report
A 21-year-old man was out with friends and purchased a quantity of legal party pills identified as ’99.9%-pure DMAA’. He took the recommended dose of 2 tablets at approximately 11:30 pm along with a capsule identified as 150 mg of caffeine. He had already ingested 1 can of beer.
Within 30 minutes he developed a severe global headache and called for a friend to take him home. He subsequently became confused, incontinent of urine and vomited for 2–3 hours before falling asleep. The next morning he was drowsy and had slurred speech. He did not improve during the day so at 6 pm he was taken to the local hospital emergency department (ED).
Figure 1. DMAA capsules and packaging (brand name obscured)
On arrival in the ED he was confused and had slurred speech. He was disorientated in time but not person or place. He could not give a coherent history. He had a right facial droop and right-sided weakness. There was no sympathomimetic toxicity evident, however 19 hours had elapsed since ingestion. His heart rate was 65 bpm and blood pressure was 126/66 mmHg.
