Aspirin Overuse Linked to Woman's Hallucinations of Dead People

A 65-year-old Michigan woman went to an emergency room reporting visual hallucinations of dead people and said she had fired a gun at them. Tests found acidic blood and elevated salicylates, and she later admitted taking more than 15 aspirin pills daily for weeks. Doctors concluded her symptoms were caused by aspirin toxicity.

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A 65-year-old Michigan woman arrived by ambulance and requested psychiatric help for visual hallucinations, saying she saw dead people and had fired a gun at them. Despite that, she was calm and alert, with normal vital signs except elevated blood pressure. Her history included hypertension, diabetes, heart failure, and chronic back pain, but no prior psychiatric illness.

Testing showed mildly acidic blood and high salicylate levels. She had taken more than fifteen 500-mg aspirin tablets daily for weeks. Tinnitus, a classic toxicity sign, was present. Poison control advised IV sodium bicarbonate to make blood and urine less acidic, aiding salicylate removal. Levels fell from 28.8 to 18.3 mg/dL after 11 hours; hallucinations stopped and tinnitus improved within 48 hours.

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