A patient in a methoxetamine-induced dissociative psychosis.
The international drug market has dramatically changed with the emergence of various new psychoactive substances that are mostly being sold on the internet. One of those new psychoactive substances is methoxetamine (MXE), a structural analogue of ketamine. A 30-year-old man with no history of illness was presented to the accident and emergency department. He had lost his balance and could not move. He was in a dissociative psychosis, felt he had no control over his body and was extremely frightened. Most of this symptoms disappeared within two hours of arrival. The next day there were no indications of a psychosis, and only headache and nausea remained. The state of dissociative psychosis was caused by MXE, which was sold to him as an ecstasy tablet. Whether mixed with alcohol and other drugs or not, MXE can cause serious feelings of dissociation resulting in extreme anxiety and psychosis. This might cause severely lowered consciousness in these patients. Currently, use of MXE in the Netherlands is limited, but ketamine or MXE intoxication should be considered in patients with these symptoms.