A 29-year-old man with no history of diabetes ingested over 60 grams of metformin in a suicide attempt. He presented to the emergency department with acute renal insufficiency, severe lactic acidosis, and rapidly-progressive hyperglycemia. The patient’s peak serum glucose level of 707 mg/dL is the highest yet reported in a case of metformin toxicity. Treatment included sodium bicarbonate infusion and hemodialysis, but the patient suffered several cardiac arrests with pulseless electrical activity and ultimately expired 25 hours after the ingestion.
We present a case of a man who survived an intentional ingestion of crushed Abrus seeds after he was treated with aggressive gastric decontamination and supportive care.
A 37-year-old woman experienced a witnessed generalized seizure in the Emergency Department three hours after ingesting approximately 1400 mg of fluoxetine in a suicide attempt. Although the majority of fluoxetine ingestions are benign, seizures may occur after large intentional overdoses.