Woman sent to psychiatric hospital after toxic Peruvian bracelet causes hallucinations
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A British woman told how she was forced to check into a psychiatric hospital after suffering hallucinations caused by a "toxic" bracelet she bought on eBay.
Jo Wollacott, 40, also suffered abscesses and hives after wearing a Jequirity bean bracelet containing the deadly toxin abrin, which is so strong it is banned under the UK Terrorism Act.
The jewelry, made from the Peruvian Jequirity bean, sparked a public health scare last year when it was revealed to contain the poison, the Western Daily Press reported Thursday.
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Wollacott, from Bridport, southwestern England, said she became ill soon after she bought a batch of the beaded "love" bracelets for £1 ($1.60) each on eBay in April 2010, but thought she had caught a "bad bug."
The mother-of-two did not connect her illness with the jewelry and her condition worsened to the extent she was left in a hallucinogenic-like state -- leading to her being checked into a psychiatric hospital in December the same year.
Wollacott, who split from her boyfriend and lost her mosaic-design business, said, "I feel like I have lost two years of my life to this bracelet. It has been a nightmare."
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Her symptoms began to clear only after she stopped wearing the bracelets in November last year -- a month before the product was recalled.
She added, "When I found out hallucinations were part of the side effects of the bead poisoning I started to piece things together."