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Transient psychotic relapse temporally related to ingestion of an “energy drink”

David B Menkes
Med J Aust 2011; 194 (4): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2011.tb03777.x
Published online: 21 February 2011

To the Editor: I describe two episodes of transient recurrence of psychosis temporally related to ingestion of an “energy drink” in an obese (125 kg) 27-year-old New Zealand Maori man who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia 8 years earlier. The patient had found that risperidone 6 mg/day effectively relieved persecutory ideas and auditory hallucinations. He had stopped using cannabis and alcohol to excess, but continued to drink up to 10 cups of instant coffee throughout the day for a “lift”, apparently without insomnia or other complications.


  • University of Auckland Waikato Clinical School, Hamilton, New Zealand.



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