The terrifying side effects of ayahuasca – Prince Harry’s beloved psychedelic that can cause seizures, heart attacks and death suicides in Britain

More than half of people who use the popular and powerful psychedelic drug ayahuasca suffer from mental health problems related to their trip – and one in 10 need long-term professional support, data shows.

In some, rarer cases, use of the plant – which contains the hallucinogen NN-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) – can prove fatal due to its effect on the heart. Some data suggests this occurs in one in 100 people who use it.

The physical impact of the drug is well known: users were handed buckets during ayahuasca ceremonies to accommodate the violent vomiting the drug causes.

But attention has now been drawn to its life-threatening consequences following the death of 54-year-old social worker Maureen Rainford, who had traveled to a Bolivian refuge in the Amazon that supplies ayahuasca tea.

The social worker collapsed ten minutes after drinking the tea and complained of feeling ill as her breathing and heart rate slowed. Despite CPR, Mrs Rainford died an hour after collapsing.

A spokesman for the retreat said her death was due to a “medical emergency unrelated to ayahuasca.”

It follows experts’ warning that the promotion of ayahuasca’s supposed healing properties by famous faces like Prince Harry could inspire others to try the hallucinogen.

Ayahuasca has previously been blamed for the deaths of at least three Britons, one of whom committed suicide due to its effect on her mental health.

Social worker Maureen Rainford, 54, (pictured) booked a ten-day stay at the Ayahuasca and San Pedro Pisatahua Retreat, an Amazon community billed as a wellness and detox retreat

There is little data on how often the brownish-reddish brewed drink (pictured) is used in Britain. But it is thought to be popular among the middle class

Ayahuasca is the same drug that Prince Harry admitted to taking to help him cope with the death of his mother, Princess Diana

Despite the risks Interest in ayahuasca is increasing. Nearly 4.5 million people reported using the drug in their lifetime, according to a report by the newspaper International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research and Service published last year.

The group, a non-profit organization that researches the use of traditional indigenous medicines, also found that 820,000 people worldwide tried the drug in 2019 alone, the latest figure available.

Although the authors described this as a record figure, they predicted that this had likely been eclipsed given the increasing use of the drug worldwide.

Estimates of how many Britons have used ayahuasca are more difficult to calculate.

DMT, and by extension ayahuasca, is a Class A drug in Britain, meaning possession of it carries a prison sentence of up to seven years and an unlimited fine.

A 2017 study conducted by Kings College London found that only around 35 Britons out of a sample of around 10,000 people took part in an anonymous drug survey in which they recently reported using ayahuasca.

Experts have warned that despite some legitimate evidence that DMT could be useful in a clinical setting, harmful effects have been recorded, from psychosis and suicide to heart attacks.

Professor Edzard Ernst, Emeritus Professor of Complementary Medicine at the University of Exeter, previously told MailOnline: ‘Ayahuasca is a botanical hallucinogenic and psychedelic drug that has little research and has shown fairly tentative promise in the treatment of depression, anxiety and substance abuse .

Kate Hyatt committed suicide in October 2021. The actress and artist suffered severe psychosis after taking the hallucinogen for what she claimed were medicinal reasons.

‘There are known side effects, some of which are serious.

“Promoting it as a life-changing treatment is ill-advised at best and irresponsible at worst.”

Dr. Max Pemberton, an NHS psychiatrist in London, spoke about Prince Harry’s previous details of his positive experiences using the drug, adding: ‘Harry clearly has no understanding of the serious harm these substances can cause to users – harm I see in mental health hospital wards with disturbing frequency.’

An international one studypublished in Plos Global Health in 2022, found that among 11,000 ayahuasca users, just over one in fifty required medical attention for physical problems caused by taking the drug, although two in three reported symptoms.

But more than half reported adverse mental health effects in the weeks or even months after consumption, and just over a tenth needed professional help as a result.

The study also cited a decade of data, sourced from the American Association of Poison Control CentersOne study found that more than one in six people contacted about ayahuasca reported a worryingly increased heart rate.

In addition, one in fifty reported seizures and one percent noted cases of someone not breathing or going into cardiac arrest after using the drug.

As with many other analyses, it cannot be proven whether these incidents were directly related to ayahuasca use or another substance.

Jake Paul has revealed how Ayahuasca – a hallucinogenic drug – inspired him to fight Mike Tyson after visualizing himself fighting the 58-year-old two years ago

Last year, actor Will Smith revealed during an interview with Oprah Winfrey that he drank the concoction more than a dozen times during a retreat in Peru while having marital problems with his wife Jada.

Actress Lindsay Lohan wrote that drinking ayahuasca – which is made by mashing vine stems in boiling water – helped free her from ‘the wreckage of my past’

While most experts agree that taking ayahuasca is dangerous to your health, it is unclear exactly how risky it can be.

This is partly due to its use in rituals rather than in a clinical setting, meaning that the dose of DMT, and if other hallucinogens are added, can vary between practitioners.

The actual DMT content per vine can also vary by region and harvest, adding an inherent layer of unpredictability.

Anyone with heart disease, those taking antidepressants, or who have a history of psychotic episodes are often advised not to use the drug.

But with many Brits living with undiagnosed heart conditions, or lying about their mental health in search of the healing properties of ayahuasca, many are at risk.

Experts fear that the discussion about the use of ayahuasca by celebrities such as Prince Harry could lead to increasing interest from the general public.

In an interview published last year, he said Ayahuasca brought about feelings of “liberation” and “comfort” that helped him cope with his trauma, Prince Harry said.

He added: ‘It was cleaning the windshield, cleaning the windshield, removing the filters of life, just like on Instagram, these layers of filters.

‘It removed it all for me and brought me a feeling of relaxation, release, comfort, a lightness that I could hold on to for a while.

‘I started doing it recreationally and then started to realize how good it was for me. I would say it is one of the fundamental parts of my life that changed me and helped me deal with the trauma and pain of the past.”

In an earlier interview, Prince Harry claimed he would not use the drug recreationally.

But he added, “If you do it with the right people, if you’re dealing with a tremendous amount of loss or grief or trauma, these things are like a drug in a way.”

Other famous faces who have spoken about using the drug include boxer Jake Paul, who revealed that taking ayahuasca inspired him to fight Mike Tyson, and actors Will Smith and Lindsay Lohan.

Ayahuasca, also called the ‘vine of the soul’, is a hallucinogenic drug derived from a medicine that has been used by Amazonian tribes for centuries.

It is made by combining the bark of a Banisteriopsis caapi vine with leaves from the Psychotria viridis shrub – both native to South America – and was originally used by shamans for healing and religious rituals.

Despite it being illegal in Britain, several ‘wellness retreats’ offer the drug with alarming regularity.

The Mail on Sunday attended one such retreat, where last year dozens of Britons paid £800 per person to take ayahuasca undercover.

Although ayahuasca is not recommended by most experts, scientists are exploring how it could potentially be used to address addiction, depression and trauma in a clinical setting.

A recent study from University College London found that so-called ‘jungle tea’ can promote well-being and lower the risk of depression.

Such a legitimate DMT therapy would likely be highly controlled in terms of exact dosing and screening of patients to ensure they do not have conditions that could lead to adverse side effects.