Repeated exposure to MDMA provides neuroprotection against subsequent MDMA-induced serotonin depletion in brain.

[fasterfb]

Repeated exposure to MDMA provides neuroprotection against subsequent MDMA-induced serotonin depletion in brain.

I read this article on PubMed. It's interesting, but not sure what the implications are.
Comments?

edit: I didn't realize that @Lana Rain already posted a link to this study in her Aspergers post, but I'll leave this up in case you missed it.

 

[Swim15]

Yeah it’s been discussed some. Doesn’t surprise me but doesn’t change any of my opinions personally. I’d still limit rolls to once every ~3 months with no more than two doses per night.

The other obvious problem is that this is with rats. You can draw inferences from trends in animal studies, which future additional research is based off of, but in no way does an animal study necessarily mean the results will be the same in a human study. In isolation I’d say it means almost nothing at face value

 

[fasterfb]

but in no way does an animal study necessarily mean the results will be the same in a human study.

Yes, good point there.

I'm new to this forum, but it seems to me that there are so many factors at play when it comes down to how different people respond to the effects/after-effects of MDMA usage.
Things such as genetics, different brain chemistry, personal emotional experiences, past trauma, current emotional and mental 'health', personal stress factors, good/bad diet and nutritional factors , exercise habits, previous history of drug use/abuse, current drug usage, prescribed medications, age, gender...so, so many factors at play.

Don't get me wrong. I think the popular guidelines for safer MDMA use are a tremendous help, and they offer good advice.

I find MDMA usage and different people's experiences to be a very interesting topic.

 

[Swim15]

Yeah it is interesting. The proportions here are misrepresented because we get more people with problems seeking help so negative reactions will appear to be higher than they are.

That said, every response to every drug on the planet will be some type of bell curve due to genetics and it’s a dice roll every time.

 

[tracedwards313]

MDMA seems to be a quite unique chemical due to the huge variance in its effects. It can help heal one person's mental health issue, then create sever longer-term problems in another, and then produce a relatively unremarkable experience in a 3rd person.

I have had some truely beautiful experiences on MDMA and never dealt with any significant negative effects but I have never abused it like some people I have known.

The craziest use of MDMA I have personally witnessed was by this guy I knew from the local music scene. He was the clique young hippie kid, dread locks, dead head. He was a cool enough guy and always had a decent stash of psychedelics. Well, he got his hands on a really large quantity of great MDMA.

Unfortunately, he chose to treat it like it was fucking cocaine and would rail line after line, even after he had multiple people explain to him the danger of what he was doing. He was and still is the only person I have known to be addicted to MDMA! He was doing a gram a day at his worst, is what he told me. He ended up being forced into a psych ward due to long term psychosis and sever emotional problems. He attempted suicide multiple times and that was the last I heard from him, he disappeared and never came back around. I hope he got better, that was some sad shit to see a normal healthy guy deteriorate so rapidly.

 

[TripSitterNZ]

MDMA if abused is the most harmful drug to the brain. I know many people who are pretty burnt out these days after they were moving alot of it while also doing it every day and using upwards of 5 grams a week.

 

[G_Chem]

So I’ve posted a thread on this as well but am too lazy to hunt it currently...

Here’s my take on this. It really only applies to older/veteran users when looked at in the context of the other studies which show when adolescent rats are given moderate doses they are afforded protection later in life.

I remember when I was younger I felt the effects stronger if I rolled too much. Nowadays I get much less “punishment” for my indiscretions. Whether that’s due to healthier living practices or the above mechanism idk...


I’ve also seen folks abuse the hell out of it. When they eventually disappear from the scene it’s because they can no longer handle social interaction, especially compared to any level they used to function. They feel like they lost a part of themselves, most times they completely change their lives one way or the other and no longer involved in the “scene.”

My brother abused the hell out of it too, not to the same extent but multiple times a week type shit for a number of years.

I think a lot more damage comes from how much you take in a night and how many times you redose compared to how frequently you take it. That said I still keep my rolls to an average of 5-8 times a year.

-GC

 

[G_Chem]

Yeah it is interesting. The proportions here are misrepresented because we get more people with problems seeking help so negative reactions will appear to be higher than they are.

That said, every response to every drug on the planet will be some type of bell curve due to genetics and it’s a dice roll every time.

Why are you coming into threads and simply copying others? Bot?

-GC

 

[SunriseChampion]

I’ve also seen folks abuse the hell out of it. When they eventually disappear from the scene it’s because they can no longer handle social interaction, especially compared to any level they used to function. They feel like they lost a part of themselves, most times they completely change their lives one way or the other and no longer involved in the “scene.”

The old rave scene paradox. Come to get overly social only to end up overly anti-social. So many of the people I used to roll with back in the day became zombies on prescriptions years ago and have barely made it by since. Dropped out of the scene and never made it back to life, never mind the scene that the rest of us are still a part of now, almost 20 years later.

So sad, really.

 

[Dcoqo]

So I’ve posted a thread on this as well but am too lazy to hunt it currently...

Here’s my take on this. It really only applies to older/veteran users when looked at in the context of the other studies which show when adolescent rats are given moderate doses they are afforded protection later in life.

I remember when I was younger I felt the effects stronger if I rolled too much. Nowadays I get much less “punishment” for my indiscretions. Whether that’s due to healthier living practices or the above mechanism idk...


I’ve also seen folks abuse the hell out of it. When they eventually disappear from the scene it’s because they can no longer handle social interaction, especially compared to any level they used to function. They feel like they lost a part of themselves, most times they completely change their lives one way or the other and no longer involved in the “scene.”

My brother abused the hell out of it too, not to the same extent but multiple times a week type shit for a number of years.

I think a lot more damage comes from how much you take in a night and how many times you redose compared to how frequently you take it. That said I still keep my rolls to an average of 5-8 times a year.

-GC

For two years I did it like once a month on average, sometimes more often and for some others I would wait longer.

Some nights I would take up to 1.5 pills in a night or 0.5 grams of molly.

Do you think that I did too bad? Its been six months since I stopped, and sometimes I get this random anxiety, although not so often. I dont know if this is a consequence of my mdma consumption or something else.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

For two years I did it like once a month on average, sometimes more often and for some others I would wait longer.

Some nights I would take up to 1.5 pills in a night or 0.5 grams of molly.

Do you think that I did too bad? Its been six months since I stopped, and sometimes I get this random anxiety, although not so often. I dont know if this is a consequence of my mdma consumption or something else.

I personally wouldn't rate that as excessive use. Your anxiety was probably a pre existing condition. If anything, abuse of MDMA has lessened my anxiety.

 

[G_Chem]

For two years I did it like once a month on average, sometimes more often and for some others I would wait longer.

Some nights I would take up to 1.5 pills in a night or 0.5 grams of molly.

Do you think that I did too bad? Its been six months since I stopped, and sometimes I get this random anxiety, although not so often. I dont know if this is a consequence of my mdma consumption or something else.

Yea I agree with FUBAR, once a month isn’t so bad in the context of two years. However your high dosages could have contributed to some lingering anxiety.

Either way, akways remember nothing is permanent. I myself used to have crippling anxiety but I’ve gotten it completely under control through proper diet and exercise (mainly cutting out sugar and excessive drinking).

-GC

 

[Dcoqo]

Yea I agree with FUBAR, once a month isn’t so bad in the context of two years. However your high dosages could have contributed to some lingering anxiety.

Either way, akways remember nothing is permanent. I myself used to have crippling anxiety but I’ve gotten it completely under control through proper diet and exercise (mainly cutting out sugar and excessive drinking).

-GC

Thanks for your response!

Do you think your anxiety was influenced by your MDMA usage?

I usually go to the gym four times per week. Also, I hadnt felt anxiety like this in months. But this is my sixth week of quarantine completly alone at home, so maybe that has something to do with this.

 

[G_Chem]

Thanks for your response!

Do you think your anxiety was influenced by your MDMA usage?

I usually go to the gym four times per week. Also, I hadnt felt anxiety like this in months. But this is my sixth week of quarantine completly alone at home, so maybe that has something to do with this.

I’ve wondered that, and to be honest if it was it was minimal. I had anxiety before MDMA, but it could have exacerbated it to the point of me needing to find a way to fix it.

Have you been able to work out since quarantine? Social isolation has been doing a number on a lot of people your not alone unfortunately.

-GC

 

[Dcoqo]

I’ve wondered that, and to be honest if it was it was minimal. I had anxiety before MDMA, but it could have exacerbated it to the point of me needing to find a way to fix it.

Have you been able to work out since quarantine? Social isolation has been doing a number on a lot of people your not alone unfortunately.

-GC

I work out at home. But in my country, Spain, quarantine rules are very strict. We can not go outside even to do sport, so I can only do routines in my living room.

 

[thegreenhand]

I would agree that this isn’t really news. Tolerance can block negative side effects of some drugs, nothing particularly groundbreaking about MDMA having that property too. It does make me wonder if someone taking an amphetamine everyday (like an adderall script) would experience less risk of neurotoxicity at high doses

 

[Jmoda]

MDMA if abused is the most harmful drug to the brain. I know many people who are pretty burnt out these days after they were moving alot of it while also doing it every day and using upwards of 5 grams a week.

Jesus fucking M christ. 5 grams in a week? I thought I was bad at my peak, probably going through a gram every month and a half. Over time I definitely noticed short term memory impairment and had to stop and recover that back to normal.....cant imagine thr number 5gs/week would do to you.

 

[Dcoqo]

Jesus fucking M christ. 5 grams in a week? I thought I was bad at my peak, probably going through a gram every month and a half. Over time I definitely noticed short term memory impairment and had to stop and recover that back to normal.....cant imagine thr number 5gs/week would do to you.

Did you recover? I used to take a pill or a pill and a halve once a month, althogh during the last month before I stopped I went really hard and did it once a week.

 

[Jmoda]

Did you recover? I used to take a pill or a pill and a halve once a month, althogh during the last month before I stopped I went really hard and did it once a week.

Yes. Full recover, doing great I think! Maybe only noticeable is my name memory is not as tip-top as I would like, but not sure if it is related