Going cold Turkey

I have a friend who had been dropping weekly for about a 2 years untill 3 weeks ago. He has now gone cold turkey and hence, going thru a little bit of a depression. I know this is supposed to be expected, but can anybody tell me why? What is the body doing in order for this depression session to kick in. I have done a search but can't find the answer I'm looking for. Any insight is aprecieated.
Thanks
Jaff
------------------
"That's exactly right!!! You hit the nail on the timber"

so its like this as most of u guys know.
mdma release amounts of seretonin (5ht) from neurones to act on various receptors in the brain.
These receptors are involved in various physiological functions such as temperature control, gastric motility, hunger, and as we all know mood.
So increased 5ht levels in the brain make us feel good.But once we have exahausted our 5ht stores, the brain needs to resynthesise more 5ht.
So ur friend may be depressed as his levels of 5ht havent been restored to normal levels as yet or in fact it may never as current reports have found that mdma usuage (excessive) can actually damage neurones at the synapse (end of the nerve) cause by constant release during times of 'ecstasy'.
Also last point.there is the know theory of upregulation of 5ht receptors. meaning that the brain synthesises more receptors to cope with excess 5ht exposure. So, ur friend now may have normal 5ht activity in his brain but there are all these receptors in his brain which arent being activated upon hence possibly making him depressed.
So this is why we have SSRI's which block the uptake of 5ht leaving more in the nerve terminals. Therefore it is quite plausible that ur friend may need a course of antidepressents to help regulate 5ht activity in his brain.
Just my 2 cents.
hope it helps.
A.

Actually I think it may be simplier than that. I think its like having a pet that you love, and suddenly its not there any more. That bundle of fun has been taken away.
Think about it...if your life revolved around a certain activity (ie partying) and now you had to stay at home (albiet voluntarily) there has to be some withdrawl symptoms, and this is reflected in feeling down.
The usual seratonin problems are well documented and may exist.
A friend of mine who studies psychology said that trying to quit the first time rarely succeeds because there is often a lack of a replacement activity. If you are going to quit something that you have previously been quite obsessive over then you need to replace it with something equally as fulfilling.

Thats what I basically thought, it will take a while for him to reach normal serotonin levels. Do you think 5htp will help?
------------------
"That's exactly right!!! You hit the nail on the timber"

after a year of pilling, speeding n such forth i have now been off the drugs for well it's been 7 weeks since ive had a pill and 5 since i had acid, cant remember how many weeks ago i had speed but it was longer than 7 weeks
anywho the reason i gave up was because the negative side of drugs was becoming larger and lasting longer than the positives hence it was no longer worth putting up witha week of unmotivated depression just to buzz for a few hours, so i quit
i didn't think i was addicted, and thankfully i wasn't, i continued to party only straight, ive always been able to do this so i guess knowing i could go all night without drugs made it easier
so year if you keep partying only w/o drugs you need not find anything to replace this wonderful passtime that i call my life with
if your worried about staying awake try some no dose, and you'll be suprised how good a lil alkey can be, you may have turned away from it during your chemical days such as i did, but now ive returned to it, and find that in moderations(i drink alot less now) you can get fuked and still feel ok next week without embarresing yourself too much.
anywho hope this helped a little,
------------------
~i wouldn't wish the current state of my brain upon anyone~