Why can't I remember coming up & for a period of time after dropping?

Hi,

I'm encountering something very strange that I hope someone could shed some light on.

I'm your typical weekend popper who only pop pills on weekends, mostly only one pill per weekend. Been doing it for 8-9 months now, in the first 6 months the experienece was excellent with good peaks achieved almost every weekend and really good memorable nights.

However, my experience during the past 6 - 8 weekends has been very disappointing.

The problem is lately I can never seem to remember the moments after dropping my pill, hence no recollection of coming up, peaking or what I was doing for that hour or so.

When I regain memory/consciousness I always find myself sitting in a quiet spot somewhere or friends coming to knock me out of the fixated state I was in.

I think alcohol may be a big factor as I always have 4-6 beers under my belt when I drop, but I've always combined alcohol with pills since day one and this "loss of consciousness" state only started occuring 4-8 weeks ago.

The pills I had were all strong but I always had good or strong pills so it was nothing new for me.

One thing I notice was when this started happening 6-8 weeks ago it was also the time I started taking 5-HTP, but only post-loads after the night out and a few days after (Monday & Tuesday).

I'm wondering whether anyone could suggest what I'm doing wrong and what I could try, I'm thinking of the following:

* Stop taking 5-HTP altogether or at a very reduced level (only 100-200mg per week after taking pill). I'm reluctant to stop taking it altogether though in fear that the pills would stop working.

* Stop drinking alcohol before dropping (I personally doubt this is the cause but willing to give it a go)

* Take pill in halves, perhaps 30mins apart. Something I never tried before but again reluctant in case the pill loses its effectiveness.

I know I sound really desperate but I'm really getting annoyed with the rolls that I never remember and I don't think it's the "pill stop working due to over-doing it" syndrome. Matter of fact it's more like the other way around.

Thanks

All those things sound effective - taking your pill in halves will mean it comes on more gradually and you will have time to register that the drug is taking effect before you're out of it. It also wouldn't be the first time someone implicated alcohol for the large black spots in their memory of the night either... memory blanks seem to go hand in hand with alcohol, particularly when alcohol is taken with other drugs (or a lot of alcohol).

BT

BigTrancer said:

All those things sound effective - taking your pill in halves will mean it comes on more gradually and you will have time to register that the drug is taking effect before you're out of it. It also wouldn't be the first time someone implicated alcohol for the large black spots in their memory of the night either... memory blanks seem to go hand in hand with alcohol, particularly when alcohol is taken with other drugs (or a lot of alcohol).

BT

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Thanks for the reply. Just for an experiment I won't have a single drop of alcohol next time and see what happens but I will still drop a full one on the night instead of halves. It's gonna be hard not to drink on the night cos I love a good beer or ten.

I'm still puzzled as to why alcohol + biks never had this memory black spot effect before, there were many nights before where I have been drinking and still could remember riding the peak from start to finish, but that was the period before I started taking 5-HTP.

I have this theory that due to the 5-HTP I've started taking as post-loads the biks are a bit more effective then before and this effect combined with alcohol now sends me over the edge & knocks me out. It's good in a way but not much fun when I can't remember peaking or riding it to the end. What would also be interesting is what I've been doing while being out of it.

Maybe it's because you're pingin' a lot harder due to the excess of serotonin, due to the 5-htp, and as such it's leading to you bein' so high you don't remember shit?
Meh, I dunno.
Random thought, no factual basis.
PEACE

I basically have exactly the same problem, to which I was able to pin-point alcohol as the cause. I find if I have a few pre-drinks, not so Im blind drunk but just merry / tipsy then as soon as my pill starts to kick I basically blank out until the pill dies off.

The level of blanking out depends on how much of each I have, or how strong they are, alot of the time my memory is just sketchy and Ill forget certain details or have holes in my memories... but a couple of times Ive totally blanked out only to awake standing up, much like when you wakeup in bed after hitting the booze way too hard. 'How did I get here!?'.

I guess it just depends alot on the person aswell, It all effects us in different ways.

Stunned said:

I basically have exactly the same problem, to which I was able to pin-point alcohol as the cause. I find if I have a few pre-drinks, not so Im blind drunk but just merry / tipsy then as soon as my pill starts to kick I basically blank out until the pill dies off.

The level of blanking out depends on how much of each I have, or how strong they are, alot of the time my memory is just sketchy and Ill forget certain details or have holes in my memories... but a couple of times Ive totally blanked out only to awake standing up, much like when you wakeup in bed after hitting the booze way too hard. 'How did I get here!?'.

I guess it just depends alot on the person aswell, It all effects us in different ways.

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hehehe, the waking while standing up & "how did I get here" thing's been happening to me lately, and like you said, I don't even have to be blind drunk, even if it was only a few warm-up drinks. It makes you wonder what you were doing while "sleep walking" in the club doesn't it? I sometimes wonder if I still appear to be consciously "there" while in that state, like going up to the bar or start talking to people.

I'm gonna go without a single drop of alcohol tomorrow night and see what happens.

So did this problem go away for you when you didn't drink at all?

Well I went through Friday night without any alcohol prior dropping & the difference it made was mind-blowing.

I rode the pill pretty much from start to finish and remembered almost every part of it, without experiencing the usual black holes in my memory or the "how did I get here" when taken in combination with alcohol.

I could recall sweating my ass off & breathing like a blowfish while peaking/shuffling on the dancefloor as well as all the shinanigans that followed throughout the night, thank god!

Still can't figure out why I did not have this problem with alcohol in the past, oh well, at least I got to the bottom of it.

Thanks everyone for replying!

^ Yep, just to confirm the only time I have issues remembering the night is after drinking to much. It's usually those nights I have no intention of taking pills, and while half blind someone pulls them out and I think I will just have one because everyone else is.

Still a good night but not nearly as good as when you can seem to remember your every breath of plur.

Glad you worked it out!

i never remember stuff when mixing alchohol and pills

Aside from the whole memory thing, I really find that alcohol worsens the effects of MDMA.

While you will still have a good time, if you take a pill after drinking, generally I find it will just make you feel more fucked up, and you will miss alot of the subtleties associated with MDMA alone.

One of the best things about MDMA is that despite being obviously under the effects of a drug, you stil have a pretty clear mind. If you add in the alcohol, this certainly dissapears.

bRAVEheart

of course no one will suggest brain damage

I'd have to go with the drinking thing. On a few nights I've had just a few drinks, taken pills, and had immense short-term memoryproblems... being unable to remember what I was saying 30 seconds ago etc... and next thing I know its like an hour or two hours later and I'm coming down.... can't remember any of the period.

My suggestion: don't drink at all. It can be enjoyable, but if you overdo it you end up in that zone -- no memory, and people usually report you act weirdly.

You'll save money by not drinking too...

VelocideX said:

I'd have to go with the drinking thing. On a few nights I've had just a few drinks, taken pills, and had immense short-term memoryproblems... being unable to remember what I was saying 30 seconds ago etc... and next thing I know its like an hour or two hours later and I'm coming down.... can't remember any of the period.

My suggestion: don't drink at all. It can be enjoyable, but if you overdo it you end up in that zone -- no memory, and people usually report you act weirdly.

You'll save money by not drinking too...

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Thanks a lot guys, I thought I was the only gurner out there with this problem but what you and a few others have described fits perfectly with the symptoms I had.

About the drinking thing, I think all you guys are right, no alcohol's really needed when having pills, but old habits is so hard to break especially for someone like me who enjoys a few fine ales.

You're certainly right about the money thing, when you're on pills it seems you can drink a shit load and not keel over and the $$$ adds up when you're in the club for 10-12 hrs.

I always have memory black outs / lost time when Ive had way too much to drink and then pop a pill! Happens ALL the time, so I would definately suggest its alcohol and I would also tend to agree with the above poster about the 5HTP maybe increasing ur peak

I find the stronger the pill, the more "LOST" time seems to happen.

I do however find all that is pretty normal for me? I always lose time!!