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To TheW0rm and Others w/ "comedown" issues

Hey man, i'm not doing too bad at all. I've just moved back to my hometown in New Zealand so just getting back into the flow of things here. Still experiencing some symptoms but they are less frequent and intense. Just trying to keep productive with work and my music. I've accepted that i'm dealing with anxiety so I don't come on this site often these days, some of the shit I read make my symptoms worse (mainly brain damage related stuff), but I do like to check in on everyone from time to time! I still experience a bit of dysphoria and mild to moderate bouts of depression, but I think it's more circumstantial to where my life is currently at as opposed to previous MDMA usage.

How are you doing man?
 
Okay. I've experienced something similar to you I think, though I know it's normal for these comedowns. I had no anxiety for the better part of 2 months, maybe even 2 whole months, but it has come back moderately now. You are about 10 months in now right?
 
Might I suggest a herbal regimen? Adaptogenic herbs such as Rhodiola Rosea do wonders for bringing serotonin and dopamine back into a healthy balance, not to mention countless other benefits. Just make sure you aren't drinking alcohol or taking other drugs that could interact. But adaptogenic herbs are much much better for overall health than nootropics.

You can regrow/repair your brain contrary to popular belief, just cut out the alcohol if you think you've been damaged (but in this case it's more likely you've been unbalanced), start exercising daily, lots of outdoor cardio aim for around 30 minutes daily, outdoor exercise is proven to reduce anxiety and depression more than indoors, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110204130607.htm. We want to promote neurogenesis daily if possible. Even 20 minutes a day just jogging outside will do this for us.

Start eating organic foods, drinking lots of water, finding a form of meditation, you know all that healthy stuff. Start taking multi-vitamins, whichever ones you want, daily. Limit caffeine and all other chemicals you put into your body, and like I said I would rather see a herbal regimen than a nootropic regimen.

Dragonherbs.com, Mountainroseherbs.com, Gaiaherbs.com, Agelessherbs.com, & Plantcures.com are good places to get started.

It takes time for your brain to be restored to an equilibrium. Trust me, I know. I use to binge on crystal molly every week in my early 20's. It takes its' toll.
 
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Yeah I think it's been exactly 9 months. To be honest though in the last few months I have not been living the healthiest lifestyle in the slightest. Like I mentioned earlier, I had a whole 1-2 months of respite, which made me think awesome I can go back to my old habits. Burgers, doritos and salsa dip, fast food, you name it, I freaking love that shit haha, but in the long run it really doesn't make you feel that great. Also I started smoking again at the start of the year (but have stopped again), and had some pretty crazy weekends out drinking with mates. In fact I have had some pretty good times regardless of feeling a bit low sometimes. But i'm sure that all of the above has contributed to how I have been feeling recently.

In regards to the anxiety coming back, it's called a setback and they are pretty common with anxiety sufferers. It comes back time and time for me too, I find the best thing to do is accept it and not try to work out why it came back. It will go away again.

Some good advice in the above comment that I will definitely try to follow. I really need to get back into meditation, that shit is amazing. When I was in the absolute depths of my comedown I did a 30 minute meditation session, when I came out of it I felt a happiness and calmness that I hadn't felt in years. SFT you should actually try this guided meditation man, there are 7 different videos that go step by step, really helped balance me out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjPllnlJfAU
 
A little over three months in this comedown and my brain is still physically hurting. Tingles, burning sensations, pins and needles, and other weird sensations in my brain. The best way to describe it is it feels like a small bug is going through my brain usually the top part. This is usually accompanied with brain fog. Hopefully it will go away in time because I'm ready to see a neurologist soon.
 
MindOverMatter1 said:
A little over three months in this comedown and my brain is still physically hurting. Tingles, burning sensations, pins and needles, and other weird sensations in my brain. The best way to describe it is it feels like a small bug is going through my brain usually the top part. This is usually accompanied with brain fog. Hopefully it will go away in time because I'm ready to see a neurologist soon.
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Dont waste your money on a neuro, trust me. I went to one, they have no idea. No MRI or anything will show up anything.
 
Have you dealt with these types of symptoms pmz? If you have - Have they gotten better for you (I know you are a lot farther ahead in your recovery time-wise)? The medical definition for what I'm going through right now is head paresthesia.
 
MindOverMatter1,

What you are describing sounds like scalp dysesthesias/parasthesias. It is not in your brain as there are no sensory receptors in your brain. There is a membranous layer surrounding your brain called the dura mater that is richly innervated, and pathological stretching of the dura will cause headaches. But what you are describing seems to be coming from the deep layers of your scalp (there are five layers to your scalp,the deepest layer is called the galea, which is the most densely innervated and vascularized layer).

Take a look at this paper:

http://archderm.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=188885

See if the symptoms described in among these patients are comparable to what you are experiencing. The majority of these patients responded to low dose antidepressants, again suggesting that this is a serotonin problem resulting in either a neuropathic problem in the trigeminal nerve, or a local vascular problem in the scalp.

You've only been suffering for a few months, but you could consider trying an antidepressant if it continues to bother you months down the road. Also, some patients have also responded to neuropathic medications such as gabapentin, pregabalin, or tricyclic antidepressants. Since its still early in your comedown, I would try to wait it out, because it does seem that this problem improves for many over time, and all these medications have their own side effect profile that you may not like.

Pmz is right that a neurologist will probably give you a blank stare if you tell him/her your story. That's why you have to educate yourself as much as you can, and then go to the neurologist, at which point they may be able to help you better.

Hang in there bud.
 
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I feel like frequency of use is the key factor. I have a buddy who took a ridiculous dose his first time. I know it was over .5 and may have been near a gram. He was non functional the next day of course but he didn't get the long term depression. Waiting at least a few months between rolls is important. Rolling puts your brain through a lot, it can recover but needs proper time. If you keep putting your brain through that and don't let it heal, well you may end up with some issues that may or may not improve over the course of many months.
 
What you are describing sounds like scalp dysesthesias/parasthesias.
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I would say that the patient's symptoms are similar to what I'm going through right now.

You've only been suffering for a few months, but you could consider trying an antidepressant if it continues to bother you months down the road.
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I'm not really depressed or have anxiety so antidepressants would be something I would take maybe a year or two down the road if this isn't resolved naturally. Also, I have taken anti-depressants in the past and I hated the way they made me feel. It made me feel numb to the world (amongst other side effects) and I never want to feel like that again. Anti-depressants are a last resort for me. Also, I realize every anti-depressant reacts differently so I would try something other than Zoloft and Prozac (my 2 past medications) in hope that I would react better.

What happened was I was dealing with this scalp paresthesia after I took MDMA three months ago. It mostly happened at night and wasn't constant. As time went on - at about the two month mark it was almost completely gone and I felt a lot like myself. I really felt like I was turning the corner. Then a few days later I drank a cup of caffeine. In hindsight, it was a terrible decision. The head paresthesia came back a lot worse. The pains and burning sensations were much more prominent and constant. It's been about a month since drinking caffeine and it has gotten slightly better (there were some periods of time where I felt complete numbness in a portion of my head and the strangest pains). I'm hoping that if I give it plenty of time (and avoid drugs like I have been) then it will go away completely. It's a lot more constant now where I deal with it for longer periods of the day. Zebrafish or others - Do you have any speculation why a cup of tea w/ caffeine would make my head paresthesia come back much stronger than before?

Also Zebrafish do you have any speculation on why the hell MDMA could give someone head paresthesia? I know that's a pretty complex question but I just don't get the correlation between taking MDMA and suffering with problems with nerves in my scalp. I've read that head paresthesia is common with people with damaged nerves so maybe MDMA damaged my nervous system a little and the connection with my scalp nerves and the damaged nerves are causing the symptoms I'm dealing with?

Pmz is right that a neurologist will probably give you a blank stare if you tell him/her your story.
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Yea going to a neurologist would probably be something I'd do far down the road. I realize I just have to give myself time for the brain to do it's natural re-wiring.

Hang in there bud.
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Thanks for the support you have no idea how much it is appreciated going through times like this where I just want to be back to how I was before three months ago. Actually it's been about 3.5 months now. It's nice going onto these forums because it's practically impossible to relate with anyone I talk to off the internet about this. My parents support me but don't know what to say and don't ask about it and my friends have taken much more MDMA than me and at greater frequencies and didn't even know things like what I'm going through can happen. They have no idea what to say other than 'I feel bad' and 'I hope shit gets better'. Most of my friends have a hard time even believing what I'm going through - like I'm lying about it. I'd feel completely alone in this without Bluelight. I have friends that night who took the exact same dose and molly as me and were back on their feet completely within days after taking it.

I feel like frequency of use is the key factor.
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It is a key factor but there so many more factors out there that matter. Just to name a few - brain chemistry, amount of MDMA taken, the cleanliness of your 'MDMA' (test your shit even though I didn't), environment, pre-loading/post-loading, re-dosing, drugs taken with your roll, etc. The last roll that gave me trouble I last rolled six months prior to it and took 333mg. of molly (didn't test it but my friends came out fine) and pre-loaded and post-loaded and dealing with symptoms 3.5 months later. My point is even if you do space out your rolls you can still get fucked.
 
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MindOverMatter1 said:
Also Zebrafish do you have any speculation on why the hell MDMA could give someone head paresthesia? I know that's a pretty complex question but I just don't get the correlation between taking MDMA and suffering with problems with nerves in my scalp. I've read that head paresthesia is common with people with damaged nerves so maybe MDMA damaged my nervous system a little and the connection with my scalp nerves and the damaged nerves are causing the symptoms I'm dealing with?
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Hey man, I had made a post previously in which I alluded to a couple possible theories of how MDMA induced damage could result in scalp dysesthesias. I know its a bit technical though.

http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/699909-Pressure-in-scalp-after-mdma?p=12243026#post12243026

Bottom line this is all theoretical speculation in the setting of MDMA. However, if these symptoms go on for too long and get too unbearable, you can always try a neuropathic medication or antidepressant.
 
I need some serious support right now, I took MDMA last week with a bunch of friends (and had a panic attack) and ever since then I've been feeling confused like I can't think straight and I don't know how much more I can take, I haven't slept all night and I'm really just looking for confirmation that I'm okay and it's all gonna be okay, I'm absolutely exhausted and I'm starting to think I'm going crazy, I'm questioning what's real and what's not. However, I haven't googled anything to do with my symptoms today which is progress and I did have a huge appetite loss and everytime I tried to eat I just felt sick from worry but I've managed to keep food down today also.
 
Hey there. You're OK and you'll be OK. You didn't damage your brain in any way.

You had a panic attack on a psychedelic. Your brain thinks you literally almost died, and it and your body will respond that way, maybe for a while. If you had just been through a plane crash where people died, how long do you think would be reasonable for recovering? A day, week, or month? Maybe even never? That could be too.

It's important to remember that you singed a little spot on your amygdala that will associate some of the sights and sounds and especially smells you experienced at the time, with impending doom and deep fear. There's not a lot you can do about that. But that's all it is.

That may not sound reassuring, but try to focus on those facts and remember your body is readjusting to all that adrenaline and cortisol and you're due for a good long sleep still. Your cognitive abilities are unchanged (once you're rested) and you don't have any sudden deficits in social skills.

Try to sleep, lay off drugs for a while, you'll be fine. You may have to avoid MDMA for a long long time though.
 
I swear though there is something seriously up with the drug given that it has induced all kinds of psychiatric symptoms on the comedown in otherwise mentally healthy people.

There is still the big question of why is the brain not able to get back to homeostasis fast and not generate the symptoms in the first place so that they are not perpetuated.
 
It's possible that folks are just taking too much MDMA.

Nobody is surprised when it's cousin meth causes panic attacks on the comedown. Shit, I think it's the price of admission with meth. Everyone gets one eventually.

It's something stimulants can do, and something to watch out for. You can learn to recognize the signs, to talk yourself through a panic attack, to have a benzo ready, or even some booze. And you can cap your MDMA at 200mg. Stay hydrated, stay cool (body-temp-wise), have a buddy with you at all times, you'll be fine.
 
I already decided that I'm never doing it ever again, thank you for helping me understand things better, I took the least out of all my friends yet I'm the most unstable, not to forget it was also my first time too
 
Guys there is a recovery thread specifically for this purpose. Please take this discussion in there instead of reviving a 3 year old thread :)
 
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