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? for the heavy E users from 80's &90's: DOES MDMA CAUSE LONG TERM BRAIN DAMAGE?

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scatterbrain

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 30, 2004
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I did a search and found the following original title thread from 2004: "Ok forget the bullshit and the science, DOES MDMA CAUSE LONG TERM BRAIN DAMAGE" but I couldn't resurrect it for some reason hence this new thread:

The original is spot on with what I'm looking for. Forgot all the bullshit and stuff. I'm looking for real life experiences with heavy ecstasy use from 80's and 90's.

For the more experienced heavy ecstasy users from those times, are you functioning and getting by well? Do you have any of the symptoms that people keep throwing down our throats like depression, memory issues, panic attacks, anxiety, etc etc etc?

Any feedback will be appreciated
 
Im a long term and ex heavy user started in the 80's - no lasting problems for me. Im fully functioning and getting along great :).

I have no symptoms that you mention - Im not saying that Ive never had them after a heavy session but none that have lasted.

Hope that answers your questions :)
 
I was a heavy user during the early 90`s through 000`s . I do not feel like I have had any long term effects but I would still recommend that you not become a heavy user. X is a wonderful experience but the magic will go away eventually. If I had only eaten half the rolls I did the magic would have lasted alot longer.
 
Isn't it the same with all drugs when it comes to "magic?" For instance, the first few times I smoked weed, the high was INTENSE. But nowadays, even if I lay off weed for a significant amount of time AND smoke some high quality shit, the high is no where near the first intense highs I had. It's even the same with alcohol. I could never have the same types of nice clean alcohol buzzes I had like the first times you know. And now the same story goes with ecstasy: I could never reach those same out of this world magical rolls I had the first times. I'm bummed but it seems that's how it is with substances in general.

Anyway, back on topic... here's something interesting from Erowid.com:

Note on Using MDMA Many Times:
Most users of MDMA who have taken the drug many times report that after some number of sessions, varying by person from a few to a few dozen, the desirable effects of the drug are no longer as pronounced. Said one, "it loses its magic." Another person who used MDMA perhaps a dozen times (separated by weeks to months) noted the dropoff, waited three years (!), tried an ordinary dose of high-quality MDMA again, and found that the annoyance of the physical side effects outweighed the greatly diminished positive effects. He has sadly given up the drug. Others who have had fifty or more MDMA sessions still find them to be worthwhile on balance.

This MDMA effect dropoff might be caused by lasting neurophysiological or neurological "changes" to the brain from exposure to MDMA, the prior state of the changed structures being necessary for ecstatic MDMA experiences. It is an as-yet-unanswered question whether such changes, if they happen, are best regarded as harmful, neutral, or beneficial.

The italicized is what prompted me to look into this and that's why I'm asking the heavy users from the early days... All the shit like mtv's "holes in your brain.." just annoys the fuck out of me. I would rather hear it from people's real experiences hence this thread.. thanks for the responses
 
Great thread I look forward to reading the replies. In my opinion, aside from our own personal experience, examining other long-term users is the best source of information. Given that the brain is far from being completely understood, the results of experiments are often difficult to properly interpret.
 
thanks I just watched all videos and it angers me how the gov't throws out all this bullshit. I believed this bullshit and felt I damaged my brain. I actually had anxiety and panic issues. I began to stutter and feel that my memory was off. Any issue that came up, I immediately blamed it on ecstasy because I was duped into the govt bullshit.

When it comes to all the issues posted her on bluelight, I strongly feel that one's very own belief is the #1 primary factor. The following is something interesting that hits this point:

Norman Cousins shared a story with Anthony Robbins about how strongly our beliefs affect our physical bodies: At a football game, several people experienced the symptoms of food poisoning. Word spread that the cause was a certain drink from the vending machines; all the sick had purchased some prior to becoming ill. An announcement was made over the loud speaker requesting that no one buy drinks from the vending machines, saying some people had become ill and also described symptoms. Pandemonium broke out int he stands as people fainted and got sick... Even some people who had not gone near the vending machines became ill. Ambulances drove people back and forth from the event to the hospital. When it was discovered that the vending machine and drinks were not the culprit, people immediately and "miraculously" recovered ( this is from Anthony Robbin's Awaken the Giant Within, the chapter on beliefs)

You can literally dupe yourself into believing you have panic attack and stuttering issues due to ecstasy use. I'm a prime example. What I started doing was consciously visualzing healing. I watched that movie "The Secret" and one scene that stuck with me was the lady who recovered from cancer just by watching a bunch of comedy stuff. I made it a point to visualize myself as being healed from panic, anxiety, stuttering, and memory issues. Lo and behold, those ecstasy related "brain damage" issues were no longer there. But don't trust me on this.. find out for yourself and see.
 
The word 'magic' gets thrown about too much in these threads tbh. Surely the 'magic' of any experience is down to the individual and not down to public opinion.
When you’re a kid Christmas is an amazing time - so much excitement leading up to the event, unable to sleep the night before, hearing bells in the sky, convinced you saw Santa etc - as an adult its completely different. Have you lost the magic of Christmas? If it’s not the same experience as you had when you were 5 is it not as good?
Obviously the less you expose yourself to a drug the safer it’s going to be for your health - rolling a few times a year is not going to make you lose this magic that everyone seems to be almost obsessed about. The more often you use MDMA the higher your tolerance will be meaning you need more of the drug to get the same effect.
IF you then start taking larger amounts of the drug at regular intervals you are simply increasing the risks associated with said drug.
 
@scatterbrain: I find Anthony Robbins to be somewhat of an obnoxious giant, but good points. There seem to be a lot of ideas floating around that people internalize and then they actually happen because people believe so strongly in them.
 
Agree with Bearlove. No long term effects although don't do long, heavy sessions any more as they wreck me for a while.
Small amounts every few months still good although my experience means I'm no longer surprised by mdma, and I think that's what some people mean by the magic.
 
I was a heavy user for several years in the late 90s and early 00s. Toward the end I did through some pretty serious depression. I'm pretty sure it was related to rolling, so I stopped and realized that I had to just snap out of the cycle of funk. Before too long I did.

I dabbled very infrequently for a while, but didn't really enjoy it. The effect was not as great (but they may have been partially due to relatively poor pills), and that made me sad because I felt like I was trying to relive those happy times, but that they were gone forever.

So I stopped entirely for a few years, and just recently started again with some really nice pills. While it's not as great as it once was, I've been enjoying it a lot. :-)

Of course it's really impossible to say for sure how I would feel now if I'd never rolled, but I can say I don't feel like I've been damaged physically.
 
Started taking "E" in 1996 up to now. I did stop for about 1 year in 2006. I feel great and I dont have any problems. The older I get the less desire I have to roll but the effect/feel/magic is still there.
 
ROONEY88 said:
Started taking "E" in 1996 up to now. I did stop for about 1 year in 2006. I feel great and I dont have any problems. The older I get the less desire I have to roll but the effect/feel/magic is still there.
Click to expand...

Would you mind telling us how often you consumed it during this period? Did you notice big increases in tolerance and did the quality of the experience diminish?
 
Started in '97 and used pretty consistently til present. Went heavy first 3 years...probably about same as above (30 or more pills a month)...and again heavy around '05...like 200 - 300 pills in a few months...hey, supply was good ;-).

Now, I go in spurts. I'll roll one or two times a month for 3 or 4 months and then take the rest of the year off.

After initial heavy use, I definitely had depression, mood swings, anxiety and most annoyingly...sleep trouble (i.e. hard time falling asleep and night sweats). Long term, I seem to be just fine, but if my use gets too frequent, the side effects come back fast. Def more sensitive to it now.

Overall, my experience is the brain bounces back after long term use...even heavy use, but I would STRONGLY urge against it. I'm still only 31 and a health and fitness fanatic, so who knows where i'd be if that wasn't the case.
 
And we describe "heavy E users"? There's a big difference between using MDMA once a week and once a month.
 
It's known that high / repeated / frequent doses of MDMA are neurotoxic.. I suspect single doses are slightly but easily and quickly repaired.
 
Because E has only been around such a short time, even the older users of this drug are still relatively young (compared to LSD for instance). Even if someone started using in 86...thats only 24 years ago!

Long term health implications can take alot longer than that. Take alcohol for example. Im sure alot of people have been drinking for 20ish years and dont notice too many problems..although Id hate to see their complications in another 20 years....

Dont get me wrong I think this is an excellent thread with alot of potential - and bearloves testimony is not falling on dead ears...

Im just saying! :)
 
I suspect (especially heavy) E use can cause or at least aggravate disorders in the depression and anxiety category; bipolar, GAD, MDD, sleep phase disorders, etc., etc..

Of course I can't prove it. All I know is I always got majorly depressed after using E more then 4 times a year. I know a bunch of people that partied end 80's begin 90's and they have these kind of disorders, might be nature but could be nurture, who knows?

I think E should be treated as something that can be quite harmful. It's an easy drug, most often used only for pleasure. The empathy is quite fun but fake. I would say doing it once a month is way too much and you could ask yourself why you want to do it so much. I find the idea of E quite offputting now but i'm biased because it makes me feel like shit afterward.

imo E would be great for therapy, like morphine is great for painkilling. These are both great for rec. use. And both dangerous.
 
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