How long must SSRI's be stopped before you can feel MDMA?

[velocity92c]

My newish girlfriend has never experienced MDMA before, so on New Year's eve we got ahold of some very good rolls, probably the best that had been around in years. I normally require a handful to get high but with these I was able to get high on 1 and a half. I also hadn't rolled in many years so I'm sure this had an effect on it, but I had gone for extended periods of time before (1 year or more), tried rolling again and not gotten very high. The pills in my area have been garbage for a long time. Luckily for me the good pills are around and there seem to be hundreds available.

The bad part is, my girlfriend didn't feel a thing. I was so fucked up that it blew my mind, I couldn't fathom why she wasn't feeling anything. In all my years of rolling I had never known that SSRI's interfered with MDMA, mainly because I had never rolled with someone on an SSRI before. After I came down I researched all the medication she was on and realized that Paxil was obviously the culprit.

I really want her to experience MDMA while these good pills are around because there's no telling when the next good batch of pills comes around. My question is, how long would she need to be off of Paxil before she was fully able to experience MDMA? I only have this kind of knowledge of opiates and opiate receptors. I don't know anything at all about SSRI's and the information I found online was not very helpful. I've read anywhere from a week to 6 months. The bad part is she experiences pretty bad withdrawals without her medication, and not only that she says it makes her feel crazy and emotional. I am willing to bear this burden if it's not going to be 6 months, lol. I would prefer she gets off of them completely anyway, and I'm not sure if this would be accomplished with some kind of weaning but that's pretty much besides the point right now.

Can someone tell me approximately how long she needs to stop taking her Paxil for MDMA be effective? Any other tips or advice on this odd situation?

 

[tripz_two]

I think there are actually two separate concerns with this. One is the time for the ssri to clear your system. Which for that you can figure out by determining the half life of the ssri and do the math.
The other thing is that there is some altering of the receptors in your head which takes longer to change back - this is regardless of the half life of the ssri.

Luckily, regardless of all that, I've consistently seen people stop their meds for 2 or 3 days and roll just fine. On the other hand it seems kinda 50/50 imo when people dont stop their meds. At the very least there often seems to be some loss of effects.

 

[Bsiren]

For the sake of her safety, and enjoying the MDMA experience to the fullest, I'd wait as long as possible.

We aren't neurologists here, no one can give you a definite time frame- but my friends have successfully rolled 2 months after stopping SSRI meds. I have seen many people have 0 effects from MDMA that stopped SSRI use less than a week prior to attempting to roll.

Though you may want her to enjoy MDMA with you, if she is on SSRI's for a reason, it's not wise to stop medications that help her stay stable and live a "normal" day to day life in order to do so. I think we all can relate to being close to someone and wishing they would try MDMA, but perhaps this is a situation where it's better for her to be on SSRI's until she does not need them anymore.

 

[BCDriver]

I agree with Bsiren, I've seen people go from 3 days to 3 months off of their SSRI's and roll quite successfully. I myself used to be on Zoloft and actually took it preventatively because of the frequency at which I used to roll (which is not recommended at all in the sake of harm reduction). I wouldn't be too worried about if she's going to be able to roll soon, because if you're worried about product not being in the area just pick it up now and hold on to it, MD keeps very well if you take care of it properly, just pick some up and wait till she's been off of her medication for what both of you deem an appropriate amount of time. The biggest concern is the fact that she doesn't seem to want to come off of her medication, for a short stint maybe but if either of you feel it will take longer for her to be "ready" to roll then you might need to have a discussion about whether the positives of rolling outweigh the negatives of not being on a prescribed anti-depressant.

Good luck man.

 

[TearItDown]

For the sake of her safety, and enjoying the MDMA experience to the fullest, I'd wait as long as possible.

We aren't neurologists here, no one can give you a definite time frame- but my friends have successfully rolled 2 months after stopping SSRI meds. I have seen many people have 0 effects from MDMA that stopped SSRI use less than a week prior to attempting to roll.

Though you may want her to enjoy MDMA with you, if she is on SSRI's for a reason, it's not wise to stop medications that help her stay stable and live a "normal" day to day life in order to do so. I think we all can relate to being close to someone and wishing they would try MDMA, but perhaps this is a situation where it's better for her to be on SSRI's until she does not need them anymore.

To add onto what you said it depends how long they were taking the medication. How long has she been taking paxil? I've read that for some people it tends to be 2-3 months per year they are on the SSRI. Possibly less depending on their dosage as well.

 

[sakura.summers]

First off, why is it that sh is taking Paxil in the first place? If it's for serious depression or something along those lines, she shouldn't be taken off them except by a doctor, and especially not to take MDMA. You should be thinking about your girlfriends safety when it comes to this kind of stuff. Is it safe for her to just stop taking her medication? How will the MDMA comedown effect her? Coming down off MDMA causes depression in people who don't already have it, and could be very serious for someone who does.

However, if she's on Paxil for something like OCD, just make sure she's comfortable being off of it, and in a couple of months if she wants to roll, go for it. Just make sure it's safe for her to do so.