MDMA, does it only affect seratonin or does it affect dopamine as well?

[Kandy K]

The reason I ask this is because I'm also an avid crystal user, and I've been rolling on a regular basis since November. As for the meth, I quit for 2 years, but I recently started using again in January, and with 2 of my most recent rolls, something odd has happened.

In February, I was probably on my 2nd or 3rd day binge, and decided to take a blue shield. The weird thing is, I didn't feel anything. NOT A THING! I know it wasn't a bunk pill because my other friends dropped these around me and told me it was a good pill. I also looked it up on pillreports.com and it was the same exact pill that others had rated a 7 or 8.

Now, I actually remembered a couple weeks later that I had snorted 2 or 3 lines of cocaine right before dropping, and I know that coke hinders your roll completely. But 2 weeks after that incident, I took 2 yellow piranhas, after a 3 day meth binge. Once again, I felt NOTHING (while my friends, on the other hand, were rolling balls)! I felt the MDA effects and enjoyed light shows, but felt no MDMA or body high or anything, so it kind of sucked.

But THEN I went on a 2 day binge last weekend and took a red piranha, and that roll ended up being the strongest of my life. So I don't know what to think.

I've had several sources inform me that seratonin is what gives you the emotional high, but dopamine is what gives you the BODY high, and ecstasy affects BOTH. So if you binge on meth for a few days prior to dropping, you use up all your dopamine, which is why you can't get a body high from E. Is this a true claim, or what?

Or is it possible that the first roll I wasted because I took cocaine, and the second roll only contained MDA, and doing meth really doesn't affect E at all?

 

[crappybones]

ive only ever tweaked and rolled in conjunction (that the corect word) and it kinda workd. mind you that was only after tweaking for a day, my roll was really smacky and confusing, in fact i dumped the strongest tabs in my life.

 

[fastandbulbous]

Without the dopamine aspect, you don't have MDMA; MBDB has far less effect on dopamine release, and most people reckon that it's nowhere near as euphoric as MDMA

 

[Kandy K]

So you're saying that if I binged on crystal enough so that my body did not release any more dopamine, I would not feel a roll at all? Because I've noticed that whenever I stop using crystal for 1-2 weeks and then tweak, I get a super intense body high, it feels like I'm rolling again for 6-8 hours.

 

[VelocideX]

The dopamine system is much more resilient than the serotonin system; it would take a LOT to substantially deplete your dopamine stores, and even if you did your body would be able to replace them relatively quickly (relative when compared to serotonin).

Pure serotonergic drugs aren't really euphoric, though they do alter your perceptions. Most people generally accept that dopamine/noradrenaline is required for the euphoric component.

 

[Kandy K]

The dopamine system is much more resilient than the serotonin system; it would take a LOT to substantially deplete your dopamine stores, and even if you did your body would be able to replace them relatively quickly (relative when compared to serotonin).

Pure serotonergic drugs aren't really euphoric, though they do alter your perceptions. Most people generally accept that dopamine/noradrenaline is required for the euphoric component.

Interesting. But referring to what you said about dopamine being difficult to fully deplete and being replaced relatively quickly, what about long-time users of uppers who actually stop producing dopamine (and then get Parkinson's Disease from the lack of dopamine)? If I suffer from parkinson's-like symptoms after several days of usage, should I be worried?

 

[BilZ0r]

Well I've heard that dopamine is difficult to deplete thing before, I'm not so sure if I believe it... There is no real reason I can see for it to be any more, or any less difficult to deplete than serotonin. In regards to MDMA usage, then it makes perfect sense, because MDMA more potently releases serotonin, and in experimental animals it is a serotonergic neurotoxin. But conversly, methamphetamine depletes dopamines and not so much serotonin in experimental animals.

Long term stimulant use is definatly bad for you. Whether or not this is because of complete loss of dopamine producing cells is unknown, though I doubt it. The Parkinsonian type symptomes you report will in part be due to dopamine depletion, but probably more importantly, massive dopamine receptor downregulation.

Should you be worried? Well it depends how you look at it. In my view, if you're using drugs in a pattern like that, you should definatly be worried, because I would easily class that as drug abuse. Should you be worried about your actual symptomes? No, probably not, so long as they remain transient.