• 💊 OTHER DRUGS 💊 Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Notable Threads 1 Notable Threads 2
    Dangerous Combos Addiction Support
    Emergency Services Benzo Guide v.1
    Addiction Stories Scary Case Studies
    Biology, Pharmacology & Drugs 101
  • Select Your Topic Then Scroll Down
    Alcohol Bupe Benzos
    Cocaine Heroin Opioids
    RCs Stimulants Misc
    Harm Reduction All Topics Gabapentinoids
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums

new rx for post xtc use?

E

ehead

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 17, 2000
Messages
94
Location
west falls, n.y. us
my friends said that there is this new rx drug out there for people that have used xtc in the past and now are depressed. does anyone know if this is true and what the name is?
my friends said it was called something like seri something thanks
 
I am guess that your friends are referring to 5-HTP. MDMA depletes serotonin which can cause a whole mess of problems, and 5-HTP rebuilds it back up. A lot of people like to take 400mg or so of 5-HTP when the start to come down, so they dont crash very hard. And yes, it does seem to be effective at combating the come down.
 
Well if it is an rx drug you are probably thinking of sertraline (sp?). It is just another ssri, a little bit more selective for serotonin (booo) I think it is the same as zolofot but not sure. No big change from the past.
Anyway this should be in health Q&A.
[ 12 May 2002: Message edited by: quale ]
 
Zoloft is the brandname for sertraline in the USA (Lustral is the brand name in the UK).
I'm wondering if your friend wasn't thinking of serotonin (which of course isn't a prescription drug)?
 
see i haven't done e since november and i don't ever plan to again. yeah maybe my friends don't even know what they are talking about. thanx
 
yeah maybe my friends don't even know what they are talking about.
I think this is the most likely scenerio.
A lot of ecstasy users believe they know what they're talking about and claim to have done thorough research on MDMA.
But this usually turns out to be that they skimmed through articles because unable to comprehend the scientific content. They then pick out a few keywords and phrases they do understand, especially the names of chemicals or other drugs. Then they use this to say things like "you can take MDMA and avoid getting depressed by taking 5-htp or Prozac" so they can justify their drug use even though the articles or studies they read by no means concluded anything.
Your friends could have simply understood something they read about people suffering from depression linked to their ecstasy use were being treated with Zoloft.
Or they could have read ancient articles suggesting that if you take SSRI's after so many hours into a roll you can supposssedly prevent neurotoxicity (this is nothing more than a theory).
Who knows. But yeah, whatever it was, it was probably bullshit. Your friends probably didn't understand what they read any better than they explained it to you.
Click to expand...
 
I am guess that your friends are referring to 5-HTP. MDMA depletes serotonin which can cause a whole mess of problems, and 5-HTP rebuilds it back up. A lot of people like to take 400mg or so of 5-HTP when the start to come down, so they dont crash very hard. And yes, it does seem to be effective at combating the come down.
From a box of 5-htp capsules underneath a statement saying "5-htp may promote health".. "This product has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any form of disease".
What this means is that no company currently producing 5-htp can back up any claims that it's doing anything to benefit anyones health in any way.
In theory 5-htp would be converted to 5-ht (serotonin) in the brain. But that's all it is, theory.
A normally functioning brain will obviously regulate it's own production of serotonin and use it as neccessary. Anti-depressants can alter the serotonin functioning. Ecstasy will alter the serotonin functioning. But 5-htp in itself should not alter anything, it should simply be converted to 5-ht. But if the brain is self-regulating 5-ht, then the excess 5-htp would likely be expelled from the body through urine. I have never seen a documented case of anyone suffering from Serotonin Syndrome from taking 5-htp, and while it's possible that it's perhaps occured, it's undoubtedly excessively rare. If the brain self-regulates the amount of 5-ht, then perhaps it would convert 5-htp if the 5-ht was depleted do to MDMA use. I've also read reports where people have snorted 5-htp while on ecstasy and reported that it greatly magnified the effects of the MDMA, but I've never heard of anyone doing this without being under the influence.
The point is that nobody knows how it actually works. The only "research" I've ever seen about 5-htp has been based on human observation and is usually used in conjuction to sell books about 5-htp or to sell 5-htp products.
I don't doubt that 5-htp does something. But I find it impossible to believe that it magically raises serotonin to appropriate levels yet isn't a magic cure to every serotonin-related ailment.. or even a single serotonin-related ailment.
If someone takes it after using ecstasy and they think it helps, more power to them. But it may be nothing more than placebo.
Click to expand...
 
How about this research soviet (I actually do know what I am talking about)?
Attenuation of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) induced neurotoxicity with the serotonin precursurs tryptophan and 5-hydroxytryptophan.
Jon E. Sprague, Xuemei Huang, Arthi Kanthasamy, and David E. Nichols.
Life Sciences, Vol 55, No 15, pp. 1193-1158, 1994
As serotonin would be utterly useless unless you injected it into your skull and 5HTP isn't a rx drug if they werent full of shit they were probably talking about sertraline (in which case they are only half full of shit). Also while I don't have the cites I thought 5HTP had been shown to increase serotonin levels in the brain of animals (sober ones) but I could be mistaken.
Also nitpicking a little it is well known that 5HTP is converted to serotonin in the brain the question at hand that you are addressing is whether adding extra 5HTP would increase that production. Now I believe it does, though as I said I don't have a cite on that in a functioning brain. If it did I would expect it to be less effective than SSRIs which already aren't *that* effective anyway. Also it is probably more expensive than SSRIs on an insurance plan (of course the benifit is 5HTP doesn't kill your roll).
BTW in case you were wondering the above study was conducted in vivo in rats so I am inclined to believe that it generalizes to humans.
[ 13 May 2002: Message edited by: quale ]
Click to expand...
 
Or they could have read ancient articles suggesting that if you take SSRI's after so many hours into a roll you can supposedly prevent neurotoxicity (this is nothing more than a theory).
Actually, SSRI attenuation of MDMA-related neurotoxicity is very well documented. I won't go look it up for you, but search medline and you will find many studies.
Also, as quale pointed out, consuming 5-HTP does increase serotonin levels. There is a thread on the first page of Health discussing this, in which I go into more detail about 5-HTP and its conversion to serotonin. I cite some studies there also.
Click to expand...
 
Originally posted by SovietContin:

From a box of 5-htp capsules underneath a statement saying "5-htp may promote health".. "This product has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any form of disease".
What this means is that no company currently producing 5-htp can back up any claims that it's doing anything to benefit anyones health in any way.
In theory 5-htp would be converted to 5-ht (serotonin) in the brain. But that's all it is, theory.

sorry soviet, but i must call bullshit.
The disclaimer you speak of is a generic statement that is put on pretty much ALL vitamins and dietary suppliments. It's called "covering your ass"
Everyone knows Vitamin C prevents scurvy, is an antioxidant, etc etc... but my bottle has the same statement. Guess i'm wasting my money on this "theoretical" vitamin C shit too.
5-HTP IS converted into 5-HT... no theory about it. Doccumented, proven.
Click to expand...
 
Yes bet there is no question about the fact that 5HTP is converted into serotonin. The more interesting question is whether increasing the 5HTP in your diet increases serotonin levels in the brain. I believe this is in fact true, however, it is by no means apparent from the fact that 5HTP is converted into serotonin, nor even from the fact that 5HTP attenuates neurotox of e. During normal brain functioning it may not be the limiting reagent in the creation of serotonin (this is I believe what soviet was getting at with his comment about the levels being self regulating).
Anyway I posted this comment because I just happen to have the article (I believe one of the original ones so it is fairly outdated by now) about SSRIs and MDMA (taking the SSRI up to 6 hours later still providing partial protection) sitting on my floor (printed it out a long time ago and was looking in the folder) in case someone wanted the cite.
Neurotoxicity of the Psychedelic Amphetamine, Methylenedioxymethamphetamine
Christopher J. Schmidt
The Journal or Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 1987, Vol 240
Actually the difference between +12hr administration of fluoextine and control is significant in this study but the difference between 6hr and control is pretty damn large (one has like twice the serotonin levels in one week than the other does). This is one problem with the study, serotonin levels a week later are measured instead of a probably more accurate radioligand uptake. If anyone knows of any later more sophisticated looks at this technique I would love to know.
Click to expand...
 
Originally posted by SovietContin:

BLAH BLAH BLAH Self-praising bullshit BLAH BLAH BLAH I'm so fucking clever BLAH BLAH BLAH You all know nothing, you're candy ravers and I'm God BLAH BLAH BLAH I know everything that has any significance whatsoever BLAH BLAH BLAH Be impressed by how cool I am BLAH BLAH BLAH

If you are so damn cool why do you even bother hanging round a board where everybody but you is a complete loser?
Harry
[ 15 May 2002: Message edited by: Harry@Piekarnia ]
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top