Seizures (?) after coming off molly

[FloydFriend]

I'm 27 150lb male. I was at Summer Camp music festival over the weekend. I took a bunch of molly that was tested with marquis reagent and turned blue to black. I took a couple dips on Friday, and quite a bit on Saturday and Sunday. Sunday night I had to leave the last show because I was having twitches and could barely stand any more. When I got back to the camp site I was just dancing around to myself in the quiet because I couldn't stay still and I kind of felt like maybe I was having a heart attack or something. I don't think I really got any sleep that night, and I took some more molly in the morning so I could pack up. I ended up taking more molly all day Monday and into Tuesday morning as well. Way too much molly. I'm a recovering adderall addict, so when I get on stims, sometimes I just keep taking them til they're gone, something I really need to prevent.

Anyway, here's my problem. It's now Wednesday afternoon and this morning I started having weird convulsions every now and then. I was fine yesterday, and I slept fine last night. But after I was up for an hour or so today, I felt this weird sensation and then my body spasmed. It's been happening all day. I had to leave work after just a couple hours because of it.

This happened after New Years too, when I took close to a gram of molly that night. I was fine the next day, but the day after, I started having these convulsions, and they didn't go away for days. I couldn't even sleep for most of that time.

It seems to be worst when I relax or zone out. If I feel like I'm drifting off to sleep, I'll suddenly feel faint and then feel a pulsing sensation that feels like electricity running through my body and then I feel like I need to jerk myself out of it. The convulsions happen quickly, but they feel like I choose to do them, to jerk myself out of that electric pulsing sensation. If I try to keep myself still, the sensation becomes very intense and I can hear a sound. It's hard to describe the sound, but it's kind of like a zipping sound, like a motorcycle zipping by that goes in sync with the sensation and the convulsion. If I resist the convulsion for a second or two, it'll get really intense and I'll end up having a couple of convulsions.

Other than this, I feel mostly fine, other than being tired and physically exhausted from all the dancing and lack of sleep over the weekend. If I keep myself active, I don't really have any problem. Luckily this doesn't affect me when I standing or walk, only when I'm sitting or lying and not engaging in any physical activity. But I can't stay up forever, and I'd like to go to work tomorrow.

Anyone ever have this problem? Anyone have any idea what it could be? Is this a seizure? What can I do about this?

I've eaten plenty today, I got about 8 hours of sleep last night, and I've been taking a good amount of tryptophan to replenish my serotonin.

Thanks everyone!

 

[nightElf]

I'll suddenly feel faint and then feel a pulsing sensation that feels like electricity running through my body and then I feel like I need to jerk myself out of it. The convulsions happen quickly, but they feel like I choose to do them, to jerk myself out of that electric pulsing sensation.

This sounds like a brain zap to me.

You continue to convulse after getting it? Like your body has involuntary movements intermediately after getting that? Or is just that sentation and it goes away, until you get it again after several minutes?

 

[FloydFriend]

Brain zap! That's really the best way to describe it. I just feel the zap sensation while I have the involuntary movements.

And here's some more info:

Yesterday after I posted this, I mostly laid around and watched South Park for a few hours, while still having these problems. Then at 6pm CDT I went to a Bernie Sanders phone bank event that I was hosting. I wasn't real sure about going, but I really couldn't bail on this one and I felt like I could push through it. Sure enough, I actually felt fine the whole time. I was perfectly sharp and alert and talkative and I almost felt more on top of things than I usually do. And I had no problems with the brain zaps the whole time. I left there at 9:30, went home, ate some food, then went for a walk. I went to bed at 11:30, not having had a single zap in about 6 hours and feeling like maybe the problem had gone away totally.

Then I laid in bed, and I had a quick zap or two and was a little concerned about whether I'd be able to get sleep tonight (when this happened after NYE I didn't sleep for days because of this). But I must have fallen asleep really quickly. I had a lot of crazy dreams (I took a lot of tryptophan yesterday and right before going to bed because I'm sure I'm low on serotonin after doing about 3g of Molly in 4 days; I'm never doing anywhere even close to half that much ever again). I woke up to my alarm, feeling really tired still (I am very sleep deprived still), but I dragged myself out of bed to go to work. I felt fine for the first hour or so that I was up other than feeling really tired. I didn't do any drugs today, no weed, no caffeine, nothing. Then when I got to work I started feeling the zaps again. Even as I was standing and talking to people I had to shake them out a little bit, and luckily I was able to do it in kind of a stretching motion to not look like I'm having a seizure at work. I had to leave after two hours though because they kept coming and I did not want to have to explain a seizure or seizure-like episode to my coworkers, so I just said I wasn't feeling well and left it at that.

I've seen people have seizures before, and they're usually on the ground convulsing uncontrollably. I'm always conscious and more-or-less in control. I just need to "shake it out". This stuff seems like it's mental or caused by stress.

I think I may have had a seizure before, like 8 years ago while on shrooms. It was when my friends wanted us to all leave the apartment and I got really anxious about it and started feeling nauseous. I start hearing a pulsing sound which then gets overlayed with voices shouting at me, getting louder and louder while my vision turned into grayscale pulsating concentric rings. Next thing I know I'm on the ground convulsing with my sister shaking me awake, which took me out of it. I threw up a little bit, then felt perfectly fine... It was really weird.

I did a bit of research on seizures after that and most of what I read didn't fit the description of what I experienced (or what I'm experiencing now). They said that people will generally feel really "bad" for a couple hours after an episode, and that you become more dissociated than I was for a longer time and that it's harder to snap out of.

Also on shrooms once before, I got some little brain zaps when I would try to concentrate. I was in the woods with some friends and we were stepping across some stones in a river, and with each step as I focused on my balance I would get a light zap (much lighter than I'm getting now) and I would hear a "pew pew" kind of laser sound. But that was just a little bit for a little while, and it wasn't very intense (the trip itself was also very tame).

I also have a feeling of "tension" and energy in my body, but my muscles aren't tense. I just took my last dose of molly a little over 50 hours ago. I assume there could still be a significant amount in me affecting me? Is there any way to help flush it out?

So I really don't know what's wrong with me, but I do know I really need to control my drug use much better. But this is really freaking me out. At least based on my NYE experience, this should go away after a few days, but I have a busy weekend planned, including being a delegate at the Wisconsin Democratic Party Convention starting tomorrow, so I don't really have a few days to bum around and recover... This sucks, I'm such an idiot for taking so much.

 

[FloydFriend]

I just did a little research into brain zaps and found some good information here: http://mentalhealthdaily.com/2014/1...s-treatments-for-electrical-shock-sensations/

From what I read there, it definitely sounds like brain zaps. For other people's reference I'm going to quote a few key parts, but if you're having this problem yourself, you should definitely check out the entire article.

"Brain zaps are considered to be caused by neurotransmitter alterations within the brain, particularly those involving “serotonin.” It is believed that serotonin plays a vital role in the development of these zaps due to the fact that people typically experience them when discontinuing serotonergic antidepressants (e.g. SSRIs). The zaps may also be caused via discontinuation of other psychotropic medications including: antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, MAOIs, SNRIs, and tricyclic antidepressants."

That definitely sounds like it would make sense that I would have this after coming off a lot of molly.

"Supplements: Many people swear by taking various supplements to reduce the severity of brain zaps. Whether these supplements actually work to alleviate the zaps is unverified. Many individuals have said that supplementation of vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids improve these zaps to a significant extent. Some have suggested that they completely cure the zapping.
Omega-3 fatty acids: Many people claim that the best way to deal with brain zaps is to take omega-3 fatty acids in the form of fish oil supplements. It is unknown why the fish oil helps, but many have testified that it works wonders. While most user accounts suggest taking “fish oil” some would speculate that “krill oil” would provide similar results.
Vitamin B12: Some have suggested that getting proper vitamins helps significantly to minimize the zaps. In particular, many people have recommended taking Vitamin B12 supplements and have found them especially helpful. The combination of the B12 with fish oil is able to decrease the severity and frequency of zaps in some people."

That actually makes a lot of sense, since I took like 4 or 6 fish oil caps yesterday afternoon after creating this thread (along with some calcium, magnesium, and B complex vitamins). That may explain why I felt so fine last night. I forgot to take the fish oil again this morning, so I just took some more now. I'll report back in a few hours as to whether it seemed to help or not.

Also really good to know: "If there’s one thing to know about these brain zaps, it should be that they are not considered dangerous. There is no scientific evidence supporting any claims that these jolt-like sensations cause any brain damage or interfere with the health of neurons. Although they may be highly-uncomfortable to experience, at least you don’t have to worry about them killing brain cells."

I'm going to keep doing some more research on brain zaps, but it's really reassuring to know what's happening, to know that it's not rare, and to know that it's not causing or a sign of brain damage (although too much molly may have messed up my brain a bit, but I still feel fine as far as I can tell, so any damage I have would be subtle)

But god damn, I really need to not go so overboard with drugs.

Thanks a ton nightElf!

 

[nightElf]

Thanks a ton nightElf!

No problem it's a known thing when something messes up with the serotonin system (like anti-depressants for example). I recommend you to stay away from MDMA for several months, until they get better. They DO get away with time.