What does neurotoxicity FEEL like?

[JackiesBabyy]

Most results on google just tell you what neurotoxicity IS. What exactly are the symptoms you'd feel if you consumed enough of a neurotoxic substance to do permanent damage? For minor neurotoxicity? Major/severe neurotoxicity? I recall someone said it makes you feel "fried" but I'm not sure what that means.

 

[Allein]

This pretty much covers it, but it's quite a wide ranging term

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurotoxicity

 

[effie]

Neurotoxicity would manifest itself in various ways depending on where exactly the toxicity occurred. There are many areas of the brain that could potentially be damaged, and they would give different symptoms. There is also more "global" damage that can occur - this too has a range of symptoms including impaired cognitive function (this is pretty wide reaching - impaired memory, reasoning, language, logistical thinking, spatial awareness etc), impaired movement, impaired sensory processing and impaired autonomic function (your autonomic nervous system controls involuntary processes such a heart rate, breathing, pupilary size, vascular tone etc).

Are you thinking of neurotoxicity due to a particular drug?

 

[sekio]

Neurotoxicity is generally imperceptible unless it is so severe as to impair processes like learning, memory, motor movement et cetera.

Most people who suspect neurotoxicity don't show gross pathological changes on e.g. MRI.

Generally neurotoxicity is either from acute toxic metabolites (chemicals that kill your brain cells directly, like an antibiotic -MPTP is the famous one, cyanide, acetaldehyde, phosgene, and other reactive chemicals fit here too) or from thermal stress (amphetamine-type damage is usually of this type, MDMA induced overheating is a big cause).

Most drugs, despite the public perception, don't actually damage brain or liver cells at theraputic concentrations. Monoamine and sugar depletion can cause "hangovers" on their own. And by the time you're actually brain damaged you generally are too far gone to care.

Most of the reports of true, physical brain damage often present after a massive overdose, or gradually increase in severity with chronic use (e.g. chronic methamphetamine use inducing parkinsons-like symptoms over a period of years).

On the contrary, some people can suffer things like concussions, strokes, tumors, aneurysms and retain most of their cognitive functioning even though there is gross structural damage.

If you don't use amphetamines frequently you shouldn't concern yourself too much about brain damage. Playing sports is probably more risky for causing brain damage due to concussions.

 

[JackiesBabyy]

Neurotoxicity would manifest itself in various ways depending on where exactly the toxicity occurred. There are many areas of the brain that could potentially be damaged, and they would give different symptoms. There is also more "global" damage that can occur - this too has a range of symptoms including impaired cognitive function (this is pretty wide reaching - impaired memory, reasoning, language, logistical thinking, spatial awareness etc), impaired movement, impaired sensory processing and impaired autonomic function (your autonomic nervous system controls involuntary processes such a heart rate, breathing, pupilary size, vascular tone etc).

Are you thinking of neurotoxicity due to a particular drug?

What would neurotoxicity due to MDMA/serotonin releaser overuse feel like? How about meth overuse?(I would assume the latter would be parkinsonian symptoms due to dopamine neuronal death)

 

[nAON]

The point is that it wouldn't 'feel' like anything. You have cells dying in your body all the time, eg. blood cells, you think you can feel that? The closest you're gonna get to an answer to your question is the side effects associated with the neurotoxicity, so with sert stims that would normally be serotonin syndrome, so you'd be having seizures and delerium, and as you and sekio said for the chronic meth use causing problems with dopamine.