What goes on in the brain when you "lose the magic"

[dizygotheca]

Over the past 3-4 months, I had mdma on separate occasions. All separated by at least a few weeks. There was one weekend where several hundred mgs were ingested over the course of the weekend. Nothing significant, but three days in a row, each followed by sleep and sobriety.
So, the one thing that has concerned me, was that I am often experiencing an uncomfortable come up that builds into a moment of niceness, followed by discomfort. the crystals look right and taste right, so I wonder if its just me. Have I lost 'it'. Does my brain need some time away from mdma? During most of the last occasion I found myself wishing I was completely sober. I did drink a fair amount prior to ingesting the crystal(that was not weighed, but was licked off the tip of my finger). Could it merely be a result of an impure batch? I know, lots of variables in here...but I'm just wondering if the "magic" is gone.

 

[footscrazy]

not saying that mdma and sex are the same.. just saying that they both are euphoric. They force dopamine upon you.

It's not like in a movie where the more you know what's gonna happen and the more you experience it, it's just boring because you know everything already, and nothing is gonna make you laugh the same or surprise you.

It involves some of the same processes, and probably some different ones too. Your brain is always seeking novel experiences, it doesn't matter if that's a new movie or a different drug. The more you use ecstasy the more you strengthen the neural pathway involved with every aspect of it, so the process becomes increasingly more efficient, automatic, and boring. Neural changes happen with every single thought and experience, and get strengthened each time that thought or experience is repeated, especially when accopanied by dopamine release. And while MDMA is mainly known for working on serontonin, any pleasureable activity involves the dopamine 'reward' pathways. Remember too that the pleasure of a drug often has a strong component of 'anticipation' - and the more mundane taking pills becomes, the less anticipation there is, and the less overall pleasure.

At the same time, MDMA is probably causing down regulation of serotonin receptors and other structural brain changes, leading to an increasing tolerance to the drug.

 

[narky1]

@RGB well said, and a good point made , When we discovered MDMA in the early nineties, there was a definate emotional experience for all of our group, it was new , the music was new, we felt as if we belonged to a secret club and a new generation. I remeber those days and get a touch of the ol nostalgia. Today if I do MDMA there is none of that, for sure I get high and rush and feel the effects but that "MAGIC" or empathy is no longer there, and If I had to lean towards an answer to "losing the magic" then I would have to go along with the fact that it is to do with what stage you and your friends are in your lives, once that changes then the feeling changes, I guess you can call that losing the magic.

 

[AcidKid]

That wasn't a good explanation at all... THings that give euphoria don't just "get boring". Sex is always great, no matter how many times I do it.

Sex with the same girl for a long duration IMO does get boring if compared to the first time. Not a good analogy at all since the mechanisms that govern the love emotion isn't quite as simple as the bottom line: People become tolerant of experiences regardless of what kind of experience or the stimulus, whether its a directly chemical stimuli or a less direct external stimuli. The results of being exposed to the same one for extended periods is a build up of tolerance to the euphoria or happiness associated with it. I can't take MDMA and experience the magic I used to even after a full 12 months of sobriety from it. I think it has something to do with the novelty of the experience itself too, and the fact that taking MDMA is a much more powerful chemical stimulus then watching a movie, or even sex I'd assume..

I'm not educated whatsoever though so I'm probably totally off with my presumptions.