Alternative comedown theory...

I dont know, this might sound silly, but I do think about it sometimes, and wondered what others thoughts were.
Many people would be aware that when coming down from pills in the 2-3 days after consumption, feelings of sadness, depression etc. are reasonably common, which is explained by the fact that your seratonin levels are lower than usual.
However, my own thoughts on coming down are that its not due to any kind of serotonin imbalance in my brain, but the simple fact that I have just had an amazingly good time with all of the people that I love, and now that it is over I miss my friends and the fun we had. I get the feeling that if I could only be with all of my friends again, everything would be OK (which is difficult in my case because half of my friends live away from the city and only come down for raves.)
I know that scientifically speaking, ecstacy comedowns are all to do with serotonin depletion, but I sort of like my idea that its all to do with love, not some chemical imbalance, and I can use the feeling to boost the anticipation of the next time we all go out.
So to open this up for debate, what do other people feel when they come down ?
Can you beat a bad comedown with positive thinking rather than 5htp ?
/random blathering

There does not have to be a comedown.With healing techniques,one may continually go up and ascend.
Rave is in the heart.

If you notice that you have negative effects during the comedown and following days after a drug experience, sometimes you can learn to expect those effects, and laugh at them. If you know in the back of your mind that your emotions aren't trustable in the couple of days after drugs, then you can notice when you're behaving out of character and just laugh it off as being due to the physical/mental exhaustion.
To this effect, these days I usually say "What's a comedown?"... positive thinking helps a lot - but more to the point, not giving into yourself helps more. If you refuse to let yourself suffer as a result of the exhaustion, then you're halfway toward winning the battle anyway. It's easier sometimes just to give up and wallow in deep emotional decline, but IMHO it's more beneficial to discipline yourself to shrug it off and laugh.
BigTrancer

i personally think that if you eat before you sleep after a night out, do some light exercise and keep your brain occupied ie : x-files is a beaut
it reduces the negative effects quite considerably
it all in the head..... tho i know of some ppl who cannot control how scattered they are after a weekend out...

Oceanboy,
Groove is also in the heart
-----------------------
Traguna Macoytis Tracorum Satis Dee

Just try to avoid the x-files if you are suffering a comedown from speed psychosis.
makes for awful paranoia!
Andromeda

isn't it a bit like saying "i know, scientifically speaking, that the sun is an enormous ball of gas, millons of miles away, but i like my idea that its just a light bulb that wizzes around the world, on a bit of string"?

I suppose it is something like that... the romantic view of the world as opposed to the classical one.

Sniff (if that is indeed your real name), I agree with your "romantic" view.
I was still amped up after a big night out, and was dreading the inevitable messy speed saga, but a large group of us went back to a friend's place and ate pizza / talked bollocks / played Scattergories (oh how apt the title) etc. by the time people went to bed, we had had a stack of laughs, and I was ready for sleep.
Even though they live a while away, surely you could arrange to all go back there after, or alternatively get a hotel room for the night/day and relax there.. you feed off the positive energy of your friends and sleep off the comedown.

I usually manage to spend my immediate recovery time pretty positively, but its those few days later in the week, eg the monday, tuesday & wednesday after a big saturday/sunday, where I tend to get this melancholy little feeling like something is missing from my life.
Theres some interesting little thought about this in my head, but I cant seem to put it into words...
I guess basically, its that while a lot of people take dietary supplements etc to keep their serotonin levels regular, there is another way to do things, which is to use this 'depression' to reveal some of the problems you might have in life, that you can normally just subconsciously gloss over.
While depression is an unpleasant feeling, it also makes you contemplate problems that you might not normally be aware of. And maybe finding ways to fix these problems can lead to true happiness ?
Not that I'm not already happy
/another late night rant

Sniff, I agree...
I've never had Tuesday Blues, I don't know why, but I just dont. By Tuesday i'm pretty much back to normal.
However during the week I look back on the weekend (if it was a good one) with a distant smile, and I miss the good times. I guess thats where people may start doing it every weekend, to try and chase it. But its more special if its a rare ocasion.

With BigTrancer on this one. The only times I ever experienced come-downs was when I was very inexperienced.
I think it's both a physiological adjustment your brain makes with experience as well as an emotional preparation you learn.

What's this about the Sun not being a lightbulb... now I feel depressed and I haven't had anything for months!
Personally I "liked" going through the depression or sadness and reflectiveness as I always came back to a balanced point of view and it gave me strength to know that I could feel that bad but get through it on my own without having to take something or have something change in my life to realise I was happy anyway.
Damn I miss partying in Melb! Big hello to BT, Johnboy, and all the other nutcases!

ESPRIT

i tend to agree with johnboy on this one... while i do agree that positive thinking can conquer the negative feelings (technically i reckon a positive outlook can overpower anything negative) i think that it isnt just all in your head. it is actually happening, chemically, scientifically, technically, whatever, your seratonin levels in your brain are decreased - which in turn cause you to be easily irritated and agitated, over-emotional, distressed easily, perceive things differently, and generally find it harder to be positive.
i find that its easier to tell myself that i AM feeling this way, not that its an illusion, but something totally of my own doing, and to work with it.
essentially, if you have a positive enough outlook you will find eventually that you dont really have comedowns at all, as said by some above. id also recommend anything physically stimulating - sport, exercise, and even house-cleaning are goodies

^^^ Agreed. I was having what should have been a crappy comedown earlier this week, but I just didn't let it get to me. Sure, I was a little 'unsettled', and I could easily have started dwelling on things that I'm not so happy with in my life, but why?
Better just to step back, giggle at my brain's funny ways, keep taking my vitamins, and get on with things.
[ 02 February 2003: Message edited by: Pseudo ]

im with BT on this one...
i tend to find that comedowns only get the better of you if you let them...ive never taken any vitamins after going out or during week fpr that matter. i get depressed butonly if i let myself get to that stage. if i amuse myself and find things to do to distract my mind from gettin to that stage i find i am ok. being socail is probably my way of dealing with come downs...having company around you :D

Bt hit it on the head i reckon, a comedown can be easily reduced in effect if you realise that that is what it is. You just have to laugh at yourself.
As for the morningafter/following day i find keeping myself occupied with videos or games and always having a few mates over it the best way, by the next day after a good day/nights sleep i am feeling almost fine again.
Somthing i never do is after a big night out go home bymyself, me and my mates always spend the next day with each other which is always classic as we are usually scattered :D

that certainly is one way to deal with a comedowne, the only thing better is a shit load of sex.
Having said that, one of my favourite lines for dealing with the old comedown is...
"I know i am feeling like shit at the moment and the reason i feel this way is because i had an awesome time on the weekend, filled with a shitload of adventures and some wonderful people. This moment will pass and come thursday, when ive forgotten all this morbid shit, i will feel like doing it all over again. and i will fucken love it even more"

When i started taking pills from 1998 through to 2001 i never got comedowns, i was able to eat afterwards, and feel normal on Monday and Tues etc.
Now it's not like that at all, i feel like shit all the way through to wends, like i feel empty, can't eat, and just want to sleep all day and do nothing.
For example last weekend i dropped 2 on Friday night, had 5htp on Saturday morning, went out again Sunday day, had 2 more pills, and i feel like a bastard.
Why is it, is my body saying to give up or getting to used to it, and making the comedowns longer / harder.