wierd come on...

last saturday night my friend dropped for the first time. like most ppl he was pretty nervous and edgy about it. the wierd thing is though that it took him 3.5 hrs to start peaking (after he had given up, left the club and tried 2 go 2 sleep). my other mate (regular roller) was peaking within 30-45 minutes. they both had the same pills. i just wanna know if the reason for this is completely psychological (ie/ the pill came on when he finally relaxed), or if there could be a physical/biological reason. any help would b greatly appreciated, not only for curiosity's sake, but also so we know whether he should drop earlier in future. cheers...

Personally, without any information of pre-existing medical conditions, I'd say it was probably psychological.
Couple of points for clarification:
1. Was it an MDMA pill that he took for his first time? Are you sure, was it tested?
2. Had he ever had other kinds of drugs before, or is he new to altered states of mind (besides, say getting drunk)?
If it was a speedbomb, then chances are he'll have felt nothing because it was a crap pill. If it was MDMA, sometimes people just don't know what to expect. I've talked to people before who've never had pills, and then taken whole pills that would sit me on my arse no question asked, and felt nothing. The difficulty with this situation is the person then thinks "oh there's nothing to it, these things are so weak, you must have to take about 3 or 4 to get going I must just have a high natural tolerance..." or some such other naive assumption which invariably leads them into trouble.
[*] If he wants to try pills again, try them in a safe and comfortable environment, with friends.
[*]Be relaxed, don't let him pressure himself into worrying about the situation. If he doesn't peak, he doesn't peak, it's no big deal.
[*]Also, start with a half because the setting of the experience can really change the effects. Where last time he felt nothing, this time could be totally different.
[*]Test the pills or use something you've had in the past which was a good quality pill. Attempting to educate someone on the feeling of MDMA with a speedbomb is doomed to failure...
BigTrancer

Don't give me shit if this souns too crazy, but...
I have witnessed this myself, and ONLY on first time drops. Very weird. My theory is psychological, that when you've not experienced the "forced empathy" of mdma, that it takes a while of trying for your brain to let go of it's hold on the walls of what make up our normal everyday psychological selves. In other words, it doesn't feel right to let the E work first time for some ppl, coz it is so different to what they are used to
By the way the same thing happens to a first timer in a wicked movie about x and raves called "groove"
[ 30 October 2002: Message edited by: secret squirrel ]

thanx for the help guys..
and yeah, the pill was MDMA.
oh yeah, good call on "groove" secret squirrel. at the time, it totally didnt ring any bells for me that the same thing happened in the movie.

i'm going with the other replies here, that the reason for your friend's delayed reaction to the pill was probably psychological. i have found not only with myself but reports from other people that with some drugs people do not fully experience the full effects the first time..... to clarify, for example - when one smokes pot for the first time one might not fully realise that one is "stoned" or "high". there may be some change in perception but because the person doesn't know what to expect or associate with being "high" they may not realise that they are.
there is a school of thought in sociology, symbolic interactionism, that holds you have to learn how to get "high" from marijuana, or how to experience the effects of a particular drug. this idea was first put forward by howard s. becker in the 1950s (it is a seminal sociological article/text and if you ever study criminology you WILL come across/have to study this article/theory) and i have included a couple of links below if anyone wants to check it out further.
basically xbreed, i think your friend was probably feeling the effects of the pill but perhaps didn't associate any change in sensation as an affect of the pill. i think some effects of drugs have to be experienced first-hand to truly know what they are like - it's all very good and well to tell someone that they may feel emphathy, jaw-shudders, emotional etc. but until the person experiences for him or herself these are just words - they haven't been associated with a feeling yet.
anyway, check out becker's theory and see what you think.....
bk
http://www.extend.indiana.edu/courses/soc/socs320b/lesson4/disc4e.htm
http://www.drugscience.org/Petition/C6E.htm

When I first started doin pills I was nervous as all F&%K. I use to complain to my mates (who had been regulars by then) that i would never get that feeling of body rushes etc... but I could always dance all night.
They use to always say to me to just relax & not try & force anything. I found that once I chilled & relaxed that things just started getting soooo good for me.
Another thing is to make sure your mate is in an exceptionally good mood already, this will make it way more fun. The more of a downer you are in then the less effects it will have on him.
So I would have to say from PERSONAL experience that it is definately a psycological thing.
As previously mentioned do it in a safe & a well known environment where your mate can feel safe & relaxed in his environment... this even helps when you are straight !

I had a similar (although far less sevre) experience on my first dump
I had a pill, taken in halves, and my friends were always asking me "are you feeling it", "how do you feel" etc, being good mates, however it bugged me, i was anxious, and their constant queries made me think abotu it to much and i ended up feeling very little for around 2 hrs, then i just started pretending and they stopped asking and as soon as they stopped BANG i was peking off chops for about 3 hours straight
Was great
But i do believe what your friend had was phychological :D

Yeah, I had almost exactly the same experience on my first pill, although mine only took about 2 hours to come on.
I only took 1/2 to begin with and after about an hour I got frustrated and took the other half. I felt slightly dancy and a bit "strange", but I was highly disappointed and wanted to go home as my other friends were already peaking.
About 2 hours later, I'd been sitting down and was in the shittiest mood ever when I stood up and it hit me totally unexpectedly. Needles to say my shitty mood disappeared and I ended up having the best night of my life. There's nothing like your first pill

ill go with it being psychological as well. on my first time i felt virtually nothing compared to many other times when ive even had less than i did first time... i think its as BT put it, not used to such an altered state of mind. from my memory of the first night, i dont remember feeling much at all, but looking back, i realise the pill worked, but only to a certain degree. i had no rushes, eye wobbles, energy, or empathy. i was basically less-inhibited, talked quickly, and fidgety.
it was my second time, that i experience muscle tension, rushes, excessive energy, and empathy. and not until even further down the track until i received eye wobbles and body rushes. dont really know why, but i put it down to an opinion i read somewhere here, that your mind sort of has a barrier that stops altering substances to work, and it takes a couple times for it to drop that barrier. happened to me with lsd and weed also

ive seen some similar stuff before. One was a girls first time, took 4 hours to come up! She had left the club and gone home ready to goto sleep when it kicked in. Peaked for 2-3 hrs. I thought this was really strange but attributed it to first time + slow absorbption(?).
(The pill was a beige versace from a few months back)
Another other time (same pill/bought at same time) a friend took one (experienced user) and it took over 2.5hrs or so to come on. He thought it didnt work, then an hour before the club was closing he started peaking. Bit strange again. I don't think i could attribute this one to psychological, although I can't rule it out either.
My first time I felt full effects within 30-40mins and loved it

ok my first time.. was with a pal adn we had a half. waited waited.. got real nervous. ate the other halfs. started to think whatta waste of cash! met up some school friends. explained the situation. and we got into a chew vs swallow debate. meanwhile we decided this was dodgy and bought another each. dropped this in halfs again. 1st time, 2 biks down. about 2-3hours later BANG! hooooyeah! i dont remember much now but i know it was friggin fun!!
also another friend of mine recently got introduced to chems. he's beens a raver for years but never touched the stuff. he was goin to get given some md. then another time get given speed. i changed his mind one night and gave him some lou as i felt it would be a let down to have speed after the lushness of mdma. a smidgen!! less than 1/5th of a point. and it wasnt the best. but he was zooooooming along! anyway 2 weeks after that he got shouted some md for a special party. he knew what speed was like. now to blow his mind. he was give half a JA.. the awesome batch. he was GONE!! munted as..
but because he we drilled him about not caring and just going about his normal night he got mashed fast as! although he thought he was gonna die for about 20 mins on the comeup
i'll agree that its a psych trick you play on yourself. if you wait for it. it wont come. or it will and you wontnotice coz your trying to feel it constantly, not noticing the small changes in your mood over time (even if its short!)
lately i think its been happening to me tho. like i think shit, nothings happening, i must need a break, my tolerance is getting high or something and well, i still have fun but only get really wasted when i'm not expecting it.
so i guess its not always related to newbies.. any other seasoned pillers experience this?

i had this happen to me on about my 5th or so time where my friend was affected by the mdma, but i was not. i was worried thinking it would not work, then took a walk and calmed down and relaxed then it was quickly enduced; it seems it can be psycologically held back.

Just to agree with those who said psychological... 3 of us got pills from a less that reputabe source. We thought they were probably speed bombs.
We ate them without testing first (i know, I know!) and one of the guys came up in 20 mins. We thought he was full of crap and lying to us.
We went home and 2.5 hours later, mine hit. Then my friend's hit 30 mins after mine!
It seemed to be MDXX, but can't be sure. I forget what the stamp was. We are all experienced pillers. I have never seen a come on take so long.