Some scientists believe Ecstasy may be useful in therapy since it has been found to reduce fear in some individuals. Recently, there has been some research on if it can help people with severe PTSD confront painful memories during therapy appointments.171819 It may also have potential to help people diagnosed with cancer manage their anxiety about death. When used in therapy, MDMA has been reported to increase empathy, closeness between patient and therapist, relaxation, motivation to engage with therapy and introspective thought, and reduce depression and anxiety. Furthermore, research suggests that treatment may improve the quality of sleep of individuals affected by PTSD-related sleep disturbances.15 It is believed that these factors may increase the success rate of psychotherapy. While the combination of Ecstasy with one or more of these drugs may be inherently dangerous, users might also voluntarily combine them with substances, such as marijuana, alcohol, or opioids, putting themselves at further risk of physical harm, overdose, or death. The stimulant effects of the drug, which enable the user to dance for extended periods, combined with the hot, crowded conditions usually found at raves can lead to dehydration, hyperthermia (dangerous increase in body temperature), and heart or kidney failure.
Molly
A 2017 study found that high doses of R-MDMA administered in mice increased prosocial behavior and facilitated fear-extinction learning but did not produce hyperthermia or signs of neurotoxicity. This is thought to owe itself to the lower dopamine release R-MDMA displays relative to SR-MDMA. This result suggests that R-MDMA may be a safer and more viable therapeutic than racemic MDMA.55 However, more research is needed to validate this finding.
Subjective effects
It has appeared as an unwanted impurity in a heroin-like (opiate) drug called MPPP, causing the people who took the contaminated drug to ‘freeze up’ by destroying dopamine neurons in the brain, just as Parkinson’s disease does. Water intoxication symptoms typically show up when a person consumes more than about 3-4 liters of water within an hour.6263 Also, an important cause of death following MDMA use is hyponatremia, low blood sodium levels as a result of drinking too much water. Subjective effects include stimulation, anxiety suppression, disinhibition, enhanced empathy and sociability, relaxation, and euphoria. It is classified as an entactogen due to how it facilitates feelings of closeness with one’s self and others. A notable property of MDMA is that tolerance builds unusually quickly and many users report that it dramatically loses effectiveness if used on a frequent basis.
- It is also available as a powder and is sometimes snorted, taken as a liquid, and it is occasionally smoked but rarely injected.
- It produces its effects by promoting the release of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine in the brain, particularly serotonin.
- MDMA has been shown to cause sexual dysfunction, including erectile dysfunction and delayed orgasm (see subjective effects).
- Research in animals indicates that MDMA is neurotoxic and may affect the brain.
Dependence and abuse potential
Although MDMA was not named explicitly in this legislation, the order extended the definition of Class A drugs to include various ring-substituted phenethylamines.317318 The drug is therefore illegal to sell, buy, or possess without a licence in the UK. Penalties include a maximum of seven years and/or unlimited fine for possession; life and/or unlimited fine for production or trafficking. MDMA exhibits cross-tolerance with all dopaminergic and serotonergic stimulants, meaning that after the consumption of MDMA all stimulants will have a reduced effect.
Actively recruiting MDMA clinical studies
- Recently, there has been some research on if it can help people with severe PTSD confront painful memories during therapy appointments.171819 It may also have potential to help people diagnosed with cancer manage their anxiety about death.
- Wegovy (semaglutide) is an FDA-approved weekly injection for weight loss, reducing heart risks …
- This myth comes from messages broadcast by anti-drug campaigns in the late 1990s/early 2000s.
- In Australia, MDMA was rescheduled on 1 July 2023 as a schedule 8 substance (available on prescription) when used in the treatment of PTSD, while remaining a schedule 9 substance (prohibited) for all other uses.
It is usually recommended to wait for one to three months between each use to give the brain adequate time to restore serotonin levels and avoid toxicity. Additionally, using excessively high doses and multiple redosing is highly discouraged as this is thought to significantly increase the toxicity of MDMA. MDMA exerts its primary effects in the brain on neurons that use the chemicals serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine to communicate with other neurons. Users may take several tablets at once or in succession over a period of time.
This results in users having to administer increasingly larger doses to achieve the same effects. “Severe dopaminergic neurotoxicity in primates after a common recreational dose regimen of MDMA”77 is an article by George A. Ricaurte which was published in September 2002 in the peer-reviewed journal Science, one of the world’s top academic journals. It was later retracted; instead of using MDMA, methamphetamine had been used in the test. Scientific study has resulted in the general agreement that, although it is physically safe to try in a responsible context, the administration of repeated or high dosages of MDMA is most certainly neurotoxic in some form.
Because use promotes trust, closeness, empathy, and enhances sexual desire, the risk of unsafe sexual practices may increase, resulting in HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, or other sexually transmitted diseases. It is also available as a powder and is sometimes snorted, taken as a liquid, and it is occasionally smoked but rarely injected. See this article and this article about clinical research into medical uses for MDMA. Dr Bronner’s has generously donated, though millions more in funding is needed.
It is thought that MDMA’s metabolites play a large role in the uncertain levels of neurotoxicity. For example, a metabolite of MDMA called alpha-Methyldopamine (α-Me-DA, which is known to be toxic to dopamine neurons7518) was thought believed to be involved in the toxicity of MDMA to serotonin receptors. It is also worth noting that these effects will not necessarily occur in a predictable or reliable manner, although higher doses are more liable to induce the full spectrum of effects. Likewise, adverse effects become increasingly likely with higher doses and may include addiction, severe injury, or death ☠. Users may encounter problems similar to those experienced by amphetamine and cocaine users, including addiction. Research has shown that animals will self-administer MDMA, an indicator of a drug’s abuse potential.
Is there a treatment for MDMA addiction?
Today, the drug is still used by a broader group of people who more commonly call it Ecstasy or Molly. MDMA (3-4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is a synthetic, psychoactive drug with a chemical structure similar to the stimulant methamphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline. In the United Kingdom, MDMA was made illegal in 1977 by a modification order to the existing Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
Reagent results
MDMA stimulates the release of neurotransmitters, such as serotonin and norepinephrine, from brain neurons producing a high that lasts from 3 to 6 hours, but the length of a high is variable based on the user. The drug’s rewarding effects vary with the individual taking it, the dose taken, purity of the MDMA, and the environment in which it is taken. Like most mdma wikipedia illegal drugs, the purity of MDMA changes all the time, so forms that might once have been more reliable cannot be guaranteed to remain so. It is quite easy for drug dealers to mix MDMA powder with any substance that looks like it, so taking MDMA powder does not necessarily mean you are not unknowingly taking other substances mixed with the drug.