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How MDMA makes you a love machine

The chemical name of MDMA is "methylenedioxymethamphetamine." It is also known as MDM, Adam and XTC, and in one state, "M&M."

Although the name, "Methylenedioxymethamphetamine," ends with a word familiar to many who have no chemical background, "methamphetamine," this fact in no way implies any similarity in action to the drug which is known as methamphetamine or the drug known as amphetamine.

Quick terms for the paragraph ahead:
Neurotransmitter - a chemical signal used to send messages in your brain
Receptor site – the site where a neurotransmitter is accepted into to perform its function
Serotonin - a neurotransmitter used for the feeling of happiness, regulation of mood, sleep and hunger/satiety
Dopamine - a neurotransmitter used by your brain for reward, punishment and motivation
Nor-epinephrine – a neurotransmitter responsible for attention and the flight-or-fight response, its analogous to adrenaline
Oxytocin - a neurotransmitter that drastically reduces feelings of fear while greatly raising feelings of trust and bonding
Euphoria – an incredibly intense feeling of blissful happiness and inner peace
Axon - the long thin filament part of a neuron that branches off from the main body and carries the electrical signal
Metabolite - the intermediate and final products of metabolism

MDMA causes your brain to release its supply of serotonin in large quantities, as well as quantities of dopamine and nor-epinephrine to lesser extents. This action on serotonin also allows for quantities of oxytocin to be released. Once at work MDMA will inhibit the serotonin/dopamine/nor-epinephrine receptor sites which increases the concentration of these neurotransmitters.his large amount of serotonin will be received by these receptor sites; this causes the effects of MDMA. This process continues until the MDMA wears off and/or your brains supply of serotonin is depleted. It is unlikely that serotonin will run out from a single use of MDMA, but repeated used of MDMA over more than one day will cause this. It is currently unknown what causes neurotoxicity from MDMA use, but multiple sources have been ruled out. It is known that oxidized dopamine, MDMA itself, and MDMA metabolites are not responsible for damage. MDMA neurotoxicity is also extremely correlated to prolonged and excessive overheating. It is almost a requirement for this overheating to be present to form damage, but excessive and prolonged dosing can cause problems as well. While MDMA can be neurotoxic under certain circumstances, but it only destroys the axon of the nerve cell and not the nerve cell itself. Since the nerve cells are still alive, they can regrow any destroyed axons. Your serotonin levels will rebuild over time without any outside help, it takes roughly a month to do this. Most people suggest between 3 to 4 weeks between doses. After that time your serotonin levels should be completely recovered and you should be ready to dose again.

A list of common ingredients in ecstasy pills

As a forward note, bring your test kit to wherever you deal at and test a pill infront of them, that way you don't get scammed. And make sure to ask if there are other things in the pill (i.e; Meth, Ketamine, PMA)

MDMA is not an illegal drug. It is not listed in the in the Schedule of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). IT shold be noted that MDA is listed by the DEA, and the possession of MDA is a felony in both Federal and State law.
However, if you are caught in possession with it you will be charged for amphetamines.

So since MDMA is not prescribed like it used to be and is now manufactured illegally it is hard to tell what is in your pill if you do not have a test kit. Below are the common things in Ecstasy Pills.

MDMA: The real 'ecstasy', and what you're probably looking for.

MDA: This cousin of MDMA is very similar in affects, but has been described as 'more psychedelic' and often produces distinct visuals (people have reported seeing smoke rings, faces appearing in clouds, etc.) MDA has become more common in recent years, with some people actually prefering it over MDMA. The test kit can determine if a pill contains MDA instead of MDMA. (Pills containing a mixture of MDMA and MDA are somewhat common.)

MDEA: Rarely seen, MDEA is another cousin of MDMA. It produces euphoria but seems to be relatively sedating (people just sitting around feeling good, not prone to dancing and animated conversation as you would expect with MDMA.) MDEA is pleasant in its own right, but lacks the 'fire' of the MDMA experience. The test kits cannot distinguish between MDMA and MDEA.

Methamphetamine: METH is a powerful and relatively dangerous stimulant drug. The home test kits can identify pills that contain METH by itself, but not METH combined with one of the other MDxx drugs. If you are sold an 'ecstasy' pill containing METH, you should demand your money back (if the dealer is trustworthy) or anonymously report them to the police. (No, I don't think that's being harsh. People that sell METH as 'ecstasy' are human garbage and deserve to be behind bars with large gentlemen named "Bubba" and "Jimbo".) According to the US Drug Enforcement Agency, about 2.5% of 'ecstasy' pills contain a mixture of MDMA and METH, while 3% contain only METH.

DXM (dextromethorphan): This legal cough syrup ingredient is also seen with some frequency. It's psychoactive at high doses. A DXM pill is a deliberate attempt at a rip-off, and dealers selling them should be dealt with accordingly. The test kit can usually identify a pill containing DXM.

Ketamine: Rarely sold as 'ecstasy', Ketamine is a sedative used for veterinary surgery. It used to be used for humans as well, but FDA approval was withdrawn after patients began reporting having hallucinations while they regained consciousness. Combining ketamine and MDMA in a pill is stupid and should be regarded as another rip-off attempt, with the seller being dealt with accordingly (baseball bats or police, as your inclinations carry you.) The test kit does not identify ketamine.

Caffeine, Ephedrine, Psuedoephedrine: Seen with some frequency, these ingredients are relatively inactive and safe, and should be regarded as another rip-off. Caffiene can sometimes also blunt the MDMA high.

Legal Psychoactives: Occasionally legal chemicals like 5-MeO-DIPT and piperazines have been sold as 'ecstasy', but this is likely to end with the recent banning of these drugs in the US. When these "research chemicals" have appeared, it's almost always been as a pure pill (so the test kit will identify them as not being real 'ecstasy'.)

PMA: para-MethoxyAmphetamine is rarely seen, although there was a small seizure of gelcaps containing PMA in the US in early 2004. The last time a large batch of PMA hit the streets, it killed about 20 people. The main problem seemed to be that it took over an hour to kick in (vs. 30-40 minutes for MDMA), so users would think they had gotten weak pills when nothing happened in the first hour, take a few more, and overdose. I doubt this one will appear again in large amounts: Anybody manufacturing or selling PMA would be hunted to the ends of the earth by the users, dealers, and drug enforcement agencies alike: PMA is cursed by the drug using community. The test kit does not identify PMA specifically, but would have shown that most of the PMA pills seen in the past were not real MDMA.

Heroin: Some dealers claim such a thing is common. They are morons. (Although there is a lesson in this: You can't really trust the dealer to know what's in a pill. Some are reliable, others are not, but all are strongly opinionated.) There has been some suggestion (based on a missunderstanding of the metabolic pathways involved) that heroin might significantly slow the metabolic breakdown of MDMA. This is not the case. At least one pill containing heroin was sent to ecstasydata.org. Although it did indeed contain heroin, it did not contain MDMA or any similar drug, but did contain aspirin and Prozac. If you take a close look at the pill, you can see that the logo on it sticks out, and the pressing quality is very low. This appears to be somebody's idea of a joke: A couple common medications crushed up, a little heroin tossed in, and mashed together with a cheap hand press. No self-respecting manufacturer would have used such low quality pressing dies, much less crushed up aspirins as the binder.

(Speaking of people's idea of a joke, many years ago when methamphetamine was relatively new on the public's radar, one of the evening news shows went in search of the scoop on this new drug scare. Two of the people they encountered were self-proclaimed meth users who showed the eager reporters how 'street meth' was made: They crushed up some Sudafed on the sidewalk (literally on the street), spit on it, poured a little lighter fluid on it, and stirred it around with a stick. "That's how you make street meth" they deadpanned to the reporter. The reporters of course didn't get the joke. Instead, they went on at some length about how horrible and unsanitary a drug this 'street meth' must be, never suspecting that they were simply being made fun of by the 'dumb druggies'.)

LSD, Cocaine, Mescaline: LSD and Mescaline have never been found in 'ecstasy' pills. There have been a few isolated cases of pills containing cocaine (1, 2) and MDMA (and a few pills containing only cocaine that might be mistaken for 'ecstasy' tablets.) Cocaine actually counteracts MDMA (it blocks the serotonin transporters) so it simply doesn't make sense to use it as a cut; meth is cheaper and more effective. Sometimes dealers will describe a pill as containing LSD or mescaline to explain it's more 'psychedelic' qualities (such as an MDA pill would produce.) Although famous, mescaline is actually extremely rare in the drug trade.

Rat Poison and Crushed Glass: Just another one of those urban legends, like giant alligators in New York's storm sewers. It wouldn't surprise me if this legend is courtesy of the same sort of people who brought us the 'street meth' story, but only the hoaxer knows for sure. (Once upon a time a pill containing strychnine was reportedly found, but no other pills like it ever showed up, nor were there any cases of strychnine poisoning reported, making it likely that it was either yet another prank or somebody was trying to poison a particular person.)

Illegal drug manufacturers live in an environment of almost pure capitalism; they have every reason to want to keep their customers happy and safe, both to avoid retaliation and keep business. In the end, we get out of the system what we demand out of it. Don't tolerate fakes or adulterated pills. I'm not suggesting you go break an offending dealer's legs yourself (although I wouldn't condemn it either), but at the least complain, and if complaints don't move them, report them to the police.


• People often assume that a pill was cut with some other drug if they have a bad reaction to it, such as a panic attack. This isn't necessarily the case; real MDMA can itself cause dramatic side effects. In spite of a somewhat common perception that 'ecstasy' deaths are due to other drugs being mixed into the pills, deaths from pure MDMA can and do occur. Guessing what a drug was from the subjective effects is usually very unreliable unless you have considerable prior experience with the suspected drug.

The only real way to test what is in your pill is to buy a test, which is quite worth it if you are worried about getting bad stuff. Or you can always check www.pillreports.com for what is circulating in your area before you make a purchase.

Because sliding down a windshield never felt better

Now in order to make sure you have a good roll it would be good to have your body prepared for what is about to happen. We're talking preloading people, getting your mind, body, and brain ready for all the awesomeness that it about to go down. So here are some things you can do to preload and get yourself ready.

Antioxidants
We've all seen oxidation. It's what rusts metal. It's what turns a slice of apple or banana brown if left exposed to the air. Oxidation is what's happening when laundry bleach ruins your clothes, or hydrogen peroxide lightens your hair. (Chemically, "oxidation" means electrical charge is being pulled off a molecule/atom.)

Why does this matter to you and me? Because oxidation is also something that's constantly going on in our bodies. Virtually all of our metabolic processes produce oxidizing chemicals (like hydrogen peroxide.) As our metabolism and demands on our body go up, more of these oxidizing chemicals are produced. When we take a drug, our body's breakdown of the drug creates even more oxidative stress on our cells and tissues.

In fact, it's this process of producing oxidizing chemicals while drugs are being broken down that can cause liver damage from many drugs such as alcohol. In the case of amphetamine-type drugs (including MDMA) this has a special significance, since these drugs are drawn into your brain and broken down, which can lead to neurotoxicity (damage to brain cells) in extreme cases.

The good news is, your body knows exactly how to deal with such things. First, it has enzymes that break down these oxidizers as they are being produced. Second, your body has a lot of antioxidants floating around in it. An antioxidant is a chemical that neutralizes oxidizers (but is used up in the process.) As a result, unusual demands on your metabolism (such as smoking, drinking, or using MDMA) tend to reduce levels of antioxidants (because they use them up.)

What does this mean for you, the responsible drug user? Well, it means that taking some antioxidants before and after your drug use can help prevent damage to your cells. Some popular antioxidants:

• Vitamin C: Also known as ascorbic acid, vitamin C is found in large amounts in citrus fruits like limes, oranges, and grapefruit. Besides being an antioxidant, vitamin C is important to the immune system. Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin, so it mainly stays in the blood and other water-rich parts of cells like the cytoplasm.

• Vitamin E: Nutritionally important, this vitamin is also a good antioxidant. Vitamin E is lipid (fat) soluble, which allows it to penetrate deeply into fatty tissues (including the brain) and even get inside of cell walls. In one experiment, mice fed a severely vitamin E deficient diet suffered serious neurotoxicity when given a large dose of MDMA, while mice on a normal diet were unharmed!

• Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA): ALA is an interesting antioxidant because it's both lipid-soluble and water-soluble, allowing it to get virtually anywhere in the body. As a downside, ALA is more irritating to the stomach than E and C, limiting the amount that can be comfortably taken. ALA may also be broken down very quickly in the body.

• Melatonin: Traditionally sold as a sleep aid, melatonin is a very effective antioxidant on a per-weight basis, but at the doses recommended (as little as 0.25 mg) would be fairly ineffective to use simply as an antioxidant. Since I don't know what the consequences of high doses (100 mg or more) would be, I don't recommend melatonin for this purpose.

• Green Tea, Grape Skin Extract, etc.: These substances have significant antioxidant properties, but are relatively unresearched.

What should I take? How much?

For antioxidants, I suggest Vitamin C and E, simply because they are generally well-tolerated, inexpensive, readily available, and fairly well researched (in the context of both general health and MDMA use.) Vitamin C and E are also two of the body's main normal antioxidants and work well together. Try 2-4 tablets/capsules of each over the course of the day before and/or the day of MDMA use. A little more the day after can't hurt either. If you don't want to be bothered with elaborate plans, a few capsules each of C and E several hours before use should still be beneficial.

Is taking antioxidants necessary?

Not at all. But, it's such an easy and cheap way to help your body deal with stress and recover that it seems perverse not to.

A word on the benefits of antioxidants: There isn't a magic or 'special' antioxidant that you need. Any antioxidant at all should be helpful, and taking many different ones isn't necessarily better than taking one or two. They also aren't a cure-all. Antioxidants can probably give you a larger safety margin, but do not guarantee that nothing bad can happen. Take all the usual precautions (avoiding prolonged dancing in hot environments, if dancing get moderate (but not excessive) water intake, and don't mix drugs.

5-HTP

5-HTP is the chemical your brain turns into serotonin. Since MDMA use depletes serotonin levels, 5-HTP is a quite useful tool for recovering after use. Taking a little 5-HTP can prevent the more notorious possible aftereffects of MDMA use, such as depression and anxiety for a day or two (which is partly due to low serotonin levels.)

For the curious, the full biological pathway for serotonin production is:

1. The amino acid tryptophan is digested from protein in your food.

2. The tryptophan is turned in 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) by an enzyme in your brain called Tryptophan Hydroxylase.

3. The 5-HTP is converted in 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT, better known as "serotonin") by another enzyme called Aromatic Amino Acid Decarboxylase.

As a practical matter, most of the tryptophan and 5-HTP are broken down by the decarboxylase enzyme long before they get to the brain, but the brain doesn't need much. So, it's Food --> Tryptophan --> 5-HTP --> serotonin. 5-HTP is particularly useful because it's the last link in the chain, making it the most effective way to enhance serotonin production with a supplement.

5-HTP has traditionally been taken as a sleep aid, natural antidepressant, and weight loss aid (all of which are the result of its enhancement of serotonin levels.) It has become much more popular with the realization of how it could benefit MDMA users.

How should I use 5-HTP?

In the context of using MDMA, I'd suggest one capsule two hours before taking the MDMA (entirely optional), another capsule when you come down, and one a day for several days afterwards. If you feel irritable or depressed, take one more capsule as needed.

Can taking a bunch of 5-HTP before using MDMA make the high more intense/last longer?

To some extent, yes. By increasing the amount of serotonin available to be released, 5-HTP can help MDMA work. However, doing so introduces a new unknown factor. If you try this, take one or two capsules two hours before taking the MDMA. (You need to have some time between taking the 5-HTP and MDMA or the MDMA's effects can be blunted. Some people report that even three hours is not enough to prevent this effect.) The effect isn't likely to be dramatic, but can help ensure that you get the full effect of the MDMA.

Could I get high just from taking 5-HTP?

Sort of. If being slightly cheerful and giddy for 10-15 minutes is worth a day of feeling sick (severe gas, vomiting, diarrhea, etc.) One of the things that has constantly amazed me is the adventurousness of drug users: If you can think of it, somebody has probably tried it. Massive doses of 5-HTP have been tried, and the results were less than encouraging if you wanted a recreational effect.

Where do you get 5-HTP?

Health food stores and drug stores/pharmacies in the US often carry 5-HTP, or you can order some online (just search for "5-HTP" at Google.) Mail order can be much less expensive. (Unfortunately, 5-HTP is not available over-the-counter in some countries, although one could always just mail-order some from overseas if there are local restrictions on it's sale.)

Other Supplements

• Magnesium: Some users report that taking magnesium supplements reduces the tendency to clench your teeth while on MDMA. I haven't tried it myself, but the idea makes some sense. (Mg++ ions are involved in controlling nerve firing.) Magnesium may also reduce the 'eye wiggles' side effect sometimes seen with MDMA, although that one doesn't seem to really bother people.)

• Calcium and potassium: No known benefit, and may make jaw clenching, etc. worse. (These small metal ions promote nerve firing.)

• L-DOPA, Tyrosine, and Alanine: These are precursors to dopamine, just as tryptophan and 5-HTP are precursors to serotonin. L-DOPA is normally prescription-only, and should be considered dangerous. Tyrosine is considerably less potent at producing dopamine, alanine is the least effective of all. Both are sometimes used to enhance the MDMA high by supporting dopamine (and norepinephrine) production. I regard this practice as being of questionable safety: Dopamine and norepinephrine appear to be major contributors to heatstroke and death in animal overdose and neurotoxicity experiments. While the risks probably aren't terribly great, I cannot recommend this practice in the absence of further research. Besides, if you can't enjoy MDMA for what it is, perhaps it's time to give it up.

• Grapefruit juice: Some grapefruit juice has a (naturally occurring) chemical in it that can interfere with the metabolism of certain drugs by inhibiting an enzyme in your liver called CYP3A4. If a drug is aggressively broken down by this 3A4 enzyme, then grapefruit juice can significantly increase the drug's effect by interfering with its breakdown. Although MDMA can be broken down by this enzyme, it's a minor contributor to the drug's metabolism. As such, inhibiting CYP3A4 would likely have little effect.



Popping a Tums an hour before you take your pills will lower your stomach's acidity level. It's helped me come up faster and have harder rolls.

Effects of MDMA and Ecstasy
Positive

* extreme mood lift
* increased willingness to communicate
* increase in energy (stimulation)
* ego softening
* feelings of comfort, belonging, and closeness to others
* feelings of love and empathy
* forgiveness
* increased awareness & appreciation of music
* increased awareness of senses. (eating, drinking, smell)
* profound life-changing spiritual experiences
* neurotically based fear dissolution
* sensations bright and intense
* urge to hug, kiss, and cuddle with people

Neutral

* appetite loss
* visual distortion
* rapid, involuntary eye jiggling (nystagmus)
* mild visual hallucinations (uncommon)
* moderately increased heart rate and blood pressure (increases with dose)
* restlessness, nervousness, shivering
* change in body temperature regulation
* swellings of unexpected emotion, emotional availability
* strong desire to do or want more when coming down

Negative

* (negative side effects increase with higher doses and frequent use)
* inappropriate and/or unintended emotional bonding
* tendency to say things you might feel uncomfortable about later
* mild to extreme jaw clenching (trisma), tongue and cheek chewing, and teeth grinding (bruxia)
* difficulty concentrating & problems with activities requiring linear focus
* short-term memory scramble or loss & confusion
* muscle tension
* erectile dysfunction and difficulty reaching orgasm
* increase in body temperature, hyperthermia, dehydration. To avoid this, make sure to drink plenty of water. However, drinking too much water can result in hyponatremia ("water intoxication"), a rare, yet potentially deadly symptom. Some "MDMA casualties" were actually caused by hyponatremia. To prevent this, make sure to eat or drink something to replace electrolytes, as well. (Preferably, something salty.) An easy way to do this is to swallow a salt tablet, eat some snacks, or consume a sports drink.
* nausea and vomiting
* headaches, dizziness, loss of balance, and vertigo
* sadness on coming down, sense of loss or immediate nostalgia
* post-trip Crash - unpleasantly harsh comedown from the peak effect
* hangover the next day, lasting days to weeks
* mild depression and fatigue for up to a week
* severe depression and/or fatigue (uncommon)
* possible strong urge to repeat the experience, though not physically addictive
* possible psychological crisis requiring hospitalization (psychotic episodes, severe panic attacks, etc) (rare)
* possible liver toxicity (rare)
* possible neurotoxicity (controversial)
* small risk of death. Approximately 2 per 100,000 users have extreme negative reactions resulting in death. (rare)

Symptoms of an Overdose

Upon overdose, the potentially serious serotonin syndrome, stimulant psychosis, and/or hypertensive crisis, among other dangerous adverse reactions, may come to prominence, the symptoms of which can include the following:

* Psychological
o Disorientation and/or confusion
o Anxiety, paranoia, and/or panic attacks
o Hypervigilance or increased sensitivity to perceptual stimuli, accompanied by significantly increased threat detection
o Hypomania or full-blown mania
o Derealization and/or depersonalization
o Hallucinations and/or delusions
o Thought disorder or disorganized thinking
o Cognitive and memory impairment potentially to the point of retrograde or anterograde amnesia
o Acute delirium and/or insanity

* Physiological
o Myoclonus or involuntary and intense muscle twitching
o Hyperreflexia or overresponsive or overreactive reflexes
o Tachypnoea or rapid breathing and/or dyspnea or shortness of breath
o Palpitations or abnormal awareness of the beating of the heart
o Angina pectoris or severe chest pain, as well as pulmonary hypertension (PH)
o Cardiac arrhythmia or abnormal electrical activity of the heart
o Circulatory shock or cardiogenic shock
o Vasculitis or destruction of blood vessels
o Cardiotoxicity or damage to the heart
o Cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction, and/or heart failure
o Hemorrhage and/or stroke
o Severe hyperthermia, potentially resulting in organ failure

* Miscellaneous
o Syncope or fainting or loss of consciousness
o Organ failure (as mentioned above)
o Possible brain damage
o Coma and/or death


IN THE EVENT OF AN OVERDOSE/HEATSTROKE/
Do not panic and keep calm.
Carry the person away from the excitement(Lights, speakers, people)
Prop them up against something near a trash can, they probably will need to puke. If they are laying on their back there is a chance they will asphyxiate.
Give them some water/gatorade, make sure they take at least 3 or 4 good swallows of water/gatorade. (Most of the time people are suffering from heatstroke and after they drink something they're fine)
Ask them for their name, what they took, and if they know how much.
However, if they are unresponsive, or have a very high temperature, call an EMT and keep some cool, damp papertowels around their neck and forehead until paramedics arrive

*Note: It is better to take the person into the bathroom if they need to puke, because if most security sees someone throwing up, they will kick them out.

Dude. Last night. My god.

Ok, so you've rolled and you aren't feeling too hot. So now what you should do (especially to give your brain a helping hand) is to continue to drink water, orange juice, and taking 100mg of 5-HTP every other day for a week. Make sure you get good rest at night and do a little bit of exercise to get endorphins up and running again.

MDMA does stay in your system for 2-3 days, and any other drugs that were in the pill will show up as well. So to avoid it showing up drink lots of water, cranberry juice and exercise. Popping a B-12 vitamin will also color your urine yellow so it doesn't look like you were drinking mass water to pass it.

(Needing more info and imput on how people deal with their hangovers, let me know what you do peeps!)
Info from DEA and taimapedia as well as experience