What is MDMA?
MDMA, or Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, is one of the most popular “club drugs” that has been around for over 50 years. It’s an illegal drug often referred to as Ecstasy or Molly, although it can also be found in pressed pills with other labels.
It’s a psychoactive medication that distorts the senses and stimulates emotional feelings. It also alters perception and increases energy. Risks of using MDMA include dehydration, nausea, chills, sweating, teeth grinding, blurry vision, and increased heart rate/blood pressure. If you overdose on MDMA, it can lead to seizures, coma, organ failure, and even death.
What Does MDMA Do Inside Your Brain?
When you ingest MDMA, it gets into your central nervous system through the bloodstream and then attaches to serotonin transporters on nerve cells.
It starts by causing a release of certain neurotransmitters like dopamine, norepinephrine, and similar ones, which all contribute to a heightened mood state. Ecstasy affects chemical messengers (called neurotransmitters) in specific areas of the brain: serotonin neurons and dopamine neurons.
Serotonin regulates mood, aggression, sexual activity, sleep, and sensitivity to pain. Dopamine controls movement and emotional responses such as pleasure and stress.
MDMA’s immediate effects include an enhanced sense of pleasure and emotional warmth, heightened energy, and the urge to talk with others. On the other hand, the drug can cause involuntary teeth grinding, body temperature increase, blurred vision, and faintness.
How Does MDMA Affect Your Brain?
MDMA is a stimulant that speeds up messages between the brain and other parts of the body. When taken in high doses, it affects how you feel for several hours and causes some distortion in your thinking and judgment.
Users report feeling separated from their own bodies or even watching themselves act while not taking part in what they’re doing. It also stimulates the release of hormones that give feelings of pleasure or euphoria like oxytocin (the “love hormone”), serotonin (the “happy hormone”), and dopamine (the “reward” hormone).
What Are The Side Effects Of Using MDMA?
There are several side effects that can occur when you use MDMA, including:
Nausea Or Vomiting:
People who have taken too much MDMA typically experience nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, headache, and dry mouth.
Dehydration:
MDMA increases water loss in the body, which can lead to dehydration or heat stroke.
Chills Or Sweating:
People sometimes experience chills, sweating, nausea, shakiness, anxiety, and teeth grinding.
Elevated Heart Rate And Blood Pressure:
Some people may feel faint or dizzy when they first start taking MDMA because it can raise blood pressure and heart rate.
Difficulty sleeping: One side effect that some people report after using MDMA is trouble sleeping.
Depression, Anxiety, Irritability:
Some people experience feelings of depression or hopelessness when they stop using MDMA. These feelings are known as post-acute serotonin withdrawal syndrome and can last up to several weeks after stopping use.
Seizures:
People who have a seizure disorder or take certain medications for bipolar disorder should not take MDMA. If you experience convulsions or seizures while taking MDMA, you should seek medical attention immediately.
These symptoms are often what causes people to want to stop using it so they can feel better again. Some researchers believe that this could be due to damage done to serotonin receptors or dopamine transporters which may not function properly after being exposed to large doses of MDMA over time.
The Most Common Effects Include:
• Increases in energy levels
• Increases in heart rate and blood pressure
• Increases in body temperature (because of increased blood flow) This may lead to dehydration because MDMA interferes with the normal regulation of water being pulled back into the body’s system from the bladder. It also stimulates the release of stress hormones which can interfere with the body’s ability to regulate temperature.
• Loss in appetite, which can lead to weight loss in some cases.
How Does Your Body React When You Use MDMA?
When you take MDMA, your body goes through certain physical reactions: increased blood pressure, faster heart rate, irregular heartbeat, higher body temperature (which can lead to liver, kidney, and cardiovascular failure), muscle tension, teeth clenching, and nausea.
In addition, taking more than one dose of Molly or Ecstasy is extremely dangerous because overdose symptoms seem to be intensified with consecutive use.
In Conclusion
If your family or loved one is struggling with any kind of substance abuse, or if you find yourself craving MDMA after stopping it for a period of time or going too long without taking it, seek help and contact the professionals to guide you through this process.
