Much Worse The Second Time Around

This fellow has learned first-hand and to his sorrow that taking ecstasy or any other street drug is a high-risk endeavor.

Case #: 1329

Concern：

Hi, I’m a 22-year-old male. I have taken ecstasy twice in my life. First time was ok. I didn’t notice many problems afterwards but the second time I took it after around 6 months had passed. I had no clue what was in this ecstasy but it had different effect on me. It was different color. I am a skinny Asian guy weighing close to 120 lbs. at that time it was after the finals and my body was really in a weak state. When I took it felt good for only short amount of time and afterwards everything started to annoy me. my friend that took same pill told me he had the same feeling. The first E wasn’t like that. When it started to annoy me I felt my arm getting really weak. And end of my fingers felt really light. Afterwards. I felt extremely tired. Afterwards when I ejaculated it didn’t feel the good feeling of orgasming. Instead it didn’t feel good. I can feel the pulling on the legs when ejaculating but it hurts more than feeling good. After around 7 month I still have no strength in my arms, can’t get a good grip of anything and still doesn’t feel good when I ejaculate. Also still feel the tiredness. What is going on...PLEASE HELP?

Discussion：

There's a common misconception, particularly among casual users of “recreational pharmaceuticals”, that the drugs themselves cause the effects on the users, much like the kerosene in a lantern is the fuel for the lantern's light.

When The Pill's Gone, The Ride's Over?

This leads to the natural assumption that once the drug in question is “burned up”, the effects will “go away”. The truth is far more dangerous and long-lasting. Some drugs can stay in your system for a long time, and others will leave harmful imbalances and toxic substances in your body long after the drug itself has been eliminated.

Ain't That A Kick In The Head?

Many drugs achieve the desired results by altering how the brain or body or both operate on a short-term basis. In the case of ecstasy, the drug's effects include temporarily boosting your brain's supply of serotonin while badly damaging its capacity to make more. Normally used to regulate your general moods as well as your ejaculations, the short-term boost of the stuff in your body can lead to significant damage to your parasympathetic nerves, which control the operations of all the organs and glands inside your body. Damage to them will leave you open to experiencing a long list of possible problems.

Mentally, you can expect to have difficulty thinking and remembering. Your moods may tend to stay in states like depression, anxiety, paranoia. Your body may betray you with muscle tension or nausea or other inconveniences like diarrhea. Your vision may get blurry, and you may even experience cardiac trouble like too-rapid heart rate or very high blood pressure. And, of course, your erections will be soft when you get them at all because your penis won't get the nitric oxide it needs to initiate and maintain an erection.

Ecstasy's effects can continue for quite some time after the initial dose of the drug has been eliminated from the body because the drug leaves very subtle “scars” inside the brain and elsewhere. Your muscle fatigue is the result of damage to your neural system caused by a combination of the drug itself and probable impurities from the manufacturing process. (There's no real quality control in the kinds of labs that produce illegal drugs, after all.) Your general energy level is low because your stomach isn't telling your brain that you're hungry, and even when you do eat your stomach can't digest as well as it should; in other words, you're starving but can't feel the pain. Your muscle weakness has to do with a decreased ability to manufacture dopamine, which (among many other functions) is a very important component in motor-control areas of your brain.

Doing Your Penance

Your smartest move would be to speak to a health-care provider as soon as possible. It is quite possible that your liver has been damaged, reducing its ability to filter the toxins still in your bloodstream from the two doses of Ecstasy you have already consumed. Your health-care provider will have several useful tips on how to help your liver regenerate. You will also need to regenerate your parasympathetic neural network, and your health-care provider will have suggestions on that, as well. (TRY: Ecstasy Detoxification & Restoration for Erections) We strongly recommend that you consider using an herbal supplement designed specifically to help remove toxins from your body, as well as assist in neural regeneration.