Long-Term Effects Of MDMA

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While all effects listed above sound great and are why many people take the drug, there are also many adversary effects to taking MDMA. Some of the adverse acute effects are “involuntary jaw clenching, lack of appetite, illogical or disorganized thoughts, nausea, hot flashes or chills, headache, sweating, and muscle or joint stiffness” (National Institute on Drug Abuse). Most of these effects are also caused by the release of serotonin like lose of appetite, jaw clenching, and sweating. In studies done on rats, it showed that “the release of serotonin after MDMA inhibits protective jaw opening reflexes, which usually serve to prevent clenching and teeth grinding” (Hiller). Nauseous is also caused by the substantial amount of serotonin. Since …show more content…
In a study done in the Netherlands on different level groups of ecstasy users- moderate, heavy, and ex-users-, they used a “12-detector single-slice scanner” to look at the patients brains, and they saw that MDMA use can “lead to decreases in the density of brain serotonin transporters” (Reneman). They also noticed a significant difference in the neurotoxicity in men and women. It seemed that women were “more susceptible than men to the neurotoxic effects of MDMA” (Reneman). It was unapparent on why there was such a major difference, but it could have possible been because of age or overall average body weight. These decreases in serotonin neuron activity could lead to some mental disorders because it is thought that serotonin imbalance is to “underlie depression, anxiety, panic disorder, and disorders of impulse control” (Reneman). This would make sense since serotonin plays a critical role in our bodies happiness levels, so if it was inhibited, we would not be as happy which leads to depression and anxiety. Many users also state that they especially feel sad or depression the following day after taking molly or ecstasy. It is also a little ironic that a drug that is taken to make people feel happy can also make them more susceptible to depression. Research is being done to see if the neurotoxicity of the serotonin transporters could be