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Avatar universal

Ecstasy and Anxiety

I have a question here.  About a year or year and a half ago i used ecstasy about 10 times.  Totaling 10 or 12 doses.  About 6 months ago I lost 80 pounds had no appetite, and had severe anxiety proplems.  I have seen a doctor about it, and they put me on paxil cr, and it has since helped.  Gaining weigt now, and eating better.  I am wondering if this will cure my problem, or will i always have to take the paxil.  Is there anything i can do to help myself.  I know this was the dumbest thing i have ever done.  Wish i would have never tried it.  Also used to be an avid pot smoker, i have also stopped this as well.  Any information you can give me on what is wrong with me and how to fix it will be greatly appreciated.
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8590589 tn?1398849474
Rachellauren this post is over ten yrs old you need to start your own thread by hitting the back to the community,then there is a post a question green squre at top of the next page hit it then post. Thanks
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
are those really effects of mdma? i was taking molly quite alot for some time and ive noticed lately ive had no appetite and i have severe anxiety as well but i never considered that to have to do with my molly use
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Avatar universal
I am an assistant producer working on a new scientific and factual programme that looks at the effects of MDMA on the human body. We are looking for people to be filmed who would be willing to talk about their experiences using ecstasy and MDMA and also people who would like to be in our live studio audience next year. Please contact danielle.***@**** or 0207 4493257
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Avatar universal
I personally blamed drugs for my anxiety for a while. But a later self evaluation couldn't narrow it down to just drugs. It was drugs, work, friends, LIFE was causing my anxiety. I then later realized the true process of emotion.

Events >> Thoughts >> Feeling >> Behavior >> Repeat

When say going to a party was in my plan for the night. The party (event) caused me to analyze myself (thought) and I started to fear the idea of how the night could play out (feeling) and when I got to the party I was awkward, confused, find my mind going blank, and having a hard time keeping people interested (behavior). Thus my anxiety and ridiculously anxious nights.

Example of how it SHOULD go and how you SHOULD think and retrain your mind to react (or NOT react) to events and thoughts:

Say I'm going to a party (event). And then I think, "God, it's been a while. It'll be fun! I'll meet new people!" I smile and go about my day (NOT thinking about the party, NOT analyzing my every move, or would could or could not go wrong). I get to the party and have a good time, and as a an anxious thought crosses my mind, I label it: ridiculous. Forget about it. And continue. No looking back. It's only happy days now :)

If you find your anxiety, or depression is running your life right now I recommend you DO NOT take anti-depressants, or see expensive specialists, or councilors. Anxiety and depression are quite literally mislabeling, over-analyzing, and over-indulging in negative, and irrational thoughts. Extreme cases are a result of extreme thinking.

If you need MORE help. FREE help, I'd recommend MoodGYM. It's free. Just Google MoodGYM. It's an online analysis of your anxiety and depression and FREE guides and workshops to correct your thought process and bring you back to life!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi, maybe I can help you with my personal experiance. I was an X user for about 2 years. The last 6 months of that was very heavy, using almost every weekend and using several pills. I had a pretty high tollerance where I was taking nearly 7 to 8 pills to get up to the roll that 1 pill used to give me. At that time I was 20 female 5'6 about 120 lbs. My days of rolling came to a serious halt when I was sent to the hospital. I had a bad headache on the down roll and very stupid took an excedrin. About 30 mins later I raced to the hospital with my heart pounding out of my chest and the worst numbing body tingles (a feeling as when your foot falls asleep but 100 times worse) taking over my entire body. The hospital diagnosed that my body level of potassium was dangerously low and I had a very high level of ampthemeines in my body. I immediately quit X, pot, drinking...everything. That hospital visit scared the hell out of me. A week or so after that hospital visit I started to get anxiety. I didn't think anything of it because I thought it was me dealing with that tramatic experiance days before. Well my anxiety got worse over the next months to where I started having panic attacks thinking I was going to die somehow. After about 6 or 7 months of extreme daily anxiety and panic attacks I went to the doctor and told her everything from how I used to do X, how much, how long, the hospital visit, everything. She percribed paxil 20mg for 6 months to a year. She said X depletes the brains seritonin and with my prolonged heavy use my body never replenished the level needed to prevent anxiety or depression. I started paxil but only taking 10mg to start untill I was comfortable with the side effects to do the full percribed dose. WOW it worked instantly. No more anxiety or panic attacks. But that came with a price I didn't like. I was an emotionless zombie shell of myself taking paxil (the worst side effect). So I kept decreasing the dose till I was on 5 mg a day. That deffently helped with the side effects of being a zombie a lot. After reading a TON on paxil I decided to stop after only 3 almost 4 months on 5mg because I did NOT want to get addicted to paxil! So I stopped and waited for the anxiety to slowly come back....but it never did!!! Today, a year after being on paxil I still have not had anxiety! I am so happy that I am clean, healthy, and anxiety free!  I'm no doctor but my guess is paxil helped replinish my serotonin back to a healthy level hopefully for good. I really hope my experiance helps with your question. Thankfully paxil wasn't a permant solution to a stupid mistake I made in expermenting with X.
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Avatar universal
Extacy can cause panic attacks and did for me.  It caused a panic attack two days after i rolled which lasted all night.  It was an aweful experience, and i certainly wont ever take extacy again.  However, it can be treated very effectively with antidepressant medication, which is what i finally ended up taking.  Extacy causes your serotinin levels to drop after use, and this can really mess with your brain chemistry and can cause panic attacks.  The solution for me was to take an SSRI (selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor) which will restore your serotonin levels to normal and the panic attacks will stop.  It takes around three weeks of taking it everyday to start working however, and the anxiety can get worse in those three weeks before it gets better.  The medication really saved my life though.  I was miserable, constantly anxious, afraid of social situation and having panic attacks.  It was just awful.  If you are having similar problems i very much suggest trying an SSRI.  The two i've tried are Lexapro and Celexa which are almost the same drug.  These drugs are commonly prescribed by general practitioners or psychiatrists for depression and anxiety.  Heres an scientific article that pretty much says what i just said:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1356491
Anyways, good luck, and don't do drugs kids.
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Avatar universal
Don't know how much E has changed since I was doing it way back in the 90's but I use to go for three to four days straight on it taking well over 10 hits as well as speed and chsyral meth and I dont remember ever being depressed or any axienty.  I remmeber just being tired and going to sleep for a shitload of hours and the next day the hours would go really really slow but after the second sleep all was done and \i felt great for the rest of the week.  it has been over 10 years snce i tried any exstacy or meth or anything except pain killers for a kidney stone that have know become a real problem.  the wieght loss to me and your not going to like this but sounds like cancer to me.  my dad had that kinda weight loss when he got cancer.  Im sure they have done a ton of screening for it already but get a bone scan done and make sure Im wrong it may be treatable right now and Id hate to see you miss your window like my dad did...best wishes and I pray that i am wrong but of all the people I know who took E and even crystal meth I have never heard your symptoms outside a cancer ward
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1140865 tn?1270286736
Hi, I'm 30 years old and female... I use X on the weekends up to 12 caps a time.  I also have major anxiety and depression.  I've seen a dozen or so doctors and have tried the treatments such as Wellbutrin, Effexor, Seroquil, Paxil, etc.  Right now I take nortriptilyne, topomax and prozac... that helps a bit but I still suffer panic attacks.  I also have a prescription for benzos but I cant seem to make myself take them (ironic, I know).  X is hard to stop because its a social drug and almost becomes part of your lifestyle (at least it has for me).  I also recently started having bad hallucinations on X and i feel like i am causing brain damage... I just get to the point where I dont care anymore about anything... I just want to feel good; however with each time I use it gets worse.  I hope I can find the will to stop because I know it can seriously f***k you up.  I wish you all the best.
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Avatar universal
To eveyone who has posted in regards to ecstacy and anxiety... it is highly probable that ecstacy use caused the anxiety and panic.   I hate to be the bearer of bad news but ecstacy releases chemicals and endorphines which effect seretonin transporters and other neurons in the brain.  Sometimes people try drugs without realizing they are already predisposed to certain neurological problems or chemical imbalances.  The drugs push these people's predisposed problems over the edge or cause the anxiety problems to surface in the first place.  My point is you probably always had some tendency for anxiety whether you realized it or not, but the drugs caused the problem to come out.  Basically, what happens is the right side of the brain which is involved in "fight or flight" responses gets charged up from the drugs.  Unfortunately it never shuts down in some people.  This is where you get your anxiety and panic.  My only advice is please stay away from drugs and consider yoga, meditation, deep breathing and other forms of relaxation that help you to calm your mind.  SSRI's have a tendency to make anxiety worse.
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Avatar universal
i havehad the same issues as most. but what happened to me was i lived a party life style and one night i took E. i felt like i was having a stroke and could not get out of bed for like 2 days. now i have anxiety. symptoms include dizziness i feel like the room is tilted sometimes and that im going crazy or havinga heart attack. now my doctor perscribed lexapro and it just made me gain alot of weight which i cant loose. i stopped taking it and symptoms of anxiety are getting better but i feel as if i only have panic attaks if i dont eat which causes me to eat alot and still not loose this weight. it really ***** though because i feel like my panic attcks cause vertigo. the room will seriously look as if it is tilted . i really wish i could take that night back and go back to my normal life. i cant believe that i cannot find an answer to these issues and feel like i will be stuck like this forever. i will try the amino acid thing and remain substance free. but i would still like the vertigo to stop and loose some weight.
Helpful - 0
271792 tn?1334979657
Hi Dream,

This post is six years old. It would be best if you go to the top of the page and hit the green "post a question" button and start your own thread.

Hope to see you out in the forum!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
The exact same thing happend to me. i'm now 18 and I took it about 2 years ago and a total of 10 times. i now have panic dissorder and i know what you mean by no other people that roll having the problem. it's like you think theres something wrong with just you. i still have frequent panic attacks and i'm not nearly cured but it takes time. for me, it's really a social anxiety and a fear of death. i let it get so bad that i've barely left the house in about 8 months.. i hope it isn't like that for you. I think the key is to accept what we've done and understand that we're fine now. if something was to happen to us because of the drugs, it would've already happened. i really hope everything works out for you.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hello,

Im 23 years old...I also have the same problem as u guys are. I hate waking up in the morning feeling there's something wrong with me. I have fears of drinking any coffee, eating high in cholesterol foods or just anything that will affect  my hearts normal rhythm. @ night sometimes I over think and gives my the flushing sensation behind my neck up my head and its really uncomfortable. I feel like I'm going crazy having this problems. But I told myself I can handle this. I can manipulate everything and that its all in my head. I'm not taking any medicines because I'm afraid of relying on them all the time! I just wanted to share my experience! I also hope that there's a cure for what im feeling even if it takes time as long its going to take em away.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hello,

Im 23 years old...I also have the same problem as u guys are. I hate waking up in the morning feeling there's something wrong with me. I have fears of drinking any coffee, eating high in cholesterol foods or just anything that will affect  my hearts normal rhythm. @ night sometimes I over think and gives my the flushing sensation behind my neck up my head and its really uncomfortable. I feel like I'm going crazy having this problems. But I told myself I can handle this. I can manipulate everything and that its all in my head. I'm not taking any medicines because I'm afraid of relying on them all the time! I just wanted to share my experience! I also hope that there's a cure for what im feeling even if it takes time as long its going to take em away.
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Avatar universal
Question, how come when you want to leave your email address here on this post, it does not show up?   I have noticed that when others leave their addresses for those who need support, it shows up with ******@*****.  Where would we find the true address if we would like to talk to members here?
morganave
Helpful - 0
685562 tn?1447155231
X depletes the Brain of serotonin, and Norepinephrine.
This is what causes a person to feel "bad" after they come down.
I put my buck on you burning out those chemicals, thats why the paxils working.
but what also could work would be Saint Johns Wort, and lots of amino acids.
Paxil does not rebuild your chemical structure, its just makes the cells more sensitive.
SJW and Amino acids create more of the chemicals that will heal you with time.
But if you were going to try the SJW you would have to stop taking your paxil, and let it get out of your system for a few weeks before the other treatment, because it would risk you for getting serotnin syndrome.
Always talk to a Doc first before switching meds, better yet talk to your Pharm, because they usually know allot more about interactions.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
to everyone who is scared in this section, there is hope. This problem WILL go away! I've had the same problems where i pace around the house crying and praying, promising to never sin again if i can just find my way out of anxiety and hell. IT GETS BETTER. One thing you must do though, is stand up to your fears, if you need xanex to sleep, you HAVE TO take those few nights of panics and terror so that you can get the **** off of it and have your mind know that you do not NEED it to sleep, because you DO NOT. None of these terrors will kill you, you just need to have the strength to stand up to them. I kept completly clean for a month [not even caffiene or alchohal] and just let my brain unencumber the burden of substances and addiction, and starting going to places i feard [school, events, whatever it may be] and trust me, there is a cure for you all. Please get better and believe. you all have my blessings.
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Avatar universal
Im an 18 year old female i tock xtc for the first time when
i was 16 then since then i spiraled down to doing 5 hits one
night then the following night 17 (im 130 pounds now so it was
alot not to mention my size) i started using cocaine almost
every weekend aswell i had nights where i used both and took
mushrooms ive been heavily smoking weed for the past 3 years
and it was not till one year ago i started experiencing social anxiety
and then i had a huge binge one weeekend and then the next day my anxiety was so bad i couldnt look someone in the eye without shaking
head to toe and sweating my heart would race. so thats when i made the connection of the drugs to the anxiety and then i did a small amount one weekend and felt a small relief from the anxiety the following week
so i did my research and self diagnosed myself with some type of serintonin (sorry spelling) problem sadly i tryed to self medicate. anxiety was so bad i couldnt go out with friends unless i was drinking and i had to force myself to go to school and i would sit there and shake i was so anxious. then i graduated and that when i began to drink
i had to get a job and i would buy booze on my way to work because its the only was i was able to go without feeling anxious. and then a miracle. i went to a random walk in clinic and talked to a doctor about this and how i dont want to drink and how i have been on 2 different types of pills with no results so she started me on 37.5 mg of effexor to see how i would react and i had barley any sypmtoms so she uped it to 75 and im now at 150 mg and i feel no anxiety i have not had a panic attack since. the only problem is my heavy drinking before i was releaved from the anxiety has left me needing the alcohol to cope with problems but it just creates more and i also dont like getting close to people because they are ushally repulsed by my habits
anyways what im trying to get at is i was such an extreme case and i did find 100% cure (for the time now anyways)
good luck!
Helpful - 0
474119 tn?1273841478
ChadR0ck:
You have posted on an old thread. This may be lost within the rest of the posts. You should try copying your question onto a new thread. At the top of the page you will see a 'Post a question' 'button'. Click on that and re-post. More people may be able to help you.
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Avatar universal
It is now november 4th, I have still having anxiety, & I am depressed. My doctor has upped my dose of Effexor to 75mg. I am still having problems sleeping. I need to take sleeping medication & xannx to go to sleep, becasue I have vidid thoughts while sleeping, and wake up in a pannic. I just can not believe that of these side effects are from taking one pill, & that my life is going to be forver changed. I hope it gets better... I promise I will never do this again. Has anybody ever experienced these side effects? & have felt better over time? I just hope their is light at the end of the tunnel.  Or is this the way I am going to have to be now for the rest of my life?  I am very scared.  I don't want to loose everything that I have worked very hard for. I am scared....
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Avatar universal
I did XTC when I was 18 years old about 3 times. I never experienced any side effects from it.  I am now 26 years old. For some stupid reason which I greatly regret. I took an XTC pill September 28th. I had a great time on it. The next day I felt fine but about 2 weeks later I was feeling very high anxiety & I am suffering from depression. I also was having mood swings.  I am also having problems with sleeping where I have these thoughts running though my head all night long, and my heart is beating fast. & I pace back and forth in my apartment. I thought I was getting better last week. Since I was able to get a full night sleep & the anxiety was getting better. But today I feel like I have regressed. I have not gotten any sleep tonight, & I have work in an hour. I know I can not reverse what I did. I just hope that this will go away & I will get that "glow" back. I have tried to do research & many people say that it is going to take time to feel better.  I hope I did not do permanent damaged to the brain.  I wish I never took that pill…  I just want to go back to the way I was before!  I just do not understand that I am having these effects after 1 pill? 3 weeks later? Any advise?
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Avatar universal
I feel exactly the same. I have taken Ecastacy in the past and had no mental problems with it although i once had some weird spotted bruising on my legs and arms and my tounge would go huge with cuts all over it. However i did foolishly use it again in the form of pills and MDMA and never experienced that problem again. However i had been using it more frequently recently along with LSD (acid) and coke. My main problems have been since taking my only 2 tabs of acid. I was genrally ok for a week after that then i went on a heavy drinking session and since then i've been extremely shaky / nervous and paranoid. I've had to walk out of work after feeling under so much pressure and shaking so much. I've always been a little anxious and paranoid but nothing like on this scale. I always feel so weak now and always have a very minor shake that amplifies when under any stress. As you can imagine i then become paranoid about that and it's turning me into a nervous wreck. When i sleep i can't get up because i'm so tired and it feels like i have no thoughts at all going through my head like i'm just totaly brain dead. I've also had sleep paralysis after taking MDMA where i have been unable to move although realising i have been awake. I don't know whether it's from the drugs or just extreme anxiety. I really don't know what to do
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Avatar universal
You cant worry about what your family will think of you. Just confront them and get it over with. The fact that you're scared to tell them is only in your head, and you shouldnt be anxious about that. Good luck
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
And I would definatley reccomend any perscription benzodiazepine to anyone with anxiety if SSRI's are not working or are causing side effects. Xanax and kolodopin WILL diminsh anxiety if not completley reduce it while active in your body.
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