Is ecstasy really that bad?

Yep, it really is that bad. I had a student who did a great deal of research trying to find some good, and couldn’t.

Any drug can be bad.

I guess it depends on how you can control your emotions.

I have. I had a mild but pleasant time. Most ecstasy is cut with speed or other stuff. My trip left me a little amped for a few hours. It damages your brain if you do too much for too long.

The scary part is not being able to know for sure what might be in your pills. I vote ‘no’ but as a hypocrite.

PS: Erowid.org

I have never tried it, but it is something that I would stay away from. I have knew a girl in high school, who drown herself, from drinking too much water, while on “x” Stay away from it.

I’ve heard that you will never be able to be as happy as you could before you took it. Im not sure if this is true though.

I’ve tried it. It’s a great feeling, because (I think) it releases your own endorphins into your system. I felt a soaring sense of euphoria and connectedness for a few hours. @nzigler is right that it could be cut with anything else. I’ve only tried it a few times, and stopped for good about two years ago, but I don’t think it’s physically addictive. I hear from people who do it often that the payoff is less and less each time. It makes you pee all the time, which means you get dehydrated, and your heart races the whole time. A lot of people died of dehydration at raves when they were on ecstasy, and there was a case where a girl was scared of dehydration, and drank too much water, and died of that.

You feel like crap when it wears off. It’s like the shittiest hangover ever. The euphoria during the high comes from your body’s own chemicals, so the price of that high is that you’ll feel really down and depressed once they’re all used up, aside from feeling physically crappy. I have no clue why this is, but most people feel wide awake and very irritable afterward. I noticed every little annoying thing- one of my friends was breathing loudly through his nose, and it drove me up the wall.

I tried it a few times. It’s really enjoyable and “ecstasy” is the perfect word for what I experienced. I felt really happy, satisfied with the world, and wanting to connect with others. Music sounds unbelievably amazing to me while on ecstasy. One of my best friends and I had a really amazing heart-to-heart conversation the first time I did it, definitely strengthened our friendship.

@Haleth is right, though, the hangover is a bitch. The depletion of your happy brain chemicals leads to a depressive crash afterwards. After the first time for me, it wasn’t bad at all, but it got progressively worse upon successive trips, until the last time, where it triggered a deep two-week depression and I said never again.

“Ecstasy” really is the perfect word for it. It makes you very happy, and you want to tell everyone you love them because the world seems absolutely, indescribably connected and loving. Things that you never thought of before make complete sense and it makes most people feel very spiritual. Everything you look at is a piece of art and absolutely perfect just the way it is – even if it’s just a rusty pole sticking out of the ground. Listening to music, especially if there are moving lights somewhere in the background, transports you to a different world. The peace, happiness and love you feel, feel like your body can’t contain the emotions – like they will eventually burst from you. The euphoria experienced is not imaginable.

That said, yes, it absolutely can be dangerous. If you don’t drink enough water, you can fry your brain and body – especially if you dance like a lot of ravers used to (still?) do. It can literally cook you from the inside out. If you drink too much water, as others have already pointed out, that can also be dangerous. You do have to pee a lot because you drink a lot of water, but when my best friend and I had to go, it took forever to actually be able to relieve ourselves.

You also grind or clench your teeth together, so gum is necessary. Even with gum, you wake up with an extremely sore jaw the next day. It wouldn’t surprise me if some people cause damage to their teeth.

It lowers your sexual inhibitions, regardless of how reserved someone might be. Most people are generally willing to do certain things that would be considered abnormal behavior for them. Which is partly why it’s only a good idea to do it if you’re with people that you would trust your life with, and who you wouldn’t feel weird around after the effect of the drug has worn off, should something happen.

Because the feeling of euphoria is so intense, a lot of people – especially those prone to depression – want to do it again, just because it made them feel so happy. This is where the danger of addiction lies and is a serious thing to consider before even contemplating trying the drug. I have some friends who I know could do it once, just to experience it, but I have other friends who I refuse to even talk about it with because I know, by their natural personalities, that trying it would probably screw their lives up for good.

And yes, especially these days, you never know what it might be cut with. You never know, unless you actually buy a testing kit, if you’re even buying ecstasy. For all anyone knows, it could just be random household cleaners or something similar thrown together. A testing kit, if someone decides that want to try it, is a must.

The downs that people feel after the drug have warn off can be extremely hard for some people to handle. It wasn’t that bad for me, but I know some people who get severely depressed by it – simply because the world seems very… gray to them, after the fact.

With the drug still in your system, you can not sleep. You will be up far longer than you normally would be, and when it finally wears off, you might sleep an entire day away. You do not get hungry while the drug is in your system, and you won’t get hungry for a while after the fact, even when it’s out of your system. Sleep and food deprivation can be very bad for your mind and body.

… Doing ecstasy is not something that anyone should take lightly. Do not decide to do it on a whim, do not decided to do it if you’re experiencing peer pressure, do not do it if you don’t think you’ll be able to handle the emotional and possible physical repercussions of your actions. Do not do it if you have an addictive personality. Do not do it with people who are mere acquaintances. Think about it – for a long time – and be sure it’s something you actually want to do.

@DrasticDreamer – Excellent! Right on!

I used to be a very heavy user. It’s an amazing high but it’s very very dangerous. And the depression after the fact is awful. DrasticDreamer gave you a very good description and you should really read carefully what she has to say. Be careful!

I don’t want to poison my brain.

Sounds like the old diet pill days. Screws up your teeth from grinding, terrible crash. Later in life it screws up your focus and emotions. I wouldn’t trust it like they said, “you don’t know what your really taking.” Probably meth laced with who knows what. Take it from me; think about your old age if you plan to make it and do something more laid back.

I just recently tried it for the first time and it wasn’t that GREAT high people talk about. I actually didn’t like it at all it made me feel like I was on one. I was in the car we were going 70 mph I felt like we were barley moving I kept griding my teeth it wasn’t a very pleasant experience.

Didn’t you learn anything in elementary school? Drugs are bad, mmmkay?

I learned not to unquestioningly listen to authority. :D

@MissAnthrope Cool, be a rebel and go destroy your brain.

@jeffgoldblumsprivatefacilities – Okay, thanks. Let me just set this needle down first..

The problem is that like most drugs and medications, ecstasy can have terrible, even fatal side effects. However, unlike legal drugs, the manufacturing and selling process is unmonitored. This means you really have no idea what is in the pill you are taking. It could something entirely different from what you are expecting, or it could simply be a different dosage than you expect. In either case, you are playing Russian Roulette with your body and mind.

Some side effects:

“Brain imaging research in humans indicates that Ecstasy causes injury to the brain, affecting neurons that use the chemical serotonin to communicate with other neurons. The serotonin system plays a direct role in regulating mood, aggression, sexual activity, sleep, and sensitivity to pain.”

“Psychological Ecstasy side effects, including confusion, depression, sleep problems, drug craving, severe anxiety, and paranoia – during and sometimes weeks after taking Ecstasy. Physical Ecstasy side effects such as muscle tension, involuntary teeth clenching, nausea, blurred vision, rapid eye movement, faintness, and chills or sweating. Increases in heart rate and blood pressure, a special risk for people with circulatory or heart disease.”

”...there is evidence that people who develop a rash that looks like acne after using Ecstasy may be risking severe side effects, including liver damage, if they continue to use the drug. Research links Ecstasy use to long-term damage to those parts of the brain critical to thought and memory. One study, in primates, showed that exposure to Ecstasy for 4 days caused brain damage that was evident 6 to 7 years later.”

“Scientists have now shown that ecstasy not only makes the brain’s nerve branches and endings degenerate, but also makes them “re-grow, but abnormally – failing to reconnect with some brain areas and connecting elsewhere with the wrong areas. These reconnections may be permanent, resulting in cognitive impairments, changes in emotion, learning, memory, or hormone-like chemical abnormalities.”

Make sure you’re ready and it is what you want to do. You won’t regret it.
and gum doesn’t work. flavors gag you…have something heavy duty that won’t tear your mouth up ready to chew on. like rubber.
The real question is “Is ecstasy that wonderful?” and yes, yes it is.