The man who took 40,000 ecstacy pills in 9 years

Grimmlok · April 4th, 2006, 09:45 AM

Quote:

David McCandless
Tuesday April 4, 2006
The Guardian

Doctors from London University have revealed details of what they believe is the largest amount of ecstasy ever consumed by a single person. Consultants from the addiction centre at St George's Medical School, London, have published a case report of a British man estimated to have taken around 40,000 pills of MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, over nine years. The heaviest previous lifetime intake on record is 2,000 pills.
Though the man, who is now 37, stopped taking the drug seven years ago, he still suffers from severe physical and mental health side-effects, including extreme memory problems, paranoia, hallucinations and depression. He also suffers from painful muscle rigidity around his neck and jaw which often prevents him from opening his mouth. The doctors believe many of these symptoms may be permanent.

The man, known as Mr A in the report in the scientific journal Psychosomatics, started using ecstasy at 21. For the first two years his use was an average of five pills per weekend. Gradually this escalated until he was taking around three and a half pills a day. At the peak, the man was taking an estimated 25 pills every day for four years. After several severe collapses at parties, Mr A decided to stop taking ecstasy. For several months, he still felt he was under the influence of the drug, despite being bedridden.

Hallucinations

His condition deteriorated and he began to experience recurrent tunnel vision and other problems including hallucinations, paranoia and muscle rigidity. "He came to us after deciding that he couldn't go on any more," said Dr Christos Kouimtsidis, the consultant psychiatrist at St George's Medical School in Tooting who treated him for five months. "He was having trouble functioning in everyday life."

The doctors discovered that the man was suffering from severe short-term memory problems of a type usually only seen in lifetime alcoholics. But evaluating the full extent of his condition was difficult as his concentration and attention was so impaired he was unable to follow the simple tasks involved in the test.

"This was an exceptional case. His long- term memory was fine but he could not remember day to day things - the time, the day, what was in his supermarket trolley," said Dr Kouimtsidis. "More worryingly, he did not seem aware himself that he had these memory problems."

With no mental illness in his family and no prior psychiatric history, the doctors concluded that his unique condition was direct result of his intense ecstasy use.

"This is obviously an extreme case so we should not blow any observations out of proportion," says Dr Kouimtsidis. "But if this is what is happening to very heavy users, it might be an indication that daily use of ecstasy over a long period of time can lead to irreversible memory problems and other cognitive deficits."

For 10 years, MDMA has been suspected of causing these kinds of effects in heavy users. It is thought to be due to its disruption of the regulation of serotonin, a brain chemical believed to play a role in mood and memory. It remains unclear whether these effects are the result of permanent neurotoxic damage or just temporary reversible alterations in the brain.

A study today in a special MDMA issue of the British Journal of Psychopharmacology, suggests long-term side-effects may be temporary. The researchers from the University Of Louisiana could find no significant relationship between depression and recreational ecstasy use.

In the case of Mr A, a structural MRI brain scan failed to show any obvious damage or atrophy in his brain. However, these results, says Dr Kouimtsidis, are difficult to interpret. "A scan of this type is not sensitive enough," he said.

Such limitations in brain scanning technology, along with ethical and legal barriers to giving MDMA to human test subjects, have limited direct observation of the drug's effects in humans.

Instead, scientists have had to use recreational drug users as subjects in their studies. Conclusions from this are often flawed because few, if any, drugs users use ecstasy in isolation.

Cannabis user

Mr A was also a heavy cannabis user, and when he was encouraged to decrease his use, his paranoia and hallucinations disappeared and his anxiety abated. But his memory and concentration problems remained, leading the doctors to suspect that these may be permanent disabilities.

When he was admitted to a specialist brain injury unit and put on anti-psychotic medication, he did start to show some improvement. "Unfortunately, he discharged himself before we were able to complete the assessment," says Dr Kouimtsidis. "We continued to support him. But he started to use cannabis again and he dropped out. We tried to re-engage him but we lost him about a year ago."

The Guardian made several attempts to find the man without success.

Barbara · April 4th, 2006, 09:47 AM

Sorry to have to say this, but... serves the idiot right!

Grimmlok · April 4th, 2006, 09:51 AM

Not anymore, he's burnt out his reuptake cells.. he's probably going to be horribly depressed for the rest of his life, the idiot.

deckchick · April 4th, 2006, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frank_Rizzo

Wow, he must've had a lot of money to blow.

And he figured he had several million extra braincells too

AliceInWonderland · April 4th, 2006, 01:13 PM

he took an average of about 12-13 pills a day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lobelia · April 4th, 2006, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grimmlok

Not anymore, he's burnt out his reuptake cells.. he's probably going to be horribly depressed for the rest of his life, the idiot.

Exactly. As if paranoia & hallucinations weren't enough to depress him, anyway. Just goes to show ya, ecstacy is meant to be a treat, not a way of life.

Grimmlok · April 4th, 2006, 01:18 PM

Frankly, I don't know how that guy functioned. After the first week, it would have been just like taking any amphetamine.. he'd be so burnt he wouldn't get any squishy happy out of it.

I'm also wondering how his kidneys didn't shut down, and how he kept himself hydrated.. yikes.

LynnieD · April 4th, 2006, 01:23 PM

Uh, did this guy work?? Or just pop E for years on end??

Guy might as well start up again.....what's the point?

Grimmlok · April 4th, 2006, 01:27 PM

Ecstacy is awesome for a very rare treat. You can learn a lot about yourself and others on it, I had amazing experiences.

It's a diminishing return though, it's not like.. acid, where you can discover new things each time. If you do it often enough, it loses the meaning.

Grimmlok · April 4th, 2006, 01:52 PM

Well E is an amphetamine, so it'll make yer heart race, and you'll sweat some. You'll also get very squishy/happy and want to hug everyone and tell them you love them.

Tactile sensations are HUGE. You'll basically be one big body orgasm.

p.s. chew gum, preferably sugar free cuz your jaw will clench.

K makes me ill.. it's all the worst parts of being really super drunk. Makes me sick to my stomach, and it's so ghetto. blech.

Shrooms are HILARIOUS, except for eating them. Yuck. Make shroom tea and mix it with green tea, it covers the taste. Just don't be cheap and try to eat the shroom slurry left over. so gross

LynnieD · April 4th, 2006, 01:58 PM

Special K--isn't that Cat Tranquilizers????

Acid is a RIOT!! I hate to admit that I LOVED it......shrooms were pretty fun too.

Grimmlok · April 4th, 2006, 01:59 PM

Ketamine hydrochloride. Animal tranquilizer in powder form. You snort it, and it's a disassociative. You feel disconnected, floaty, like your body is doing stuff and your brain catches up a second later.

Do too much and you fall into a K-Hole, which means you've effectively anesthetized yourself into a stupor. It's not pretty. Time/space have no meaning and you basically just kinda operate in slow motion or sit there like a drooling bump on a log.

In small doses, it alters your perceptions, music can sound different and can contribute to a surreal clubbing experience.