MDMA Ecstasy or Molly: Side Effects and Risks

Food and Drug Administration to grant it “breakthrough therapy” status, a designation that can speed drug development. More health problems tend to occur in people who take high doses of MDMA, which some experts say is anything above 150 milligrams. These problems may include elevations in blood pressure and body temperature. Taking multiple doses of pure MDMA at once, or combining it with alcohol or other illegal or prescription drugs, makes it even less safe.

Learn how MDMA, also known as molly or ecstasy, affects the brain and body, and find treatment for misuse.

Many articles online say the molly mdma wikipedia drug is “pure” MDMA, the active ingredient in Ecstasy. The emergency and referral resources listed above are available to individuals located in the United States and are not operated by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). NIDA is a biomedical research organization and does not provide personalized medical advice, treatment, counseling, or legal consultation. Information provided by NIDA is not a substitute for professional medical care or legal consultation. To repeat, molly may affect a person’s ability to perceive danger and risk—factors that can influence a person’s ability to give consent. Consent is an agreement between two or more parties to engage in any activity, although it most commonly refers to sexual activity in particular.

Reinforcement disorders

By 1985, ecstasy had found its way into the party scene, most notoriously at the Dallas nightclub Starck, and soon attracted the attention of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The same year, ecstasy earned a place on the Schedule I of the Controlled Substance list, and research on the psychoactive nearly ground to a halt. Now, almost 50 years after the start of the War on Drugs, another group of scientists and academics are pioneering a resurgence of psychedelic research—and this time MDMA is well on its way to being an approved therapeutic intervention. Taking MDMA can cause health problems and lead to dependence — especially if you take MDMA frequently, in higher doses, or with alcohol or other drugs. Even a regular dose of pure MDMA can harm the body’s ability to regulate temperature, which can cause organ failure and other serious problems. MDMA — known as ecstasy or molly — is an illicit synthetic drug with both stimulant and hallucinogenic properties.

MDMA is being explored as a treatment for certain medical conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Researchers are studying how drugs with psychedelic properties, including MDMA, can be used to treat mental health conditions. The stimulating effects of a single dose tend to go away within six hours, but people can experience aftereffects for a few days or longer.

MDMA—often called “ecstasy,” or “molly”—is a popular club drug, famous for inspiring feelings of openness, positivity, and connection, although it also mandates some harm reduction tactics to negate or mitigate any side effects. Raves and music festivals have given the drug its party-animal reputation, but there’s far more to this controversial compound than recreation. If research continues, MDMA may be one of the first new therapies for post-traumatic stress to enter the market in over 18 years. The molly or ecstasy sold on the street is rarely pure MDMA — and may even contain little or no MDMA. Illegally sold products might be tainted with dangerous or poisonous chemicals such as cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, ketamine, or “bath salts” (synthetic cathinones, which are stimulant drugs related to the khat plant).

• Ecstasy overdose symptoms can include faintness, panic attacks or extreme anxiety, high blood pressure, and seizures.
• Pure MDMA is not considered as addictive as other illicit drugs such as cocaine, but some people can develop a dependence on the drug and have withdrawal symptoms when they stop using it.
• The stimulating effects of a single dose tend to peak at 1 1/2 to two hours and go away within four hours, but aftereffects may last for a few days or longer.
• It was later retracted; instead of using MDMA, methamphetamine had been used in the test.
• Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a wide-spread and sometimes debilitating condition that can have profound impacts on a person’s quality of life.
• Although, it’s also important to keep in mind that when purchasing illicit substances, it is impossible to know what you’re getting exactly.

Abusers may also use in conjunction with other psychoactive drugs like LSD. As with many other “party drugs”, ecstasy is rarely used alone and it is frequently combined with alcohol and marijuana. In Australia, MDMA was rescheduled on 1 July 2023 as a schedule 8 substance (available on prescription) when used in the treatment of PTSD, while remaining a schedule 9 substance (prohibited) for all other uses. Permits for research uses on humans must be approved by a recognized ethics committee on human research. Over half of all study participants no longer met the diagnostic screening criteria for PTSD after just two sessions of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. One such pioneer is Dr. Sue Sisley, an MD and psychiatrist who has spent the last 25 years helping patients recover from trauma and manage mental health.

Depression, anxiety, mood instability, and fatigue are all common, reportedly for up to one week after taking recreational molly. Although, these side effects may worsen when molly is mixed with other substances. To combat this, many people take 5-Hydroxy-Tryptophan (5-HTP), which is a direct precursor to serotonin in the brain and which clinical studies have shown to relieve the symptoms of depression. However, if you do wish to take 5-HTP, do so only after rolling, as taking it beforehand could be fatal due to serotonin syndrome (a condition we discuss later in this story). MDMA has moderate to high abuse potential but a conversely low potential for a genuine psychological dependence or addiction which appears even lower than cannabis (lower than 10%).

Shulgin’s research

In the United Kingdom, MDMA was made illegal in 1977 by a modification order to the existing Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Penalties include a maximum of seven years and/or unlimited fine for possession; life and/or unlimited fine for production or trafficking. Anytime you procure a drug illicitly, it is impossible to know what you’re getting without testing.

Taking an adulterated drug can lead to unexpected and unwelcome side effects and may increase its potential health risks. Over the past decade, illegally made opioids like fentanyl have been increasingly found in the drug supply, and have contributed to a dramatic rise in drug overdose deaths in the United States. Apart from heatstroke, water poisoning is one of the leading causes of hospitalization and, potentially, death after taking molly. But, consumers also face the additional risk of drinking water excessively to combat the drug’s effects on body temperature. Water intoxication is very serious, causing seizures, unconsciousness, confusion, and death in severe cases.

Effects

• Consumers report increased energy levels, improved mood, sharper mental clarity, and reduced anxiety.
• As a result, consumers often feel very thirsty and crave lots of fluids.
• Tolerance to many of the effects of MDMA develops with prolonged and repeated use.
• In the world of psychedelics, it’s raves, arrests, and adulterated substances with unpredictable risks that often make prime-time news.
• MDMA was initially developed in 1912 as a pharmaceutical compound that could be used in the preparation of other pharmaceuticals, and it was patented in 1914.
• They found that the MDMA can inspire intense emotional experiences, and the drug quickly became a compound of interest to psychotherapists.

It was later retracted; instead of using MDMA, methamphetamine had been used in the test. This temporary flooding of the brain with serotonin leads the consumer to experience the mood-elevating, stimulating, walking-on-clouds effects of the drug. While serotonin is a neurotransmitter, it’s also known as “the happy hormone” as it plays a central role in regulating well-being. MDMA exerts a unique set of effects on the brain that enable it to treat diverse mental illnesses, such as anxiety, depression, and PTSD. While it shares characteristics with other psychedelic compounds, it differs in some ways too. In 2017, the Food and Drug Administration granted MDMA breakthrough therapy status due to the preliminary evidence of its efficacy in the treatment of PTSD.

Risks of Ecstasy

These effects help to reduce conditioned fear and stress responses, which is why MDMA represents a powerful potential treatment for PTSD and anxiety disorders. Users may encounter problems similar to those experienced by amphetamine and cocaine users, including addiction. Research has shown that animals will self-administer MDMA, an indicator of a drug’s abuse potential.

But, the other part of the success may come from the effects of the drug itself. As mentioned above, MDMA impacts both hormones and neurotransmitters that inspire positive mood and cultivate feelings of love, altruism, and connectedness. According to MAPS, the compound seems to reduce fear and defensiveness and increases trust and empathy. When purchased illicitly, MDMA theoretically comes in pressed pills, powder, or crystals, with the average dose being about 85 and 125 milligrams.