Posted by sweetmarie on April 11, 2001, at 4:50:10
In reply to I have permanent brain damage from ecstacy use, posted by A. N. on April 10, 2001, at 22:54:09
> I can still think, I'm smart (I am working on a PhD right now); however, I feel sick every day and attribute this to heavy ecstacy use by myself for a six month period nearly three years ago. Almost a year after I stop doing ecstacy, I started to have mild symptoms. I general ache in my head. Problems concentrating while I was reading. I would only feel sick some of the time. However, over a six month period the symptoms got worse. I feel sick almost every moment that I am awake. When I sit in an armchair trying to relax, I feel different parts of my brain pulsing in very uncomfortable ways. I squeeze my hands against my head to try and make the discomfort go away but it persists. When I drive my car, I'm nervous that I'm going to run a red light as I have this feeling that I'm looking up the road too far or not paying attention to the closest traffic light. THe whole time my head aching. My short term memory is fucked. I forget what I was thinking of doing two seconds earlier and then remember and forget again sometimes several times. I feel increased levels of anxiety that I cannot control over situations that previously I felt very comfortable about. When I do vigourous physical activity, the general feeling of unwell gets worse. I can still think about complex concepts and my ability to cope with simple everyday situations has become hindered. I am trying to finds others who are feeling the same way as I am. I am also looking for potential treatments (if any exist). Please help.
Hi,
I`ve just read your post.
My friend has all the symptoms that you describe. She gets headaches, feels sick, and generally all the stuff you mention. She also gets `spinning thoughts`, and can`t control them. Her concentration is very poor, and over the past 4 years has basically been extremely poorly.
The reason I`m writing about her is that she spent a long time taking a lot of E (over a year I think). None of her psychiatrists have a clue what the matter is with her - she`s been variously diagnosed as having `atypical depression`, `borderline personality disorder` and others I can`t remember. She`s had brain scans and other physical tests, which have all found her in good physical health. Her present psychiatrist has actually admitted that he doesn`t know what is wrong with her. It sounds to me like she may be suffering the effects of a lot of ecstacy use.
However, apart from your description of your symptoms being the first thing I have read that fits her condition (and I`ll be telling her as soon as I can), I CAN say that she benefited from Nardil (an MAOI). She`s been on it 3 times. The first time, she took herself off it as she was so well, and when the symptoms reappeared, she went back on it. Again, it was successful. Having discontinued it for the 2nd time, it didn`t work again. However, these details are irrelevant. What I`m saying is that she did become well on Nardil, and maybe a similar medication would help you - there is more than one MAOI you can try.
It may not be the same for you, but it has to be worth a try. But, DON`T (and I stress this) take my word for this, whatever you do. What she has and what you have may be totally different things. All I`m saying is that they sound very similar, and it therefore COULD be the case that both conditions are E-related. I`m very reluctant to commit myself to any `rock-solid` comparisons (I think you`ll know what I`m saying).
Hope that this is of some help.
Anna.
poster:sweetmarie
thread:59383
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010411/msgs/59397.html