Does MDMA affect sleep?
Studies of MDMA users show a difference in sleep patterns compared to non-users. In one study, heavy users slept an average of twenty minutes less than non-users. They had decreased amounts of non-REM sleep, primarily a shortage of stage 2 sleep. Another study suggested that MDMA users increase sleep efficiency. They do so by lengthening amounts of the most restful sleep periods, namely stage 3 and 4 (McCann et al. 2000). The change in sleep stages is due to changes in neurotransmitter activity. The present findings indicate that MDMA use can lead to persistent changes in central nervous system structures involved in human sleep generation (Allen et al. 1993). Exactly what this is caused by is still unknown.
