What are the medium term effects of Ecstasy?
When Ecstasy releases massive amounts of serotonin, enzymes in the brain mop up the serotonin and break it down. This is most probably why you come down off an Ecstasy high 4 – 6 hours after taking the pill. When you have broken down all of that extra serotonin, your brain then has very little serotonin left, and so has to make some more. It takes the brain about two weeks to replace all the lost serotonin. And so, for a while, you have quite low concentrations of serotonin in your brain. It is these low levels that are responsible for the hangover associated with Ecstasy use: low levels of serotonin make people lethargic, irritable and depressed. Over the next few days, the brain makes enough serotonin for most people to get over these symptoms. What other effects does Ecstasy have? There are a number of studies that have suggested that Ecstasy may affect your heart’s ability to adjust the rate at which it beats (most probably by damage the nerves involved), that Ecstasy users are mor
