What patterns of Ecstasy use put people most at risk of nerve cell damage?
There are a number of factors that put people most at risk of Ecstasy neurotoxicity, such as: • having taken a lot of Ecstasy tablets, the more you have had the greater the risk – • taking more than one tablet at a time – • taking Ecstasy more often than once every 2-3 weeks – • going on a binge, that is, taking tablets continuously for more than 24 hours. – • snorting, or injecting Ecstasy – • not “chilling out” (i.e. stopping dancing and resting in a cool area) for 15 minutes in every hour. This is because a raised body temperature exacerbates the neurotoxic effects of Ecstasy – • not gradually drinking 1 – 2 cups of water or fruit juice (not alcohol) per hour, depending on how much you are exercising. Will avoiding these risky patterns of use make Ecstasy use safe? Unfortunately, no. You might follow these rules to the letter and still damage your nerve cells. However, avoiding these risky patterns will make the chances of nerve cell damage less likely, and so are a good set of guid
