
A new study urges trials of MDMA to treat anxiety in autistic adults - Hooke
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/30/can-ecstasy-replace-xanax.html
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ippster
I can say, hands down, MDMA cured me from all and any social anxiety, it
showed me that no-one gives a fuck, everybody is just the same and wants to be
heard.

Its so funny, every time links like this gets posted I just nod and think
"Poor bastards, they haven't figured it out yet?"

It's been 8 years since I did MDMA, so far no negatives as far as I can tell.
Obviously, as with any strong drug/psychedelic, you will be a different person
after the trip, what you take from that, is up to you. It is not for
everybody, and especially if you feel you are prone to something like
schizophrenia do NOT do psychedelics.

~~~
blazespin
Maybe I am overly sensitive to these things but I recall really embarrassing
things people have done and have a hard time not associating those actions
with the person.

I think the reason people are socially anxious is not because they think
people 'give a fuck' but rather because they're confused by social signals /
body language / verbal cues and that sort of thing. They don't know how to
mesh and mingle properly with a crowd.

From what I read is that MDMA will help the autistic increase their emotional
IQ and "fit in" better. Not because it will help them ignore what other people
think of them.

~~~
jsprogrammer
There is no 'proper' way to mesh and mingle with a crowd.

~~~
unchocked
There's a lot of improper ways.

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FrankenPC
If a medical researcher says that a chemical has potential benefit to
alleviate suffering, then it's NOT up to politicians to decide if they can.
Obviously, that's my opinion and it's not shared by American politicians.

~~~
fapjacks
Ironically, Al Franken probably does share your opinion. :)

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fapjacks
I enrolled in the MDMA studies of veterans with PTSD. I have very high hopes
for this substance as a medicine for a broad swath of afflictions.

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Moshe_Silnorin
I was under the impression that it is quite neurotoxic. Wikipedia seems to be
backing me up here. Is this not the case?

~~~
sppooo
I took a fair amount of the stuff back in the 1980s -- at one point I
estimated my cumulative total consumption as around 15 grams. (I'm sure there
are people far beyond that now.)

It is definitely neurotoxic -- I could tell that the first time I took it --
but in my experience, the noticeable effects are temporary, being mostly gone
in a couple of weeks and quite undetectable after a couple of months. As a
software developer who works in a fairly technical field, I'm quite sensitive
to how well my brain is working on any given day. I did not notice any long-
term falloff in my abilities as a result of MDMA use.

All that said -- it does invite abuse, and I was abusing it. In 1990, my then-
SO left me, and I realized I had to quit.

I wouldn't worry about occasional, supervised, therapeutic MDMA use by healthy
individuals.

~~~
Zer8
Same experience here. I took 0.1g to close to 1g on several occasions over a
couple years.

Doses in the 0.1-0.2g range would leave me fairly slow the next day, but
that's it. With heavier doses I'd see after-effects for about a week (like
reaching for my phone and pulling a lighter from my pocket, disconnecting in
the middle of a conversation, losing track of time)

The only time it took a long time to fully recover (5-6 weeks, progressively)
was after taking some twice in 2 consecutive days. Quantities weren't big,
maybe 0.5g total, but the effects lasted really long.

~~~
dzhiurgis
1 gram is an oversose.

I did that twice and was getting vertigo for a week after. Same with my
friends.

I'd say fair amount per night is 2x0.1 grams per night.

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samman
Looking at the anecdotes being shared here, I see widely varying accounts of
effects/efficacy. I wonder how many actually used 100% MDMA as opposed to one
of its more 'designer' variants (blends, analogues, etc) generally available
via illicit channels.

~~~
tachyonbeam
There are many analogs being passed off as MDMA. However, it's normal that a
given drug won't affect everyone in the same way.

I've had pure MDMA several times (tested). I've supplemented with 5-HTP and
antioxidants, made sure to eat, and even then I've often had issues where it
left me depressed and anxious for days afterwards. My friends, who never
supplement, do not experience such a crash. At this point, I generally avoid
MDMA because the crash is too painful to be worth it.

I've recently had my genes sequenced and found out that I have a slow variant
of the TPH2 gene. This gene encodes for the enzyme (tryptophan hydroxylase)
which makes serotonin. It's normal that I have more aftereffects after MDMA
use, because my brain is probably 2-5x slower at replenishing serotonin. No
amount of supplementation will fix this, because tryptophan hydroxylase is the
bottleneck.

Brains are more unique than faces. Pretty much every protein involved with
monoamines has multiple common genetic polymorphisms. You really shouldn't
expect MDMA or any drug to have the exact same effect on everybody.

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WhitneyLand
It's exciting because it's such an intuitive hypothesis.

People on the spectrum often have trouble reading emotions, people that use
empathogens often feel enhanced abilities for similar tasks.

Who knows if it will pan out, but it would change many directions in research.

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M8
Isn't treating autism same as treating homosexuality?

~~~
orik
the goal isn't too treat autism, but instead to treat anxiety in individuals
with autism.

