The strange case of the man who took 40,000 ecstasy pills in nine years

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/Story/0,,1746333,00.html?gusrc=rss

Doctors from London University have revealed details of what they believe is the largest amount of ecstasy ever consumed by a single person. Consultants from the addiction centre at St George's Medical School, London, have published a case report of a British man estimated to have taken around 40,000 pills of MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, over nine years. The heaviest previous lifetime intake on record is 2,000 pills.

Though the man, who is now 37, stopped taking the drug seven years ago, he still suffers from severe physical and mental health side-effects, including extreme memory problems, paranoia, hallucinations and depression. He also suffers from painful muscle rigidity around his neck and jaw which often prevents him from opening his mouth. The doctors believe many of these symptoms may be permanent.

The man, known as Mr A in the report in the scientific journal Psychosomatics, started using ecstasy at 21. For the first two years his use was an average of five pills per weekend. Gradually this escalated until he was taking around three and a half pills a day. At the peak, the man was taking an estimated 25 pills every day for four years. After several severe collapses at parties, Mr A decided to stop taking ecstasy. For several months, he still felt he was under the influence of the drug, despite being bedridden.

...more at the link...


all I can say is :wow::wow::wow:

[Richardo]

1. Second paragraph describes Bush to a 'T'

...including the rigidity in the jaw.

Jes' sayin' :shrug:

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

2. lmao! is Bush Mr. A?

if so, it sure would explain a lot
:rofl:

[skygazer]

3. Wow, that's some devotion to scientific research

Which, of course, must be why he was doing it. I especially like this line - "After several severe collapses at parties, Mr A decided to stop taking ecstasy."

Gee, ya think?

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

4. you know the first or second collapse mean nothing

:crazy:

[skygazer]

5. True, could just be an anomaly

Scientific process mandates further testing. :eyes:

[LaraMN]

6. Wow. THAT'S an overachiever!

:scared:

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

9. 25 a day at his height

:scared::scared:

[jeff30997]

7. Wow! That guy must be ecstatic!

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

10. :rimshot:

;)

[meegbear]

8. SYD!!!!!!

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

11. I don't even think Syd would have gone this far

:hi:

[XNASA]

12. Shaun Ryder?

[no name no slogan]

13. I have a very good friend who screwed his brain up with E

He'll be on SSRI antidepressants for the rest of his life because of it. SSRI stands for Selective Seratonin Reuptake Inhibitor, which is a drug family that contains Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Trazodone and others.

He basically wore out his Serotonin levels by abusing Ecstasy, and now he's dependent on the pharmaceutical industry to lead a normal life.

That stuff is dangerous. It can have severe long-term consequences.

[In_The_Wind]

14. Sounds like a death wish to me.

:wtf:

[noonwitch]

15. I'm surprised he doesn't have heart problems

Or maybe that's yet to come. Isn't Ecstasy a kind of speed?

[Shine]

16. Wow, that's a whole lotta ecstasy!

Ironically, it's yet another SAD example of somebody screwing themselves up for an addiction...

:hi: