Subject: MDMA + SSRIs (was Re: Ecstasy + SRRI)
From: [email-masked] (matthew john baggott)
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 16:04:35 GMT
Newsgroups: alt.psychoactives

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Pentti Arvela) writes:

>Is it true that ecstasy works by enhancing the serotonin level in brain.

Yes, MDMA seems to enter the serotonin neuron and cause massive release of
serotonin.

>Could it be possible to prolong its effect by new selective serotonin re-
>uptake inhibitors like citalopram ?? I just wonder.

Probably not.  One of the ways (if not THE way) MDMA enters the 5-HT 
(serotonin) neuron is through the serotonin reuptake transporter.  By 
blocking 5-HT reuptake, you also seem to significantly block MDMA's
entry into the cell, thus probably reducing its effects.  I haven't
seen any reports from humans about this, but I have seen microdilysis
data wherein an SSRI stopped the fenfluramine-caused increase in
extracellular 5-HT.  On the other hand, Dave Nichols' group reported
that rats who were pretreated with an SSRI and then given MDMA still 
responded as if they had been given MDMA.  However, Nichols has more
recently concluded that the rats do not experience/respond to MDMA the
way humans do, since several substances which have no MDMA-like effect in
humans will substitute for MDMA in rats.  Thus, I would not draw strong
conclusions from his SSRI+MDMA data.

Some people take SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) 
several hours after taking MDMA.  Thus is not to prolong or potentiate
the MDMA trip but to prevent the possibility of a neurotoxin entering
the 5-HT cell and damaging the cell's axons.  This has been shown to
happen in animals after relatively high or repeated doses.

Chronic use of SSRIs, as is done in the treatment of depression, seems to
reduce the effects of MDMA.  That is, a higher dose of MDMA is required to
achieve the entactogenic effect.

   --Matt