Will taking ecstasy make back pain worse?

Answer 1

Ecstasy will make your back feel a lot better while you are under it's effects. Everything feels good on ecstasy. However, taking ecstasy could potentially make your pain worse for 2 reasons:

1) MDMA depletes serotonin levels in the brain, and excessive use may lead to depression. Depression can actually make physical pain worse.

Serotonin is a very important neurotransmitter that controls mood, the sleep cycle, sex drive, and appetite. If you start screwing up your brain's biochemistry, you will evoke the stress response, without fail. This cascade of events will increase catacholamine levels in the brain. Catacholamines are responsible for increasing the brains sensory perception...which includes pain.

2) Ecstasy pills often contain amphetamines which are stimulants and cause muscle tension and stress. It is infamous for causing jaw clenching, but it will probably also cause tension in your back.

ANSWER

The last answer seems sensible, regarding catecholamines elevating sensory perception. This only explains why pain is felt more at certain times, and does not explain its initial cause. It is a known fact that MDMA and related compounds reduce neuropathic pain. However, the Back pain that many heavy MDMA users complain about is NOT typical neuropathic pain. Make no mistake, if you are a heavy MDMA user and experience pain, it is NOT because you have moved around too much. It is because your nerves are affected, often severely. This is evident because, in those affected, the pain only gets worst with more MDMA and related compounds.

It is difficult to notice the side-effects until an extreme response occurs, such as pain. Things that you can notice consciously only come after prolonged damage, and damage occurs without notice MUCH before this point. There is little or no research conducted regarding the pain caused, however, so it is extremely difficult to pinpoint how this pain even occurs. You can spend countless hours searching literature but the simple fact is that there is not enough research conducted to supply concrete answers. Only one answer is certain, abusing drugs WILL cause biochemical changes in your brain and leads to many varied problems. Examples of other types of problems include things such as blood pressure regulation. I have witnessed a person abusing substances for a significant amount of time and developed blood pressure problems. The doctor said he had the blood pressure of a 50 year old, and that he had never witnessed this occurring in a teen. This is just to show that the drugs affect different people in different ways.

However, although your body is fragile, it is extremely versatile. The back pain experienced is caused because your brain is receiving incorrect signals from your nerves, and is associated with CNS damage. Usually, the only time CNS pathologies can be resolved is after recovery from drug abuse. I believe this is because your nerves are neither completely severed or dead, but merely damaged.

If you experience back pain after taking MDMA, the best thing you can do is quit immediately. This way, you can minimize and prevent further damage, and allow the possibility of a more complete recovery, which neither is guaranteed. The people affected are mostly young people, and if you find yourself in this category, listen to all the warnings you hear; they are based on fact. You simply do not realize what is actually happening to your body right now, but you will later, guaranteed.

Remember, there is no evidence that shows that a single dose of MDMA will cause damage. There is no evidence that shows that taking a dose of MDMA 3-4 times a year will cause damage. But, there is TOO MUCH evidence showing severe damage after MDMA ABUSE. Please listen to all the warnings. It is easy to abuse drugs, but hard to learn to use them responsibly. Don't take the easy route.

Answer

The two above me made good points but they failed to mention that it is possible a night of dancing while under the influence could also be a major contributory cause. Being an occasional user of ecstasy I notice back pains the next couple of nights from time to time but this is directly due to the style and intensity of dancing the previous night. Just get some rest, eat well and don't abuse the drug!