Replies

study stongly indicated the possibility that X just completely annihilates serotonin manufacturing in the brain. The hypothesis is that it sort of "breaks open the serotonin flood dam" in the brain; you get completely flooded for 18-24 hours (or however long the pills are good for these days; I know they're not the same as they were 15-20 years ago), but then the lake is gone and the dam's been vaporized.

Very scary. Do you have a source for that study? Also, do you have any idea whether LSD would have the same or similar effect on serotonin? LSD certainly changed people's lives forever, even one dose.

do you have any idea whether LSD would have the same or similar effect on serotonin?

LSD doesn't have the same or even a similar effect. LSD binds to serotonin receptors. Ecstasy doesn't bind to receptors; it simply causes serotonin (a lot) to be released into the synapse. Two completely different mechanisms of action.

Some really good easy-to-follow info here: This Is Your Brain On Ecstasy (An MDMA Neurochemistry Slideshow)

LSD does changes people's lives, but not in any biochemically determinible way. LSD is one of very few drugs whose doses are measured in micrograms (one millionth of a gram), as opposed to milligrams (one thousandth of a gram).

The way LSD affects people varys so wildly, that no one has ever bothered to try to come up with a specific list of effects. It turns out that the effects do seem to depend a great deal on what the user expects the effects to be. In other words, you can actually decide on what it will do to you (to a certain degree).

As for the life-changing aspect, that is 100% psychological. An LSD trip is a very traumatic experience - meaning it is very intense. The word "traumatic" tends to have negative connotations, but here it means very intense and significant to the user. In this way, LSD can change one's life the same way a car accident, loss of a loved one, divorce, etc can change one's life. This also explains the phenomenom known as "flashbacks". They are simply psychological memory-induced "reliving" the traumatic experience. So LSD flashbacks are the same as car crash flashbacks.

Also, do you have any idea whether LSD would have the same or similar effect on serotonin? LSD certainly changed people's lives forever, even one dose.

LSD works on the serotonin system as well - most of your "hallucinogenic" drugs involve serotonin in one way or another.