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Ecstacy can be a great experience, and make you feel a lot better about the world as a whole. Before I took it I read as much about it as I could. dancesafe.org has a great slideshow that shows exactly what it does to your brain. The damage occurs when you're coming down (flooring); seratonin is taken back into the neuron via reuptake transporters, but along with the seratonin goes dopamine, which is bad for your seratonin neurons. To make things worse, the dopamine is broken into hydrogen peroxide, which is poison for the neuron (and causes the damage to the cell). To avoid this damage, take an MAO-B inhibitor like prozac when you start to come down. Be sure your source is legit, there are a lot of bunk pills out there that can do serious damage to you. just remember to stay hydrated. Also, seratonin levels take a minimum of 5 days to return to normal without the use of 5-HTP (tryptophan), but I'd limit the frequency to once a month.
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The DanceSafe slideshow is outdated. New research suggests DA isn't the main culprit in MDMA toxicity, but rather MDMA metabolites.
Prozac is not an MAO-B inhibitor (generally), it is an SSRI and taking this for neuroprotection is questionable and brings its own neurotoxic risks. Deprenyl, anti-parkinson and antidepressant drug, is an MAO-B inhibitor. While it is unclear if Deprenyl is helpful or harmful or to what degree, it is typically a good idea to avoid MAOIs with MDMA.
It will take about two weeks for 5HT systems to return to normal function after using MDMA.
For more information on neuroprotection using MDMA, check out the Neurotoxicity forum on DanceSafe.org.