6-APB

Overheating (hyperthermia) can occur when your body temperature rises too high. Using drugs in a hot, humid, crowded environment (such as a club or indoor party, or in the sun at an outdoor festival) will raise your body temperature even further. Combined with intense, long, uninterrupted dancing, overheating can occur.

Early symptoms of overheating;

• Headache
• Confusion
• Stiff muscles
• Dizziness

These are all symptoms that can also fall under the “normal” side effects of a drug. If the body temperature does not drop, the following symptoms may also occur:

• Shivering
• Elevated heart rate
• Pale appearance
• Impaired consciousness
• Nausea
• Vomiting

If the body temperature rises to 40-41 degrees Celsius, the situation is life-threatening:

• Breakdown of muscle tissue
• Blood clotting throughout the body
• Impaired functioning of kidneys and liver
• Epileptic seizure

Depending on circumstances, overheating may also occur with “normal” doses of a drug.

Overheating is very dangerous and difficult to treat. Attempting to cool down, resting, and drinking enough water (no more than one glass per hour) is necessary to prevent overheating. Sweating is also an important way to cool down: by evaporating the sweat on your skin, it cools down slightly. But if the ambient humidity is very high (when condensate drops fall from the ceiling), sweat can’t evaporate well enough and therefore your body can’t cool down properly.

Because overheating is one of the most dangerous acute risks of ecstasy/MDMA use, many MDMA users know they should “drink plenty of water”. Some users have interpreted this to mean you should “drink a lot of water” when taking MDMA. Unfortunately, however, there have been cases where MDMA users have died from drinking “too much” water; water poisoning.

MDMA causes your kidneys to excrete less water through your urine. So your body retains more fluid after taking MDMA. It also makes urinating difficult, or even impossible. If you drink a lot of water, it will increase the volume of circulating blood. The concentration of electrolytes (such as sodium) in your blood decreases. In addition, MDMA use often decreases feelings of hunger. This ensures that you are less likely to ingest salts (sodium). Women are more likely to be affected by this than men.
Due to this low concentration of sodium, water from the blood flows into the cells of the brain, causing them to swell. Because the bone in your skull can’t expand, the pressure inside increases. This increased cranial pressure causes problems with normal brain function. Without intervention, this can lead to a coma and eventually death in extreme cases.

The most important way to avoid water intoxication is to avoid drinking too much water.

Unity tip: don’t drink too much water when you use XTC/MDMA and in the 24 hours after use. Stick to a maximum of 1 glass of water per hour.

Symptoms of water intoxication are:

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Headache
• Paranoia
• General discomfort

Severe symptoms requiring immediate hospitalization:

• Seizures
• Impaired consciousness
• Coma

We created this video in 2015 which shows exactly how water intoxication works in your body and how you can prevent it.

Serotonin syndrome is caused by heightened serotonin levels in the central nervous system. Serotonin is a messenger protein (neurotransmitter) that acts in the brain to affect emotions, sexual functioning, hunger and thirst.

Ecstasy, amphetamine (speed), cocaine, LSD, a number of pharmaceutical drugs (such as antidepressants) and some naturally occurring food supplements can influence serotonin levels and are linked to serotonin syndrome.

The effect that serotonin syndrome will have on users is dependant on the dosage and which specific drug they have taken.  Not all users will experience dangerous symptoms, but the effects may be unpredictable and even life-threatening.

What increases the chances of developing serotonin syndrome?

• Using large amounts of ecstasy, or combining ecstasy with amphetamine (speed), cocaine, or other drugs.
• Combining ecstasy with AD(H)D medication (dexamphetamine (Adderall, Vyvanse), methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta)) or L-tryptophan.
• Combining ecstasy with antidepressants, MAO-inhibitors or SSRI’s may increase the chances of developing serotonin syndrome, and could cause life-threatening harm!

Early, mild signs of serotonin syndrome are similar to some reactions of ecstasy users or that of those who’ve spent hours non-stop dancing. These are symptoms like sweating, overexcitement, dilated pupils, elevated heart rate and elevated respiratory rate. Most users don’t experience these symptoms being too serious.

The following symptoms are an indication to find medical help immediately, as these are signs of severe serotonin syndrome:

• Fever
• Restlessness/Agitation
• Paranoia/Confusion
• Unusual, spastic contractions of the arms and/or legs.
• Stiff muscles

Increased chance of heart arrhythmias, heart attack and stroke.

Taking this drug increases the risk of having an epileptic seizure if you are prone to it.

An acute arousal state is also called an excited delerium syndrome. It is a state of being that is usually caused by excessive drinking or drug use. Often stimulants are involved, like cocaine. The excited delerium syndrome is a life-threatening situation that requires immediate intervention by professional care providers. You can recognize it by very restless and aggressive motorically behaviour. The victim flails around and is unable to calm down. The aggression is not directed, but at random. You can’t make contact with the victim. The victim keeps fighting even when he/she is overpowered by police or security.

Because someone behaves like this, it is easy to imagine that security or police want to overpower someone by pressing him or her down or holding him/her (fixation). However, this is dangerous and can lead to death. The moment you stop someone with excited delirium syndrome, the person will only resist harder, causing the heart rate/blood pressure to continue to rise dangerously.

A hangover may occur after using this drug. You feel tired, depressed, sad, listless, hypersensitive and empty. How bad the Tuesday blues is differes a lot from person to person. However, users often report experiencing fatigue and low mood for the days following use. It is unclear what exactly causes the hangover. But a high dose, combination use, dancing in combination with little food and little or no sleep certainly play a major role.

Brain damage

The use of drugs can impair memory. Difficulties can arise in processing information for storage, storage itself, and information retrieval.

Different drugs can cause different memory problems. Some substances can directly cause a (temporary) reduced functioning of the memory. For example alcohol, benzodiazepines, cannabis, MDMA and ketamine. And with some drugs it only comes into play after heavy use. For example with alcohol. This often involves a permanently impaired functioning of the memory. Sometimes there is an improvement after stopping use, for example with cannabis.

Increased chance of heart arrhythmias, heart attack and stroke.

Exhaustion and trouble sleeping

Weakened immune system

Taking this drug causes blood cortisol (stress hormone) levels to rise. Cortisol affects all kinds of processes in the body, including muscle growth/breakdown and mental status.

When using stimulants, you usually don’t eat very well (or at all), and you are often moving around a lot on the dancefloor. Combined with higher energy requirements from your body during stimulant use, this causes you to use more energy than you take in, which leads to weight loss.

Mental complaints can arise or already existing psychological complaints can worsen. Feeling gloomy or anxious, not feeling well and poor concentration.

Using this drug has a negative influence on your teeth. Your teeth can discolour, but the risk of inflammation or cavities also increases.