Why do we get comedowns?

[z0ma]

Comedowns are normally associated with stimulant/upper drugs.

Why do we actually get comedowns? Was thinking about a night on ecstasy, obviously after use the levels of seretonin present in the body decreases. The next day, do we suffer a comedown as a result of the body rapidly trying to recover the seretonin levels, or is this just simply our body recovering from a hectic night?

If it's the latter, then why, even if ecstasy was used at someone's house and you didn't physically do much, just moved about within the house, then why do we still suffer comedowns?

Also, I've found with other drugs that arn't meant to give a comedown as such (such as mushrooms, LSD, etc.) I still suffer a comedown (almost always just as bad as stimulant drug comedowns with similar effects). Is this brought on psychologically with a fear in the back of my mind of how I'll feel the next day, or is it just the body simply rejecting a 'poison'?

[morrocan roll]

it aint called getting 'high' without reason. you take off ...you fly ...you land.

[lil_minx]

for every bit of good in life there has to be evil to balance it out... without the lows you cant appreciate the highs.

thats my philosophy-cant really give my opinion on the sciencey reasons, never been too good at biology!

[Skive]

Cos life aint never fair ...no pleasure without equal amounts of pain!!

[Shogun]

what goes up must come down and down.

[z0ma]

Erm...thanks for that you lot. :p

No, well obviously everyone's heard the saying 'what goes up must come down' but I want to know exactly why this happens. Why for the entirity of the next day do I feel and look like utter shit, even if it was only a pill or two, and I didn't do anything all night except sit and smoke a bit of green with a few close friends.

I wouldn't call that putting excessive strain on the body really, obviously MDMA wouldn't do me any good, but it's not on the same level as necking ten with a gram of base and dancing like a maniac all night. Why then, do I still get the same feeling the next day?

After scientific answers here, not more 'you had the high, now you gotta crash' or more Human Traffic quotes. You know who you are. :p

I was never any good at science, but my (rather uneducated) guess would be that regardless of the quantity taken, the next day (with ecstasy as the example) the body is desperately trying to replenish the serotonin used the previous night, and flush out the 'poison'.

Can anyone clarify that?

[Londonboy]

well as im on a comedown right now i'd have to say you got it right about the seratonin levels, because i dont feel like smiling for shit. What we need is a seratonin replenishment drink.. i think i may be on to a fortune here :p

[morrocan roll]

Originally posted by Londonboy
What we need is a seratonin replenishment drink.. i think i may be on to a fortune here :p i think you well could be mate!

[z0ma]

Originally posted by Londonboy
well as im on a comedown right now i'd have to say you got it right about the seratonin levels, because i dont feel like smiling for shit. What we need is a seratonin replenishment drink.. i think i may be on to a fortune here :p

That'd be pretty good actually. If you could make it so that the effects of it were near instantaneous you could sip away at it while still on the pill which would make it more effective wouldn't it? :p

In the meantime, I think bananas contain a lot of serotonin (but I hate them, horrid things) and there's an amino acid out in the health shops called 5-HTP, which is meant to be really good at replenishing serotonin. Never tried it so can't add any comments.

Londonboy, get to work. You make it, i'll buy it. :p

[LadyJade]

I have pasted some links below to some pages with research about how MDMA affects the chemichals in your brain.

You did say you wanted scientific, z0ma, so here it is!!

This link (http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/mdma/mdma.shtml) is to the general page on Erowid for MDMA, which is a good starting point.

This one (http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/mdma/mdma_neurotoxicity.shtml) is a page from Erowid with links to research about the neurotoxicity of MDMA and this link (http://thedea.org/neurotoxicity.html) from thedea.org explains it in terms we can understand without having a degree.

MAPS (http://maps.org/research/index.html) have a research page on MDMA, and this article (http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/mdma/mdma_neurotoxicity1.shtml) on Erowid is said to be the best overview of MDMA toxicity.

All of these may give you an idea why you feel so awful after taking E and of what it may be doing to the balance of chemicals in your brain. Please let me know if none of this makes any sense and I will try and find another, less techincal explaination!!

[budda]

I'd say most of a stimulants comedown is just tiredness, you've been pushing your body past the point where it wanted to stop because you were blocking the signals telling you were nackered. So when it wears off they all come flooding in.

I always feel much better after 8 or so hours sleep.