Ecstasy: The side effects of excessive abuse

In a story in the Times Online (UK) doctors have treated a man believed to be the world's heaviest user of ecstasy. According to researchers at the University of London, the 37-year-old man took an estimated 40,000 tablets over the course of nine years, 20 times the previous reported record lifetime usage of 2,000 tablets. For the last four years he was taking 25 tablets a day. Does that strike anyone else as insane?!

The man, known as "Mr. A" finally stopped using ecstasy seven years ago. For a few months after he stopped using, he suffered withdrawal symptoms, including tunnel vision.

Long term effects of excessive ecstasy use had started to show. The muscles in Mr. A's head and neck went rigid. He became anxious, depressed and suffered severe panic attacks, despite having no personal or family history of mental problems before he started abusing drugs.

The most debilitating effect was on his memory and concentration. He has lost all sense of time and was unable to remember facts even for short periods. This has affected his daily life, as he repeats activities several times because he cannot remember having already done them, and stops in the middle of simple tasks because he cannot remember how to complete them.

Doctors have suggested that the heavier use of the drug (ecstasy) the more apparent the effects. (Doesn't that make sense? Heavy use of anything will affect a person, no matter if it's drugs, alcohol, or tobacco.)

(Via Times Online)