Drop 40K hits of ecstasy and guess what happens?

Here is the story of a man who took 40,000 doses of ecstasy across nine years and lived to tell the tale. Well, he sortof lived. And he was still able to talk. That is, when he could remember the subject of conversation.

Doctors upon examining him seven years after stopping the drug found that he continues to suffer from "... severe physical and mental health side-effects, including extreme memory problems, paranoia, hallucinations and depression."

Some choice cuts:

The man, known as Mr A in the report in the scientific journal Psychosomatics, started using ecstasy at 21. For the first two years his use was an average of five pills per weekend. Gradually this escalated until he was taking around three and a half pills a day. At the peak, the man was taking an estimated 25 pills every day for four years. After several severe collapses at parties, Mr A decided to stop taking ecstasy. For several months, he still felt he was under the influence of the drug, despite being bedridden.

[...]

The doctors discovered that the man was suffering from severe short-term memory problems of a type usually only seen in lifetime alcoholics. But evaluating the full extent of his condition was difficult as his concentration and attention was so impaired he was unable to follow the simple tasks involved in the test.

"This was an exceptional case. His long- term memory was fine but he could not remember day to day things - the time, the day, what was in his supermarket trolley," said Dr Kouimtsidis. "More worryingly, he did not seem aware himself that he had these memory problems."

[...]

For 10 years, MDMA has been suspected of causing these kinds of effects in heavy users. It is thought to be due to its disruption of the regulation of serotonin, a brain chemical believed to play a role in mood and memory. It remains unclear whether these effects are the result of permanent neurotoxic damage or just temporary reversible alterations in the brain.

Whoa. All you X users take note. That shit can fuck you up - permenent like!