Comment · Thu, July 10, 2014
Other Possible MDMA/Ecstasy Supplements?
Original post in this thread
[deleted] · 7 points
There is an excellent MDMA Supplementation list here:
http://www.reddit.com/r/DrugNerds/comments/15m9sf/mdma_supplementation/
And I notice there are some anti-oxidant supplements listed.
Most of them dont score very high on ORAC value charts. (ORAC is an abbreviation for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity... basically measures antioxidant capacities). Should we be supplementing with foods like cinnamon, cloves, turmeric and cocoa powder instead of Vitamin C, grapefruit juice, etc?
On the Supplementation list linked above there are also a few supplements meant to help with the increase in depleted serotonin levels (such as 5-HTP). Would it be wise to also include SAMe, L-tryptophan, and St. John's wort to help serotonin levels?
Thanks for any input!
What they were answering
Direct reply to the original post — see the thread post above.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb
ORAC is not a good measure for effectiveness against hydroxyl radicals from MDMA. ALA has been proven to prevent MDMA-induced neurotoxicity, and vitamin C proven to prevent hepatotoxicity. Then you have EGCG and melatonin, which are great antioxidants as well. There should not be any harm in adding some other antioxidants in. However, do not replace that which has good evidence behind its protection from MDMA-induced neurotoxicity.
Also, you are not taking the grapefruit juice for the vitamin C. You are taking it for the bergamottin, to inhibit CYP3A4, and to increase urinary acidity late in the roll. You can also supplement piperine, which is a much stronger CYP3A4 inhibitor. That acts more in the liver than the GI tract.
Supplementing L-tryptophan is not going to do anything, since your tryptophan hydroxylase enzyme is going to be lowered after MDMA use. That is the whole point in using 5-HTP, to bypass that enzyme until it has a chance to up-regulate. You can take a supplement like bacopa to speed that up-regulation up, if you like. SJW can help too, but does have a lot of interactions. It will help up-regulate your 5-HT receptors following an MDMA roll. SAMe is good too. However, do not take it for at least a week before a roll, or it will make the effects much less pronounced.
In short, combining ALA, ALCAR, EGCG, vitamin C/E, and melatonin are excellent ways in combating the hydroxyl radical formation from MDMA use. They have a lot of evidence behind their use. Other antioxidants can possibly help augment, but not replace, the ones in my guide.