Review Erowid at GreatNonprofits.org
Help us be a "Top Rated Nonprofit" again this year and spread
honest info (good or bad) about psychedelics & other psychoactive drugs.
("Share Your Story" link. Needs quick login creation but no verification of contact info)
The 'Magic' Was Back
5-HTP & MDMA
Citation:   A nom. "The 'Magic' Was Back: An Experience with 5-HTP & MDMA (exp82872)". Erowid.org. May 11, 2016. erowid.org/exp/82872

 
DOSE:
T+ 0:00
100 mg oral Tryptophan - 5-HTP (daily)
  T+ 0:00 1 tablet oral MDMA  
  T+ 25:15 2 tablets oral MDMA  
BODY WEIGHT: 210 lb
Daily 5-HTP and MDMA Use, a Story

(K) has recently been using MDMA more often than normal (2-3 times in a month as opposed to every few years) although still at normal recreational doses (70-200mg) (1 or 2 pressed tabs).

Spouse (S) who has had no drug experiences whatsoever experimented with MDMA and found success in the self realization of certain mental disorders (Depression, PMDD, OCD). Obviously these problems were all 'cured' while under the effects of MDMA, and even a day or two after. They would return days later with no real increased severity, but greater awareness to them. When looking for a way to combat these issues without the use of a pharmaceutical grade anti-depressant or temporary psychedelics, they stumbled upon 5-HTP.

After a bit of research into the supplement, it became very apparent that it would probably have an effect on serotonin-altering drugs as well as help with depression and other ailments. Reports of direct combination/daily use of 5-HTP, coupled with MDMA use are varied it seems. Much research was done on the different doses of 5-HTP that is recommended, and the amount seemed to heavily depend on a personal need for extra 5-HT. It was found more than 200MG a day was too much in most people's reports, and for some as little as 50mg daily was successful. (K) did not have regular depression, however smokes cannabis regularly. To combat recent MDMA use he decided to take one 100mg 5-HTP a day daily, and (S) took two 100mg (one morning, one night) to attempt to combat her daily depression/mood swings.

During and after 2 weeks of use, the daily 5-HTP had very noticeable positive effects with no apparent side effects, noticeable within just a day or two of beginning use. Effects are not euphoric, however definitely seems to even out my mood and make stressful situations easier to handle without getting very upset. I'd like to note that B6 added to this regimen worked very well in small amounts (5mg per dose), however this was only done due to poor diet and little B6 from daily meals. So after this very successful, happy 2 weeks of 5-HTP use, it was decided to give MDMA a whirl again.

So starts the weekend report:
Friday: (Setting: At home)
3:30pm - 100mg 5-HTP for both. (S) did not take her normal 2nd dose later on.

10:30pm - One MDMA each (Tablet, tested pure MDMA, and used previous to the 2 weeks of 5-HTP use)

11:00pm - Effects of the come up are starting very quickly. Is interesting considering even bi-weekly use normally caused a longer come-up, and a shorter, less intense peak. (K) experiences a bit of nausea, something he rarely ever gets. (S) is experiencing less come-up negative effects, as she normally is afflicted with small bouts of nausea.

11:10pm - Euphoria hits and (K)'s negative symptoms went away. Both were off to a very good peak.

11:30pm - It was almost like the first time all over again. The 'magic' was back, minus the experience of not knowing what to expect. Eyes were wiggling with little effort of relaxing focus, and tactile sensations were as strong as with no tolerance to the MDMA.

12:00am - It is very obvious that 5-HTP use is affecting this experience.
12:00am - It is very obvious that 5-HTP use is affecting this experience.
The ability to control thinking better is there due to experience it seems, but physical response is heightened in a very noticeable way. (K) starts to experience temperature changes, which is quite normal for him.

12:30am - Still going very strong, (K) is constantly moving around and enjoying every movement of his body on the couch. Various conversations and fun acts occur from this point on.

3:30am - (K)'s Tactile sensations are pretty much gone, and the obvious return to baseline has started. It was still very enjoyable on the way down.

4:30am - (S) has lost most intense tactile sensations, however her duration of effects was much longer than (K). This was normal during their first uses of MDMA.

5:30am - Sleep afterwards was very easy.

Saturday: 11:30am - Awaken feeling tired, but still with a glow.

11:45am - Each took 200mg 5-HTP w/B6 to counter previous night's MDMA use.

2:00pm - A friend calls giving invites to a get together that night. A hotel was rented and mentioned friend planned to use MDMA for the first time. Feeling great after eating and taking our 5-HTP, we agreed to join him.

6:00pm - Feeling very normal, almost as if MDMA was not used the day before, it was agreed to attempt a 2nd day of use, back to back.

11:45pm - Friend consumes a half tablet, (S) 1 tablet and (K) 2 tablets. (S) and (K) wasn't expecting much due to rolling the day before.

12:15am - (S) consumes 2nd tablet, and Friend finishes other half of his. We all starting coming up at this same time. (K) was instantly hit at an incredible rate, even for taking 2 at a time. (S) was happy and consumed her 2nd as a booster. Both were impressed with this opposite effect than what was expected.

12:30am - (K) is amazed. He was rolling harder than the night before. His friends were laughing at him due to the constant moving and enjoyment of his surroundings. His friend who has never experienced these effects, himself or otherwise, was surprised at the intensity of (K)'s roll.

1:00am - (K) is sweating profusely, but it isn't bothersome in the slightest. The euphoria was amazing, overwriting any negative feeling of sweating. A quick towel to dry it up and it eventually stopped. (S) is hotter than normal as well, and fans herself for most of the night.

1:30am - Heavy conversation ensues for the rest of the night. Various topics that would normally not be spoken of occurred. Naturally the first time user friend was more prone to these releases of thoughts as expected, but this sharing effect was very much there for (K) and (S) as well. (S) has a leg tremor for quite some time after this point, once again showing stronger physical effects.

1:30am-3:30am - Time flies as everyone is in bliss, and things start to slow down around the 3:30am mark.

4:30am - Everyone is base-lining. The effect for (K) and (S) was not as long as the day before, but (K) had a stronger experience with only very slightly more MDMA than the day before. (S) had about the same with the shorter duration. That was two days in a row with a first-time like feeling off of only 2 pills. 5:30am - Everyone heads to sleep.

The next day we all got up feeling quite drained around 11:30am. (K)'s friends were in shock how strong it affected him, as well as himself. Unfortunately, the 5-HTP was left at home and it was decided to get food with friends before heading home. Arriving home at around 2:00pm, 100mg 5-HTP was taken by both to reduce side-effects, and will continue to be taken as per normal daily usage.

Conclusions: It seems 5-HTP does in fact do quite a bit. On its own, I believe it's a much nicer alternative to SSRIs and feels quite natural if not abused. No attempts were made to use 5-HTP on its own as a recreational substance as it would seem to cause more harm than good, and user reports seem to confirm this. However, even though this was successful in reducing side effects and depression while increasing MDMA's potency at the same time, I feel it may be very easy to make mistakes if abused. This is especially due to apparent increased physical effects during MDMA sessions with 5-HTP use. Although mental mood is much easier with 5-HTP supplements after use, the body still gets exhausted and stressed, leading to fatigue and slower response functions for a day or two after. I'm sure this would compound itself horribly with chronic abuse. Please note this is all personal observations with no controls. For this particular couple, it seems this is a very good route to safe use and a natural depression cure at the same time. Long term use of this regimen is not studied.

Exp Year: 2009ExpID: 82872
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: 24
Published: May 11, 2016Views: 3,507
[ View PDF (to print) ] [ View LaTeX (for geeks) ] [ Swap Dark/Light ]
Tryptophan - 5-HTP (196), MDMA (3) : Depression (15), Combinations (3), Small Group (2-9) (17)

COPYRIGHTS: All reports copyright Erowid.
No AI Training use allowed without written permission.
TERMS OF USE: By accessing this page, you agree not to download, analyze, distill, reuse, digest, or feed into any AI-type system the report data without first contacting Erowid Center and receiving written permission.

Experience Reports are the writings and opinions of the authors who submit them. Some of the activities described are dangerous and/or illegal and none are recommended by Erowid Center.


Experience Vaults Index Full List of Substances Search Submit Report User Settings About Main Psychoactive Vaults