Ecstasy comes as small, white or colored tablets, often with cute logos such as a smiley face, a star, a Flintstone character or one of the seven dwarfs imprinted on them. Ecstasy was sometimes used during the 1970s by marriage counselors because of its reputed ability to get people in touch with their innermost feelings. Users often describe feeling happy, relaxed and in tune with others while taking the drug. As ecstasy's many dangerous side effects became known, it became illegal in the United States for any use. Anyone who has researched this drug on the Internet has probably come across various popular sites for users.
Personal testimony is far more eloquent than a dry list of potential medical consequences.
Previously healthy young people write about personal experiences with seizures, dangerously rapid heart rates, yellow eyes from liver damage, paranoia, sleeplessness and panic attacks, many of which are described as persisting for months after stopping drug use. This is clearly not a safe drug. Some of the reactions, such as seizures, and heart and liver abnormalities, are life-threatening. Researchers also now have evidence of possibly permanent changes in the brain caused by ecstasy. PET scans of the brains of heavy users who stopped using the drug at least three weeks prior to the study showed significant alterations of the brain's ability to bind serotonin, a neurotransmitter critically involved with normal experiences of mood, emotion and pain.