In case you weren't aware MDMA has been designated as a breakthrough therapy for PTSD and shown to eliminate PTSD (not reduce symptoms but completely eliminate PTSD) in ~68% of participants.

Here are the current locations for those suffering to find treatment, and they have expanded access to qualified and interested parties thanks to their current success rates:

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MAPS' completed Phase 2 trials with 107 participants, 56% no longer qualified for PTSD after treatment with MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, measured two months following treatment. At the 12-month follow-up, 68% no longer had PTSD. Most subjects received just 2-3 sessions of MDMA- assisted psychotherapy. All participants had chronic, treatment- resistant PTSD, and had suffered from PTSD for an average of 17.8 years.

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MAPS' Phase 3 trials will be conducted at the following study sites:

Los Angeles, CA | private practice
San Francisco, CA | research institution
San Francisco, CA | private practice
Boulder, CO | private practice
Fort Collins, CO | private practice
Farmington, CT | research institution
New Orleans, LA | private practice
New York, NY | research institution
New York, NY | private practice
Charleston, SC | private practice
Madison,WI | research institution
Boston, MA | research institution
Montreal, Canada | private practice
Vancouver, Canada | research institution
Israel | research institution

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https://maps.org/participate/participate-in-research

MDMA like meth/ecstasy?

Tango_Mike said:

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MDMA like meth/ecstasy?

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Same base chemical but different in application is the best way to describe it I guess. I have a couple friends who have been through this or similar treatment and have seen dramatic improvements in their lives.

I've heard of the use of ketamine, which works on the NMDA receptor. Haven't heard of MDMA used for this before, but I think the principle is the same. Combining a drug with psychotherapy allows you to better cope with or manipulate your body's stress responses during therapy. Eventually you can decouple the stress response from the trigger.

I'm glad this kind of stuff is no longer taboo. There was a time where doctors trying this would've been called unethical for getting their patients hooked on drugs, or something like that.

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I've heard of the use of ketamine...

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Wow. I had a procedure done last year where they had to put me under for awhile. The trip I went on was beyond description - I rode a purple tube through fields of flowers and puppies and had this feeling I was on "the other side" - and I was okay with that. It was very vibrant, pleasant, and relaxing. When they were bringing me "back to the world" I was a little disappointed. I don't know how else to describe the experience.

I'm a class of '80, so I'm an old guy now, and I've never used illegal drugs - never used LSD or other drugs to take a trip.

But post op, talking with my Doctor, he indicated they led my anesthesia with a little bit of ketamine. I think it's because I have a bit of history with not being too easy to "put under" for surgery. Don't they use ketamine on horses?

Anyways, I can see how that could be used therapeutically, under very strict controls.

Ketamine is getting more and more popular in the emergency medicine world. The military has kind of spearheaded what's turning out to be a resurgence in its use. It's a really safe drug, and it's almost impossible to lethally overdose on it unless you're really trying. It also has both anesthetic properties (controls pain), and dissociative properties (makes it so you don't know/remember what's going on). Because of this, it's vastly superior to morphine and other opioids for pain control in the field. It won't depress respiratory drive, it actually somewhat supports higher blood pressures, it controls pain, and it dissociates the soldier from what's going on. That dissociative part can pay dividends down the line when they don't remember the traumatic event as much, they're much less likely to develop PTSD.

And ketamine is used regularly in kids because it's so safe. Usually not used in adults as much, because adults tend to freak out and get violent when they're coming off it. Kids don't freak out when they see giant floating puppies or elephants coming at them, adults do. So, like in your case, I think the anesthesiologist probably gave you a little relaxer near the end like valium or ativan to relax you as you were coming off the ketamine high.

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The military has kind of spearheaded what's turning out to be a resurgence in its use.

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The DR that was taking care of me is just a few years out of the Army. Knowing a little bit of his background, he did some significant amounts of trauma surgery over in Iraq/Afghanistan/Germany.

I was in very good hands.