Drug info - Debate: Why do drugs not affect some?

[MindNRA]

I see a lot of threads here about people who take E but it doesn't affect them. Which brings up a question of why? Why are some people affected very strongly by drugs and why some are not affected by some drugs at all. I am looking for a sort of debate, do you think its their brain chemistry and what specifically can be different about ones brain that will make him immune to E. Do you think its the delivery system to the brain ie stomach, liver - not processing it in time or too slow to cause any effect.

What is your personal opinion on why does one drug affect someone different. We all know they do but why?

MindNRA added 2 Minutes and 31 Seconds later...

And to clarify, I am not talking about tolerance. I am talking about people trying E for first time and now feeling anything.

[sknkv2]

Few reasons:
Ecstasy tablets are notoriously unreliable in their content, hence the relatively unique experience from pill to pill.

People's set and setting going into a roll. A bad mind state in a bad setting can easily lead to an anxiety attack while a person taking the same pill in a comfortable home environment may have the time of their lives.

People past experience with psychedelics. Possibly knowing what to expect and being able to control oneself better.

The amount of time between last meal and dose, affecting the time of onset and duration of the roll.

Personal body chemistry (eg: % body fat, enzyme deficiencies).

Almost innumerable variables really.

[MindNRA]

In the last couple of threads people have been asking this. They all ate same batch, their friends rolled but one individual didn't. Assume his stomach was empty and he has no previous hallucinogen use. Purity of the pill is irrelevant because at worst it would have been a bad pill, he still would have felt something. A dud is out of question too because his friends felt something.

So assume that all those conditions are intact and the persons body just did not respond to Xtc. Why do you think it would do that?

Body fat won't affect it one bit. We all have same sized brain and Xtc serotonin levels affect brain so a 100 pound person or 200 pound person. The brain is still the same. The CNS wouldn't be affected as hard but the happiness/euphoria/light would all be affected irrelevant of mass/body fat.

Enzymes? What kind of enzymes? Naturally low serotonin levels? He would still feels something though. Even if serotonin levels were low, his 4HT1A transmitters would be affected so he would at worst see some fancy lights.

Something is preventing ecstasy from reaching both his brain and his CNS. What would you hypothesis the problem to be.

MindNRA added 2 Minutes and 59 Seconds later...

We are talking about someone taking ecstasy with friends and feeling nothing. His friend rolling tripping balls off the wall and him, nothing. If you look at threads : "Taking E with no effect" and " Is this normal, should i consider a 2nd time?"

These threads show up quite a bit so there must be a good portion of population who are immune to ingestion of E. Some of it can be blamed on a dud but thats a lot of duds if all these people complaining that they feel nothing.

[aerozeppelin123]

Drugs have to cross the blood-brain barrier to have an effect. Perhaps some people have a naturally resistant BBB?

[MindNRA]

Quite possibly but what would affect a persons BBB and how can it be bypassed.

Also, slight problem with that. Individual in one of the threads said he does get high on weed easily so at least one drug through smoking does get into the brain.

I read this in another thread but don't have any research on it:
"However, around 10% of Western users do lack a key liver enzyme CYP2D6 needed to break down MDMA. This may make them more sensitive to the effects and more prone to accidental overdose."

Why would it make them more sensitive though if its not broken down in the first place? Can it possibly have something to do with the delivery system to the blood? What can be in liver that prevents MDMA from going into blood stream?

[alpine]

I read this in another thread but don't have any research on it:
"However, around 10% of Western users do lack a key liver enzyme CYP2D6 needed to break down MDMA. This may make them more sensitive to the effects and more prone to accidental overdose."

Why would it make them more sensitive though if its not broken down in the first place? Can it possibly have something to do with the delivery system to the blood? What can be in liver that prevents MDMA from going into blood stream?

Because it is in the bloodstream longer before being broken down

[sknkv2]

You're looking too far into it, it's not as if there is one single reason as to why it doesn't affect everyone.

Also, another thing I've noted is that you are citing anecdotal evidence from a few threads here and there. People often don't include in their reports details about their physical and mental state at the time, making their experience hard to collect any information from.

Originally Posted by mindNRA

Something is preventing ecstasy from reaching both his brain and his CNS. What would you hypothesis the problem to be.

It's possible that this is the case, but I don't believe it is the most likely.

One possible reason I can think of is that it possibly passed through the digestive system without being absorbed. Maybe due to being ill or having a particular coating on the pill you're stomach can't break down.

At the end of the day though, SWIM has had mates who have dropped several times in the past, felt great, take a break for a month or two, drop again, everyone feels great except one person who literally felt nothing, so if it in fact doesn't get to the brain in significant enough quantities, it's probably not going to be anything related to their body, because they've felt it other times.

About the blood brain barrier, if it wasn't working properly you'd be having some problems far more serious than not being able to feel drugs.

Finally, feeling nothing is a subjective experience. Some might say they feel nothing but can feel a slight buzz, some may say they literally feel nothing (which could quite possibly mean they're not aware of the effects that are taking place on them, which sometimes only experienced users can notice as an effect of the drug).