Veterans urge FDA to approve ecstasy for PTSD treatment in clinical settings
Veterans, including lawmakers who are also veterans, attended a two-hour outdoor news conference in Washington D.C. They shared their experiences with dealing with PTSD and with other effects of serving in a combat environment. Some of these veterans pointed to ecstasy as helping them beyond what traditional medications for their conditions were able to do.
From Stars and Stripes:
WASHINGTON — Medically retired with post-traumatic stress disorder, Jonathan Lubecky, a Marine Corps and Army veteran, said the anti-depressants and other prescribed medication that he took for his illness did little to ease his nightmares, flashbacks and thoughts of suicide.
Lubecky, a former sergeant who served in Iraq, said the only treatment that addressed his PTSD — a psychological disorder caused by trauma — was a four-month protocol of the hallucinogenic drug MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, that he took in a clinical trial for the drug.
PTSD often afflicts military members and veterans who have been in combat and other life-threatening situations.
Lubecky, 47, shared his experience at a news conference Wednesday to call attention to veteran suicide and a decision by the Food and Drug Administration expected next month on whether to allow MDMA — a Schedule 1 drug — for clinical use in treating PTSD.
Veterans advocacy groups — including the nonprofits Healing Breakthrough and Heroic Hearts Project — along with several lawmakers who are veterans attended the two-hour outdoor news conference in the nation’s capital, which included a large display of 150,000 dog tags to represent the number of veterans who have died by suicide since 9/11.
“MDMA-assisted therapy saved my life. I wouldn’t be here today if I had not had it,” said Lubecky, who participated in clinical trials with Lykos Therapeutics, which is attempting to get FDA approval for the first-ever MDMA treatment.
Additional Reading:
Hersey, L. F. (2024, July 10). Lawmakers, veterans urge FDA to approve ecstasy for treating PTSD in clinical settings. Stars and Stripes. Link.
Category: Veteran Health Care, Veterans in politics, Veterans in the news, Veterans Issues, Veterans' Affairs Department
Sure, I’ll be the FIRST to comment…Maybe…depends on how long it takes to type this.
Better living thru chemistry? Timothy Leary…grins. I will not sit in judgement of anyone that uses anything that helps them deal with their demons. The PTS of Dee can be a cast iron bitch…or it can be a crutch for other issues. But does it just give a false sense of reality? I don’t know. No reason not to try what works for the individual. YMMV
Got’cha KoB.
Yep. Give the patient the “Right to Try”, under controlled and supervised settings.
Just because Big Pharma ain’t making Big Bucks under the Rx, doesn’t mean that anything new shouldn’t be tested.
Better living thru chemistry?
Natural vs Synthetic, that’s the catch 22 for Big Pharma. Less side effects with natural but also less money for them.
True. And we would’ve been at this point a lot sooner if folk hadn’t abused the stuff.
Now, if we can get them to approve Woodford Reserve for my knees, neck and back, I could get it on Rx and save myself a bunch of money!!
“Double Oaked”
YES!!!!
I tried some 100P Whistlepig (6 year) the other day. Comparable price to WR and pretty good.
Just tried some of that last weekend.. made some damn nice old fashoneds…
I support the any port in a storm philosophy but the more I learn about MDMA the less I support the idea. I do believe there are extreme cases where this protocol could be justified but my fear is it will be more abused than effectively used. MDMA is being seen as the next magic pill. There are no magic pills.
I’m still researching the ins-and-outs of this protocol, i.e., how much supervision, what modality is being used in the talk therapy part, is the talk therapy part even required to receive the MDMA, etc. More than a few studies have been wholly or primarily focused on the effects of the MDMA, and not using the altered state of neural activity to address the symptoms. I mean, I get it, that part must be experientially documented to validate the safety and efficacy of the treatment, but… Yeah, but.
Several other protocols are first, second and third lines of attack. Remember, we are talking primarily about “acquired” issues like trauma responses. IOW, there was a baseline of functionality prior. Pre-existing trauma does not correlate to worse outcomes; having survived previously can be a source of resiliency or cultivated as one.
First, real talk therapy with significant psychoeducation. “This is what is going on in your brain on a neural, biochemical level. We can rewire our brains and change our experience of those memories”.
Second, EMDR, BBS or DAS. They’re basically the same thing. The concept has been around for over 40 years, and the evidence is staggeringly positive.
Third is a tie between Stellate Ganglion Block and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. Both can grant immediate and significant relief for a plethora of neurologically based symptoms, but both have short-term efficacy.
Psychopharmaceuticals have two goals. A quick fix and to make money, not to “cure”.
Years ago, LSD was supposed to be the cure of all ills psychotic. Last decade marijuana was supposed to cure everything from athlete’s foot to cancer, including PTSD. The truth is, some people just want to get high because they can’t deal with their problems. They will be willing to say or do anything to get to that.
I’d like to think that there’s a better way, but I’m not the one with the problem. The ghosts that I carry around, make me who I am. I don’t want to alter my consciousness to make them go away. Their memory inspires me to try to be a better person, to be worthy.
I will never know if I served any noble or just causes. All I know for sure is whenever it came down to a choice between an enemy or me and my brothers, I picked me and my brother’s every time and I would do it again in a second.
I feel as though I have clarity of vision But everyone is different. I don’t judge harshly for the amount of psychological trauma than somebody can deal with. I just wish there was a better way.
Thank you for testifying what resiliency looks like.
One quibble-
Your issue with marijuana is accurately stated, as in this is what is happening. But, it is not what was supposed to happen. The efficacy of the various cannabinoids that were being touted is valid. They’re not supposed to include THC, the part that gets you high, or the amount is supposed to be so small that it doesn’t get you high.
Micro dosing of MDMA is also not supposed to get you high. It is supposed to reduce resistance and barriers to the memories so they are experienced, categorized and stored differently.
Too much and the micro dose gets you high. Too little and it doesn’t work, or requires multiple rounds. This is expensive, out of pocket, so people will want results immediately. Hence, it will be more abused than used effectively.
A lot of things aren’t supposed to get you high. Suboxone for example is supposed to block Opiod reception and prevent withdrawal symptoms. Mess around with it and shoot it up and suddenly your flying like your on heroin.
Suboxone contains Narcan. Inject it and you will be in instant pants-shitting withdrawal. It can only be taken orally since Narcan is destroyed in the gut.
Methadone is much more commonly used/abused since it’s a full-agonist opioid like morphine or fentanyl.
Not exactly. But just to be clear, by “mess with it” what I mean is Buprenorphine can be extracted from the Suboxone, leaving the Naloxone behind in the substrate. It is a little bit tougher to do with a sublingual film, which is why so many doctors script those now, but it can still be done.
Back when I was a street cop I used to see it all the time. It isn’t that complicated to do either. With pills it can be done quite easily.
Interesting. Sounds like a lot of effort for a shitty drug like bupe. Plus….if you are opioid dependent bupe will send you into precipitated withdrawal. That’s why clinics make you detox for 3-4 days before the administration of Suboxone.
I’ve never heard of anyone doing that up here. Why would they? We have enough Heroin and Fentanyl for everyone and their dog.
Now that I thought about it, a simple Cold Water Extraction should do the trick. Since Narcan is hydrophilic and Bupe is lipophilic. The same method is used by junkies to extract the codeine from OTC Tylenol 1s to avoid withdrawal when dope wasn’t available
“There are no magic pills”
Sildenafil is one.
You still have to be “in the mood”. It’ll git’r’dun, though.
Better than splinting it with a popsicle stick and duct tape
That drug turns me into a huge prick
Thanks for chiming in, OAM. Always good to have the opinion of a trained professional that deals with this subject everyday. Full disclosure…it did take me a minute or twelve to Foo The Google and translate some of your terms to the Southern American Language. You are spot on about the potential for abuse, that being my main concern too. What was the story on lab rats given a choice between food and Bolivian Marching Powder? They died of starvation, high as a kite.
There is no “one size fits all” cure for any ailment, physical or mental. Each individual MUST have individual attention and treatment tailored to that individual. Another reason why they call it “practicing medicine”. Who is to say that a chemical concoction is better, or worse, than what is found in nature? Talking thru issues and finding comfort in something else that brings the pleasure levels back seems to be the best place to start. I talk to my furbabies and eat Southern Cooking to self medicate.
Physical addiction to psychedelics is impossible unlike opioids, benzos and alcohol. Abuse potential is very low. Back to back use is a recipe for a bad trip. MDMA has a ceiling effect once serotonin is depleted.
Comparing Psychedelics to Coke/Fentanyl/Meth is like comparing an apple to a poodle.
Now that the ridiculousness of the War on Drugs is over ( Drugs won in an unconditional surrender) the mysteries of the mind are closer to being unlocked.
I’m a regular DMT tripper. It’s called the Spirit/God/Dream molecule. It’s known as the most potent psychedelic on Earth, but it only lasts 15-30 minutes unless you top up with your Vape.
I also like mushrooms every month or so and a good LSD trip once or twice a year.
An LSD microdose regimen did me more good than any SSRI or talk bullshit.
They are all legally available up here.
I’d rather have the 2A, but being able to trip balls legally is a consolation prize I guess.
https://www.zoomiescanada.ca/
Have experienced talk therapy and EMDR, and you’re spot on OAM, made changes I didn’t think were possible.
No “magic” pill, that’s for sure– people always want the easy way out even when the better option takes work though.
I’m sorry, but drugs such as MDMA are masks only, covering the symptoms. The bigger issue is the vets need short or long-term psychiatric care, support groups and faith. Of course they want the drugs so they feel good, but it doesn’t fix the underlying issue.
Yup. Getting comfortably numb is a bandaid at best. To quote recovery guru Bill Wilson: “I can’t, God can, I will let go and let God.”
And when all of that, even sponsored by the VA, doesn’t work? The only reason we haven’t tried the “alternative methods” is that Pooky’s therapists and I are terrified of the chance that he has a “bad trip” and it somehow makes things worse. (And before someone tells me “that’s such a tiny chance,” I will whip out the long list of tiny percentages my husband always seems to find himself in.)
I can use a hit of acid
If you don’t mind a journey to the DPR of Kanuckistan we can get higher than Chris Hadfield’s nutsack and trip harder than Brandon going up stairs 🙂
How many veterans did they invite to speak in objection to using the Miracle Drug of America?
This stuff has been around and abused for many decades at this point.
PTSD is not a OxyContin deficiency, not a Valium deficiency, nor is it caused or cured by smoking dope all day.
Most people who enable drug addiction don’t intend to cause harm. In fact, enabling generally begins with the desire to help. Enabling behaviors can often seem like helping behaviors. They try to help with the best of intentions and enable someone without realizing it.
Supporting the chronic use of drugs is in itself, destructive.
No, I do not support the abuse of one thing to treat another.
The, “But it makes me feel good”, or “I get relief..” is just a rationalization for addiction when it becomes chronic.
How many of the claimed 150,000 would be alive today if they were not enabled to abuse drugs?
Curious as what characterization of discharge most of these folks have….
Apparently, from the article below, MDMA may be a while away from being able to be used.
https://tennesseestar.com/culture/commentary-addressing-the-root-cause-of-our-veterans-suicide-epidemic/realclearwire/2024/07/13/
Ecstasy for PTSD. You’ll still have PTSD, but it will be filled with pretty flowers and bunnies, and you’ll love everyone as you try to kill them during a flashback.
Pills that make you happy when you really don’t want to be– that’s f*cked up, I have to admit.