Ecstasy - Experiences Using it

Ecstasy is a popular illegal drug whose scientific name is MDMA. Often classified as a "psychedelic amphetamine," it became the drug of choice in the "rave" scene of all-night dance parties that sprang up in the 1980s. Ecstasy produces feelings of empathy and connection with others and gives users a feeling of abundant energy. The drug was initially legal, but because of its popularity and a few widely circulated stories about deaths resulting from its use, it is now classified as a Schedule 1 controlled substance.
Users of ecstasy report a strong sense of well-being and peace, and occasionally compare the ecstasy experience to a whole-body orgasm. Because of a feeling of abundant energy, users can dance or otherwise be very active for the duration of the high, which can last as long as six to eight hours. Often, deeply buried psychological problems come up to the surface, which some psychologists and therapists took advantage of when the drug was still legal. By administering MDMA to their patients, therapists were able to deal with early childhood traumas and other psychological conditions that were resistant to other types of treatment. One researcher suggested taking ecstasy was like having every "room" in a user's psychological "house" lit up, so that the user and the therapist could explore long-forgotten or frightening places within that "house" (mdma.net). Currently, there are government-sponsored studies under way in Israel and Switzerland that explore the possibility that MDMA can be used to treat post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD).
Users must be careful to stay hydrated during an ecstasy session, because the extra energy can drain the body. However, since MDMA actually causes the body to retain fluids, many of the deaths related to ecstasy use were caused by drinking too much water, a condition called cerebral edema, or "water in the brain." This is also often exacerbated by taking more than a therapeutic dose, which is 125 mg (maps.org).
You can find many MDMA user reports at http://www.erowid.org/experiences/subs/exp_MDMA.shtml.