<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/04/uecstasy.xml&sSheet=/portal/2006/04/04/ixportaltop.html>
25-a-day man breaks record for ecstasy use
(Filed: 04/04/2006)

Doctors believe a man who claims to have taken 40,000 ecstasy
pills during his lifetime is the biggest user of the drug on
record, it has emerged.

The 37-year-old, known as Mr A, still has trouble working out
the time of day or knowing what is in his supermarket trolley
despite having stopped taking it seven years ago.

At the height of his drug use he was consuming 25 pills every
day.

Researchers from London University believe his condition could
indicate the use of ecstasy leads to irreversible memory
problems and other cognitive defects.

A letter to the journal Psychosomatics reported that Mr A used
MDMA between the ages of 21 and 30.

For two years, he took five tablets every weekend, rising to 3.5
tablets a day for the next three years, then 25 tablets a day
over the next four years.

The letter, in February's issue, said: "After three episodes of
'collapsing' at parties, Mr A finally stopped his ecstasy use.

"For a few months, he felt as if he was still under the
influence of ecstasy and suffered several episodes of 'tunnel
vision'.

"He eventually developed severe panic attacks, recurrent
anxiety, depression, muscle rigidity (particularly at the neck
and jaw levels), functional hallucinations, and paranoid
ideation."

Tests revealed memory impairment and "major behavioural
consequences of his memory loss" such as repeating activities
several times.

"This was an exceptional case. His long-term memory was fine but
he could not remember day to day things - the time, the day,
what was in his supermarket trolley. More worryingly, he did not
seem aware himself that he had these memory problems," the
letter said.

The doctors said it was the largest lifetime consumption of
ecstasy described, the previous being around 2,000 tablets.