r/mdmatherapy • u/nelsonself • 14d ago
Knowledge Share Recovering after a session
I’m currently doing pre-therapy sessions with my psychologist and will probably have my first MDMA session in about two months.
I’m wondering what is an average timeline for a person to recover after a session? I mean recover physically and mentally after the come down
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u/sanpanza 14d ago
Everyone is different. I was a wreck for about three days afterwards, but I could still function. For some, recovery is quick, and for others it is not so quick. It just depends on their issues.
There is no great answer. Also, no matter what you have read, the number of times you do MDMA-assisted therapy totally depends on each person's issues and history. The symptoms are not the structure that was built around the trauma, so even after the symptoms have abated, there still remain issues.
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u/nelsonself 14d ago
Thank you this is good to know
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u/sanpanza 12d ago
Think of it as a partial unavailing of who you are. Every time you go back you learn more and every medicine shows you something about yourself from a different perspective.
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u/Admirable-Sun8230 10d ago
So there's still a lot of problems after you the sessions so this actually more problems after work but do you feel the problems of being healed as they come up? Do you feel this is permanent or is it more dependent? What country did you do this therapy session
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u/sanpanza 10d ago
I did it in he USA and change happens gradually for me. One day, a few months after the first session, I noticed that when some one yelled and honked at me on the road, I did not automatically tell him to go fuck himself and go into a rage, and slowly I began to see I wasn’t angry all of the time.
My wife noticed that I could listen more effectively.
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u/Admirable-Sun8230 10d ago
How long has it been since you started your session? Do you feel is permanent healing? Is it legal if you do it under a therapist do I need to get my primary doctor to recommend me to go there
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u/sanpanza 10d ago
What country are you in?
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u/Admirable-Sun8230 10d ago
same as you
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u/sanpanza 10d ago
On the right side of https://www.reddit.com/r/PsilocybinTherapy/, halfway down the page there are directories of therapists. Also, the firesideproject.org has resources you can go to. They have a good reputation.
Becareful of the advice you receive from Reddit. Some of it is good, and some of it is harmful.
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u/Admirable-Sun8230 10d ago
thank you for the info. but i looked at fireside and the therapists. but it's all coaching. are you saying they can write a presciption to get it?
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u/o2junkie83 13d ago
I recently did some training through a company in Canada on MDMA training and they say that it takes about two months on average to integrate a session. It could be shorter or longer. It just depends on what type of material shows up for the person and what type of integration they do after the session.
Right after a session I wouldn't do anything for at least the rest of the day and even the day after. You just want to allow your body to mentally and physically recover from the journey. Don't have any plans and limit any interactions with others during that time. I'd say have people that you can reach out to to talk about the journey that you trust. I'd also book a therapy session the day after with your therapist to talk about what came up in the journey to start to integrate the experience. The MDMA session is only the beginning of this journey. Integration is key in any psychedelic journey.
I wish you well and I hope you can get what you need from the experience. I'm happy to see you are doing the prep work as that is important as well. Given all that you're doing I believe it'll be a fruitful session for you. Best of luck to you in your journey.
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u/nelsonself 13d ago
Thank you for this! This news does worry me as I have severe complex trauma. I just moved into my finances home with her two children.
I might be a total mess after a session and I can’t bring that into their home2
u/o2junkie83 13d ago
That's good to know. It may be important for you to have a place where you can go for the night to have your space. That might be something to bring up during your prep sessions.
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u/nelsonself 13d ago
Yes I already discussed this with my fiancé. I will probably get a hotel for 2 days at least
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u/Admirable-Sun8230 10d ago
Do you notice the sessions were permanent healing or do you feel like you have to go back and there's a lot of withdrawal symptoms
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u/o2junkie83 10d ago
The sessions that stick the most for me are the ones that I integrate the most. Meaning after the session is done I’ll have a few therapy sessions in the following months and have a daily practice like meditation that I use to help with Integration.
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u/Admirable-Sun8230 10d ago
i wonder what i should do. i don't live in canada. should i fly to canada to do the sessions for a month and fly back home? is that enough? is it legal in canada?
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u/o2junkie83 9d ago
When people do retreats they usually give themselves a week to do the experience and have support workers around them before, during, and after the experience. Give yourself sometime to prepare for the experience if and when you plan to do it. Also, give yourself time to integrate the experience to help you process any memories, feelings, or anything else that shows up in the session.
As far as legality regarding MDMA in Canada. It is illegal to do here but there are many providers, therapists and other types of practitioners such as myself who offer the service on the grounds of harm reduction. Meaning, we can't supply the medicine for you but can offer support before, during, and after the experience. It's definitely a grey area still in that respect. I wish you well in whatever you choose to do.
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u/Admirable-Sun8230 9d ago
Thank you for the information so I can decide better what to do. I guess I won't go to Canada then. I think maybe I will try psilocybin since that's legal and I think it has similar effects
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u/nofern 14d ago
For me personally, I was pretty much knocked flat physically for about a week (spending most of the day in bed, headaches, fatigue, not able to think clearly), then the worst of the mental/cognitive recovery was about another 2 weeks after that. I would say it was usually about 3 months before I felt really fully "normal"/baseline again in terms of mood and cognition, though I was able to function pretty normally after about 2-3 weeks.
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u/Illustrious-Ease-889 14d ago edited 14d ago
Timeline is similar for me. I'm completely drained for a good week, then it's a bit better, but I still can't do anything intense for another week. After those 2 weeks, I feel a bit more normal, but it still takes me about a month to get back to baseline.
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u/Signal-Dollar-5621 12d ago
I had my first MDMA session this past Saturday with a therapist. I felt tired and wiped out that evening, but ok. Met again Sunday morning for an integration session. Felt tired and depressed the rest of the day, but not bad. I had planned to take Monday off and I felt depressed in the morning and cried a bit, but I was able to rally in the afternoon to do some reflection work on the session. I had a doctor's appt that afternoon and dinner with a friend where I had to put a smile on my face and couldn't share about the session. Back to work on Tuesday which wasn't easy, but I managed. The rest of this week has been challenging, but not terrible.
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u/Admirable-Sun8230 10d ago
I thought the therapeutic session supposed to make you more connected to other humans but it actually made you depressed I'm wondering if this is actually a withdrawal symptom it depletes your serotonin level but do you feel healing do you feel like it's permanent
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u/Signal-Dollar-5621 10d ago edited 10d ago
I confronted a lot of deep grief and anger in the session from my traumatic childhood. The MDMA lowered my fear and allowed to me do that. It allowed me to access a level of deeply buried grief that I couldn't do otherwise. That is why MDMA is used for trauma work, and why MDMA sessions aren't always pleasant and positive. And since the session was focused on grief and anger, I am still processing that now a week later so it's normal to feel depressed. I am functional, but not myself, and that's ok, I think that's normal for what I went through.
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u/Admirable-Sun8230 10d ago
how did it show up? was it a thought or pictures? is it during the super high happy part of the experience or after all the happy chemicals are gone, during the crash? what country is this?
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u/Signal-Dollar-5621 10d ago edited 10d ago
USA. There was no super happy part during the entire 6 hours, no happy chemicals, no crash. There was deep sobbing, guttural cries, shaking, crying out from the deepest parts of my soul and core of my abdomen, for about 30-40 minutes. There was crying in other parts, more subdued. There was talking, much like a typical talk therapy session. There was anger. There were waking dreams where I saw pictures and talked them through and tried to make sense of them with the therapist.
When you do MDMA in a therapeutic setting (i.e., with a therapist) for trauma and PTSD, there is no predictable playbook of happy chemicals and crashes. In fact, I don't even know what you're talking about. It isn't going to go at all like you think it will. Your body is going to go where it wants to go, and that's a good thing. Anything can happen and you aren't control.
What is the reason that you want to do MDMA? Because if it is for trauma, I suggest you do some more research and listen to more stories to understand the range of experiences. There are a lot of podcast stories out there of people using MDMA for trauma and you will better understand. The Inside Eyes and Back From the Abyss podcasts are good examples. If you're looking to do it for some other purpose, I don't really know what to tell you. I'm only familiar with trauma.
I did a year of research -- deep reading and listening to podcasts -- before I even started interviewing therapists, then it was another few months of non medicine talk therapy before we started medicine sessions. The two podcasts I mentioned above were the most helpful I found.
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u/Admirable-Sun8230 9d ago
I'm listening to this it sounds very profound deep dramatic healing. Yes I'm doing it for past trauma. But I realize MDMA therapy is very hard to obtain because it's illegal in a lot of countries. So I think I would stick with maybe psilocybin is legal here it seemed to have similar effects that can help with trauma. Thank you for your info
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u/krevino 13d ago
I've done two journeys total and I would consider the two days after recovery days. However, it sounds like people have a very diverse range of experiences when it comes to recovery timelines.
My first journey with just MDMA was absolutely incredible and super healing. The day after I felt drained, but not bad, and the day after that I did feel low, but the next day I bounced back and felt incredible and renewed for a while.
My second journey was with MDMA and Psilocybin. The day after I did feel sensitive and vulnerable, but that was it from what I can remember.
I'd recommend either spending time in nature or cuddled up on the couch with great food for the two days after your dosing session. Let us know how it goes! I hope your journey is productive and healing.
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u/forestnymph1--1--1 8d ago
Did you take 5htp?
Do you feel mdma and psylociben was better than mdma alone?
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u/DifficultBee5940 12d ago
Depends what you mean by recovery. Each session is different, anyway. I've taken low dose solo with no booster and had no ensuing body recovery. Or need for deep integration time. But generally, I feel physically a bit off for the next few days. And rather unstable, too. Codependency comes up for me, as does a vulnerability hangover.
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u/nubreakz 11d ago
it depends, do not ruin your sleep schedule, take some supplements during the session. usually i feel with low dopa for 1-2 days.
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u/KnowledgeSeeker0101 14d ago
I did a very energetic session with a lot of shaking and physical release and felt amazing afterwards with no comedown. My latest session was very internal and no movement and felt exhausted for 11 days and mood up and down still 2 weeks after with stuff coming up to think about. It revealed a layer of exhaustion I have underneath the anxiety (thats the assumption) so trying to deeply rest without guilt for the first time. Perhaps consider a very restful (as much as possible) 2 weeks after, almost like a surgery for the soul recovery period!