Does Ecstasy/MDMA cause Acne

If you experience acne breakouts after using ecstasy, consider that one side effect of ecstasy use is typically staying up all night, a massive disruption of the cirdadian rhythm. Sleep deprivation can cause acne on its own, never mind the variety of ways that drug use affects your hormones and body chemistry.

There is limited research on ecstasy and dermatological conditions. In this tiny study, dermatologists looked at two patients who experienced reddish pimples after taking acne.

A rash that looks like acne but is a separate condition appears to be a common side effect of acne use, according to German dermatologists.

28 Replies to “Does Ecstasy/MDMA cause Acne”

  1. I took a molly over a week ago now and still have break outs. I even see some on my arms and body not too noticable on the body but the face is a problem. I didn’t break ot horrificly but I did break out non the less.

  2. Last night I took half a gram of mdma and 2 E pills, when the effect wore off I walked home washed my face and layed in bed it was difficult to sleep but eventually I did.

    Amazingly woke up with less spots and a much clearer face. I believe MDMA reduces acne if you get the sleep needed 🙂

  3. Took molly and LSD for my first time within the same hour. I’ve taken acid before and it never made me break out. But, this was my first time using molly and three days later (perhaps that’s a bit delayed?) I have little zits all over my face and neck. I rarely have any acne. So, I’m blaming the molly.

  4. As someone who has smashed it for quite some time I can say without a doubt that it does. Do more than a quarter of a gram and if you get acne you’ll look like a mountain range.

  5. The only reason everyone is breaking out from taking molly / mdma / ecstasy is because people are forgetting to take SHOWERS after raves, festies, and etc. Trust me guys, this is the same thing that happens when you go to the gym and dont shower after, or why people tend to break out during the summer (SWEAT!) if youre not showering and getting all the excess dirt, sweat and oil off of you–youre lettting it sit there fester, clog pores, and make you stinky. Therefore, you break out.

    basically, stop being lazy and take a shower. I know from personal experience that the last thing you want to do after you roll is to shower, but if youre worried about acne then it will really help. Or the least you can do is wash your face….seriously, just do it.

    1. When I got home from the festival I was still tripping quite hard so i decided to have a little party in the shower (hot water and loud music was such a good idea). One and a half week later and my skin is still terrible. I used facewash, makeup remover, night cream everything and still terrible skin. Has to be the xtc

    2. Yeah, no particle from MDMA is related to acne and dirty skin in general. I have a way too big problem with acne and molly didnt make any difference except for the time in the summer I was sweating af and felt the water was til hot for a high me

    3. nor necessarily,i take XTC at home,comfy,no raves,no durt.but always end up with bad acne on my face.
      i once wanted to know where the problem is coming from,so i washed my face every 10mins while on XTC,so sweat doesn’t harm my skin.but turns out its not the problem.the problem is the pill components

  6. The first couple times i did i never broke out, but ive done it around 15 or so times now, and the last 3 times ive broken out badly on my face. but it usually only lasts about a week give or take. Rolling is definetly worth it though 🙂

  7. I took Roaccutane two times (like 13 months total) and two years later after not getting any acne or skin trouble I tried 4 pills of X (the real cheap one) and started to break out. Not terribly but I did get one after another and they were huge. I’m not sure if it caused it but blaming it since.

  8. The first time I did it I never noticed any change but once I started getting into a routine of taking it and taking higher dosages I had the worst breakouts nothing would cover it up, also more painful that what they had been before.

  9. I had really soft, vibrant, and porcelein skin… Ever since I have been taking molly, I’ve been getting really horrible acne. Hormonal acne around the neck, jaw, and chin. Molly messes with your horomones… Horomonal acne is horrible, they get so big and leave a scar even if you treat it correctly. Because the skin has already been damaged. Everyone is different, but I don’t roll anymore because it seriouslynis wearing on my skin, body overrall.

  10. When I was a teenager and took E or Mdma I never noticed getting acne but recently I have been using mdma and have noticed a big increase in acne not just on my face but my head and back. Also to the person who says its from not showering that cant be the case since I shower more then ever when I’m high since I sweat so much. I also drink lots of water

  11. Molly always makes me break out bad all over for like 3-5days and xans just zombie you out make you vulnerable ive watched people easily black out after two bars a shot of henny and a spliff #SFL

  12. The first time im not sure how much i took but it was around the same as the amount my friends took, and they are used to doing it. I didnt notice any acne this time having stayed up all night. The second time about 2 weeks later after taking a similar amount with only 4 hours sleep i noticed two red spots on the right side of my face which stayed for weeks and were more like red marks than pimples. After they just cleared up fully after around 2 months i didnt think anything of it but last night i took half a pill and got around 6 hours sleep and they are back in exactly the same place. I havent noticed any more marks like these around anywhere else on my face but they are around my cheekbone area

  13. Been doing MDMA for awhile I did usually break out, hmm now I been doing xtc, I been breaking out but washing my face and showering really helps. But I been doing x for a couple of days now, this time around I been noticing my skin has really been getting tight, causing my face to be really shiney. Any else getting tight skin? It’s annoying and I keep washing it but still not helping and keep putting moisturiZer on it? Any suggestions?

  14. Honestly guys I used to take ecstasy quite often and I highly recommend you to shower after taking it, your pores will widen up because you sweat and if you are a girl I highly recommend you not to wear make up sonce your pores will become clogged up dueinn the teip and also make aure to deink a lot of WATER!!!! That is the most important thing! The reason why most people break out because of ecstasy is because of the stress, sweat, but most importantly dehydration!!! Remember your body needs water no matter what you are supposed to drink at least 8 cups of water a day and if you are an athlete who sweats more a day you need to drink more than that. Now imagine when you take ecstasy you sweat as much as when you go to the gym so remember to drink a lot of WATER! And you will be fine! Now if you feel like the stress during your trip is keepinng you up even after showering and laying down, I highly recommend to smoke some weed after your trip(; it honestly helps you relax once your trip has gone down and it will prob be easier for you to get some reat just remember not to smoke if you are still highly tripping on your x trip, it will just make the trip more intense. So just remember to drink water, rest, and shower, and you will be fine.

  15. I took half an e for the first time recently. Three or four days later I got many painful spots on the leg foot and even elbow. Didn’t think much of it. In the next couple of days I got 3 more huge spots filled with gunk that were really painful and largely swollen. They all had these black scabs on like nothing I seen before. They weren’t bites or wounds from something. This was crap tryna get out my body. Considering I was dehydrated at the time aswell. Nothing changed bar taking that e so I know it was the cause. Never again will I take half a “Gary” hahaha it’s left me w noticeable scars and an experience I will never forget!

  16. So I’ve always had pretty clear skin HOWEVER in late 2015 on a Sunday night, I snorted a lot of mdma one night and experienced no mental reaction, however the drip was horrible. The following week, large red purple spots (no puss) appeared over my entire face. I was shocked and knew it was because of the Md. The following week, things only got worse. I began to get an extreme number of puss filled comedomes over my entire forehead, literally little whiteheads covering my entire forehead. I was so sad and cried a lot, and after many dermatologist appts, they began to go.

    it is now late 2016 and I have had a very similar reaction to snorting mdma again ( which I told myself I would never do after that dramatic skin experience), however the reaction on my skin is much lesser and barely noticible. This I believe is due to my previous experience with roaccutane.

    Moral of story: don’t snort md
    And if you have shit skin, or even just comedomes, don’t buy into the bullshit that the dermatologist say about creams and lotions to apply, these creams will help short term, SO if you want good skin for long term go straight to ACCUTANE, such a fab skin drug.

  17. I have never had acne in my life. I get one small zit every four months, tops. I took two and a half points of Molly two days ago, and my chin looks like I layed in an ant nest and let them bite my face.

  18. I’ve always had weirdly clear and poreless skin, people have actually told me it’s creepy how almost plasticy it looks. But whenever I drop MDMA (I dropped every week last summer, but since then I drop around once a month) I get breakouts. This is the only time I ever have spots, and they’re not bad at all. They’re raised pink bumps but they’re nothing compared to most people’s spots. Nonetheless, this is a change from my usual clear skin. I always wash my face well after a night out, and frequently stay up very late without having breakouts, but I find that if I take any drug other than weed (MD, 2cb, ket, even alcohol) I am certain to break out the next morning. I think perhaps it’s something to do with the body trying to rid itself of unnatural chemicals, though I’m yet to try acid (chemical) and shrooms (natural) to compare my skin’s reaction to both and see whether my theory is correct. If it is, I may just stick to natural drugs in the future…

  19. I took MDMA with my partner at home and like a day later I broke out really badly around my chin …I will sometimes get a couple every now and then but this was really bad and kinda swollen. I think the MDMA is suspect tbh

  20. I haven’t seen this forum updated since 2017, but I’ll put my 2 cents in. A year ago (early 2018) I had severe acne, but I used Accutane from my dermatologist and it completely cleared my skin. Since I finished my 6 months of using Accutane, I would sleep super late at night ( about 2:30am), I would eat greasy food, etc and my skin still would be fine. Fast forwarding to this year, I went to a rave and popped Ecstasy for the first time and it was amazing! It wasn’t until a week after when my skin completely broke out! I was so confused why my skin was doing this. I thought maybe it was an Accutane relapse (this normally happens to some people when you break out after using Accutane). It’s just weird how my skin was super clear for a year and all of a sudden it broke out after the rave. I would try to do my research online and found nothing but this forum that I’m currently typing on. I’m still breakout out till this day and I really don’t know why, but I think it was the ecstasy. I wish there was a solution and more research on ecstasy effecting your skin…

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