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CASE REPORT article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Psychopharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1513022

Treatment of neuropathic pain with repeated low-dose methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA): a case report

Provisionally accepted
Peter Gasser Peter Gasser 1*Matthias E Liechti Matthias E Liechti 2Friederike Holze Friederike Holze 2,3
  • 1 Private Practice, Solothurn, Switzerland
  • 2 Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
  • 3 University Hospital of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    A 64-year-old male patient who suffered from traumatic life experiences and neuropathic pain after oncological chemotherapy was treated with medium to high doses of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and high doses and microdoses of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). At the beginning of treatment, the patient did not experience any acute subjective effects of LSD at a dose of 200 µg. After increasing the LSD dose to 400 µg, he experienced subjective acute effects, and the first lasting therapeutic effects were observed. After changing from LSD to MDMA at both high doses (150-175 mg) and repeated low doses (12.5-25 mg), the patient exhibited marked improvements in neuropathic pain that were sustained even after stopping repeated MDMA treatment. MDMA mini/microdosing has not yet been broadly investigated. This case documents benefits of low doses of MDMA for the treatment of a pain disorder. Further research is needed on effects of MDMA on pain.

    Keywords: MDMA, LSD, Microdosing, Chronic Pain, limited medical use, psychedelic-assisted therapy

    Received: 17 Oct 2024; Accepted: 10 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Gasser, Liechti and Holze. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Peter Gasser, Private Practice, Solothurn, Switzerland

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