# Special K and E **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 5, 2000, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-k-and-e/44071 "2000-12-05T03:14:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Deimos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Deimos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deimos)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2000, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-k-and-e/44071/1 "2000-12-05T03:14:23Z")
i was watching “investigative reports” and a lady was talking about her son who’d died as a result of cocktailing K and E. at one point in the interview, she said that she’d been told by the medical examiner’s office that 4 hours after her son’s death his body temperature was at 104 degrees F. can this be true? ---
**Author:** ![Short](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Short](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2000, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-k-and-e/44071/2 "2000-12-05T03:28:27Z")
E and K (vitamins I assume) are both fat soluble. Unlike Vitiamin C, excesses of which are easily removed from the body, I think fat sol. vitiamin have a harder time getting out. I could imagine OD’ing on E and K (or A or D). Just my WAG though. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2000, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-k-and-e/44071/3 "2000-12-05T03:47:36Z")
I believe the OP is referring to the drugs Ketamine and Ecstasy. Just a few days ago I saw a news report about a substance fraudulently sold as ecstasy that kills the victim by hyperthermia, and the body temperature remains elevated even hours after death. I don’t remember what the substance was, though. ---
**Author:** ![peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peace)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2000, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-k-and-e/44071/4 "2000-12-05T04:38:53Z")
Neithe is right. Special K is a cereal, E mean E-trade. Their mixture kills by hyperthermia. Kids on TV are especially vulnerable. Answer to the last part:YES, it can. ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2000, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-k-and-e/44071/5 "2000-12-05T05:52:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bibliophage \* > \*\*I believe the OP is referring to the drugs Ketamine and Ecstasy. Just a few days ago I saw a news report about a substance fraudulently sold as ecstasy that kills the victim by hyperthermia, and the body temperature remains elevated even hours after death. I don’t remember what the substance was, though. \*\* It doesn’t have to be fake extacy, the real stuff is notorious for fatal hyperthermia incidents. I know this is true because someone dosed my drink with a nearly fatal dose of extacy. I started puking, I got excessively hot, and if I hadn’t gotten to my car and cranked the air conditioner before I passed out, I figure I’d be dead. ---
**Author:** ![Egad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Egad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Egad)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2000, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-k-and-e/44071/6 "2000-12-05T14:21:51Z")
Ketamine is an animal tranquilizer. Ecstasy ( the main component of which is SUPPOSED to be MDMA ) is rarely just that - it’s almost always a cocktail of drugs, often with MDA and methamphetamine. MDMA was used in psychotheraputic treatment before it became a scheduled substance in 1984. In all of the cases I’ve heard about, the hyperthermia was cause by a lot of physical activity in a hot place without proper rehydration ( ie: dancing in a 30 degree club all night without drinking water. ) I’ve never heard of anyone overheating from merely taking it. Sorry I can’t cite any of these " facts " but having done too much of that crap in the past I made a point of trying to educate myself about it, and that was some of what I learned. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2000, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-k-and-e/44071/7 "2000-12-05T15:10:38Z")
I heard something about that, Deimos. Unless you’re talking about a different case…but I remember the 104 temperature. Anyhoo, turns out the person had taken something fradulently billed as ecstasy. Turned out it was dextromethorphan (DXM), the OTC cough suppressant found in Robotussin. DXM is actually a pretty wild trip in reasonable doses, but, as this guy found out, DXM has a _much_ lower LD50 than MDMA. Tainted drugs = reason #5,482 that drugs should be legal (and reason #1 that I wouldn’t currently touch ecstasy with a 10 foot pole). ---
**Author:** ![Grendel69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7bcc69/32.png) [@Grendel69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grendel69)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2000, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-k-and-e/44071/8 "2000-12-05T15:19:06Z")
Egad is correct. MDMA suppresses thirst and since E is often used in a club setting, you can imagine the consequences. Over the summer I watched the FDA’s report on Ecstasy and other club drugs, and since I am a neuroscience major at college I could understand what they were talkling about. It’s some harsh stuff! If you wanna have fun boys and girls, have a beer. ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2000, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-k-and-e/44071/9 "2000-12-05T16:00:32Z")
Nope, Egad is incorrect. You do not have to be dehydrated or in a hot environment to have a sudden attack of hyperthermia from extacy. In my own case, I was in a bar, the temperatures were cool, a little chilly even, and I was just sitting around in a chair, not exerting myself one bit. And then suddenly I’m sweating like a pig, puking, and feeling like I’m going to die. And I almost did. I could kill the person who dosed my beer, if I could ever figure out who did it. Extacy has a long record of hyperthermia incidents. Animal and human testing shows that MDMA causes an immediate body temperature increase. If you don’t believe me, here’s a little bit of tech info: [http://www.dancesafe.org/neurotoxicity.html](http://www.dancesafe.org/neurotoxicity.html) ---
**Author:** ![Egad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Egad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Egad)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2000, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-k-and-e/44071/10 "2000-12-05T16:42:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chas.E \* > \*\*Nope, Egad is incorrect. You do not have to be dehydrated or in a hot environment to have a sudden attack of hyperthermia from extacy. \*\* Cut and pasted from your link Chas.E: \*\*When you take ecstasy (or any stimulant drug) your body temperature rises. When you take ecstasy in a hot place (like a rave) your body temperature rises even more. When you take ecstasy in a hot place and start dancing energetically, your temperature rises even more again. With body temperatures raised to these very high levels there is a risk of developing heat stroke. When your body overheats you lose fluid. Some ravers lose pints and pints of fluid when dancing on E in hot places. At a crowded indoor rave you could lose up to 6 pints in 6 hours. These fluids must be replaced. \*\* Your body temperature rises when you take any stimulant, it says there, but body temperature rising does not = a hyperthermia attack. It does go on to mention all the other things that WILL raise your temperature to a point where there is _risk_ of heat stroke. Furthermore, if someone dosed your beer, how do you know it was E? When people actively search out and consume what they bought as E, they can’t even be sure that’s what it is. ---
**Author:** ![Scaramouche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@Scaramouche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scaramouche)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-k-and-e/44071/11 "2000-12-06T09:16:17Z")
Also, beer and e don’t generally mix as the alcohol can dehydrate you even further (which may explain the vomiting if you were hitting the beer pretty hard). It also depends on how you were ‘dosed’. If it was so called ‘liquid e’ it could have been anything from some kind of PCP/LSD extract to ‘G’ (or ghb which in my opinion is one of the bigger screwfuck drugs out there - see [http://www.trendydrugs.org](http://www.trendydrugs.org)). If someone crushed up a pill into your drink you probably would have detected it. E tastes awful from the anecdotal evidence I’ve heard. I have a hyperthyroid condition that accelerates metabolism, including pulse and body temperature. It’s mostly under control now but if taking e is anything similar I’m staying well away!