Misc Anyone knowledgeable with serotonin receptors?

[blaine0136]

i have an issue, i took zoloft for 7 months. i havent taken any zoloft for 2 years

but during my time on this medication i noticed alcohol's euphoria had stopped. so when i stopped the zoloft i thought this issue would resolve

unfortunately alcohol still gives me no buzz/euphoria, 2 years later. does anyone know whats happened? desensitisation of receptors? feels like im damaged for life

thank you for any help

 

[Mracid]

SSRI have the ability to reduce the amount of 5-HT2a receptors and increase sensitivity to 5-HT1a and 5-HT2c receptors also they have bunch of other effect on the 5 other receptors and their subtypes but arent related to dopamine. It just seems like your brain is less sensitive to dopamine since 5-HT2a and 5-HT2c are those who helps regulate dopamine stimulation, you can see 5-HT2a as the dopamine stimulating receptor and 5-HT2c as the one who stops it when its too much. So decreasing the dopamine releasing and increasing the dopamine stoping makes dopamine less effective in your mesolymbic system one of the 4 dopamine systems and the one that is most related to euphoria and addiction.

Also 5-HT1a reduce the ability to memorise and use logical thinking like a stop button on your thoughts (thats why they reduce anxiety). That is what I know as true.

Now what I think is that they reach 5-HT6 receptors subtypes and increase GABA release which counteract dopamine system, another thing that reduce euphoria. Globally SSRI reduce fun and increase content. Like passifying some1 to stay content but never seek for more than he/she has. I see that in my grandma and aunt which are taking SSRI for more than 20 years. They are both egocentrical and never able to see what they do, they also lack logical thinking.

Now as a solution, you can wait and mabe in 4-5 years you will be back to normal but keep in mind that they reforged your most important receptors to make you passive and less euphoric (drug seeking habbit also). But I think that if you are open minded, magic mushroom could get you where you want to be (not back how you were, where you want to be !) in about 2-5 trips depending on how fast you learn and how you are ready to see what you are in your pure form, seeing you objectively (which is really bad for the ego, thats why psychedelics are considered ego killers). I see psychedelics as the exact opposite of antipsychotics and antidepressants (they both do the same on serotonin receptors but antidepressant do it in a less radical way, they reduce the amount of some receptors and increase others and antipsychotics have other effects than serotonin receptor blockade, ironically they block the same receptor that gets desensitized on antidepressants).

My advice is use mushrooms to catalyse your ability to change yourself into what you want, then mabe everything will be more fun AND peaceful thats what it did to me, I loved em enough to do it more than 50 times. They accelerate peronnal evolution and mental/neurological stability, but LSD is better than mushrooms for stabilization altho I would suggest LSD as a antipsychotic cure and mushrooms as a antidepressant cure. Those prescription drugs are awful and need to be changed ! Psychedelics heal and those prescription drugs mask the problem.

 

[Spurs_1882]

Could be a similar mechanism to what causes PSSD (post SSRI sexual dysfunction), people who have stopped taking the SSRI years ago and who still have the sexual side effects, sometimes combined with flat emotions or no emotions. These drugs are dodgy and seem to cause some people effects which last a very long time after the drug has stopped. It makes me reluctant to try them for my anxiety.

I think you will eventually regain your capacity to enjoy the alcohol buzz. For most people the brain does change back, it just takes an incredibly long time. I've heard of many people who had PSSD who got better in the 10 year range, who had given up hope. Has everything else gone back to normal? (if you had other side effects). Another thing that PSSD sufferers sometimes find, is that their symptoms resolve partly but not fully, so if I'm right in speculating a similar mechanism is going on with you, I guess that's another possibility; for instance you might get back 90% of the alcohol buzz you had before, but not the full thing.

 

[blaine0136]

Could be a similar mechanism to what causes PSSD (post SSRI sexual dysfunction), people who have stopped taking the SSRI years ago and who still have the sexual side effects, sometimes combined with flat emotions or no emotions. These drugs are dodgy and seem to cause some people effects which last a very long time after the drug has stopped. It makes me reluctant to try them for my anxiety.

I think you will eventually regain your capacity to enjoy the alcohol buzz. For most people the brain does change back, it just takes an incredibly long time. I've heard of many people who had PSSD who got better in the 10 year range, who had given up hope. Has everything else gone back to normal? (if you had other side effects). Another thing that PSSD sufferers sometimes find, is that their symptoms resolve partly but not fully, so if I'm right in speculating a similar mechanism is going on with you, I guess that's another possibility; for instance you might get back 90% of the alcohol buzz you had before, but not the full thing.

yes i have read about the PSSD issues people have. some have recovered with a serotonin antagonist. it seems to be something to do with 'autoreceptors' from what ive read.

seriously the buzz wont return, unless i somehow use an antagonist to re-sensitize my receptors. ive read of 2 other people with the same issue, 1 of which is 6 years later and has still not recovered

i dont think i have any other issues, i dont believe i have PSSD or anything else

 

[Spurs_1882]

yes i have read about the PSSD issues people have. some have recovered with a serotonin antagonist. it seems to be something to do with 'autoreceptors' from what ive read.

seriously the buzz wont return, unless i somehow use an antagonist to re-sensitize my receptors. ive read of 2 other people with the same issue, 1 of which is 6 years later and has still not recovered

i dont think i have any other issues, i dont believe i have PSSD or anything else

You never know. The brain tends to have a remarkable ability to heal but you need to be patient. 3 people is not a big sample size. It might help to work out, eat healthy, get enough sleep etc.

On the other hand, whilst it may just feel like something really unfair and annoying at the moment, it could be seen as the chance to try and think about a life in which the alcohol buzz is not such an important consideration...and at least you don't have any more serious lingering problems, e.g. with emotions or sex. Do other drugs still have the same effect as before? (if you do other drugs).

 

[blaine0136]

You never know. The brain tends to have a remarkable ability to heal but you need to be patient. 3 people is not a big sample size. It might help to work out, eat healthy, get enough sleep etc.

On the other hand, whilst it may just feel like something really unfair and annoying at the moment, it could be seen as the chance to try and think about a life in which the alcohol buzz is not such an important consideration...and at least you don't have any more serious lingering problems, e.g. with emotions or sex. Do other drugs still have the same effect as before? (if you do other drugs).

ive used phenibut a few times and its worked fine, also pain pills when needed. caffeine occasionally

i respect your help/opinion, but this isnt going to heal. it isnt at the moment, its been 2 f-ing years, this will not get better by itself. i need an antagonist i believe. im not sitting around for 5 years to see what happens

 

[Spurs_1882]

ive used phenibut a few times and its worked fine, also pain pills when needed. caffeine occasionally

i respect your help/opinion, but this isnt going to heal. it isnt at the moment, its been 2 f-ing years, this will not get better by itself. i need an antagonist i believe. im not sitting around for 5 years to see what happens

Fair play. I can understand your feeling. Unfortunately I can't help suggest an antagonist, hopefully someone else can.

 

[blue comet]

Blaine,

Sorry to hear all this bro. I'm not familiar with how Zoloft can cause this but I certainly believe it. SSRIs are poison.

Have you tried taking benzos to see how you react? If you're able to get euphoria from that, maybe that'll help bring back your ability to enjoy alcohol.

 

[blaine0136]

Blaine,

Sorry to hear all this bro. I'm not familiar with how Zoloft can cause this but I certainly believe it. SSRIs are poison.

Have you tried taking benzos to see how you react? If you're able to get euphoria from that, maybe that'll help bring back your ability to enjoy alcohol.

yeah ive tried benzo's, they work fine. its definitely a seperate issue with the serotonin receptors and i need to find an antagonist to resensitize those receptors

 

[Ksa]

Don't try benzos, and don't see how you're going to react to them. The damage won't heal with time because there is no damage. You don't want to re-sensitize the serotonin receptors, the reason why you no longer get euphoria from alcohol is because your serotonin levels right now are higher then before taking the medication, so you still have high serotonin. It's in fact the serotonin that's saying "no" to the euphoria. Don't take serotonin antagonists, they are not very efficient, no proof that they work.

The question is, if you were happy drinking alcohol back then, why did you start taking an SSRI? Were you depressed after the alcohol euphoria? Was the euphoria worth the depression that followed it? You see what I mean? I completely understand your frustration, although remember that it is serotonin that is saying no to you, and not the lack of serotonin, but ya, I relate to that. I can give you an example:

When I was performing "extra-curriculum activities" in University, on amphetamines, holding my penis of course, when my serotonin was low, the pleasure I was feeling could go into realms...lets just say that every time I was reaching a pleasure peak (before even edging because I was nowhere close to cumming) the pleasure was so intense my heart was skipping beats, and sometimes would stop to the point where I would black out, so I had to let go of my penis for my heart to keep pumping, so I could go on with it and not pass out. So the thing was so intense, the spinal column had trouble sending in information from the brain to the heart and back, because it was overwhelmed with that signal. I never tried Heroin, so I have no idea what that would do, but I know for a fact it cannot do anything more than that, I could clearly feel that that was it, it couldn't get any better.

Then comes Mr. Serotonin, out of nowhere, 5 hours later. Every single time, on every binge. The euphoria starts to fade away, 2 hours later, all I feel is an electric buzzing and zero euphoria. Typical serotonin symptoms, I could sense it was increasing, it couldn't have been anything else. It's like my connection to nucleus accumbens was...poisoned by serotonin. It doesn't diminish the electrical signal because I was still sensitive as fuck, it just alters its nature and you lose the connection.

My reckless method of dealing with that was to induce a weak serotonin syndrome by taking serotonin agents, to provoke a selective tolerance to serotonin, then I would give a 2 weeks for the serotonin to empty up, this usually caused migraines, but for what I was getting it was worth it. Don't ever try this at home, if you don't know what you're doing it can end very badly for you. But ya, it is your serotonin that's saying no to that weak dopamine rush that alcohol used to give you, your accumbens connection is poisoned. Your only option is to either clear out your serotonin, risking depression/migraines, or use a stronger dopamine agent then alcohol.