Does meth and adderall cause a permanent dopamine and epinephrine deficiency?

[deadendgame]

Yeah. I'm scared. Is there really nothing I can do? If I just keep taking more and more, theoretically, that would replenish my dopamine each time, so do I have to keep taking this shit my whole life? If I don't take it, I have major anhedonia. Like I get no pleasure from anything that I do. Like I can do some stuff but I literally don't give a fuck about anyone or anything. Am I dopamine deficient or just an asshole? Because I don't know what it is. I really try to enjoy what I do, but I honestly don't enjoy anything at all. I been using for 1 year

 

[llamer]

yeah but you're talking about not just one thing here. you're not simply talking about dopamine molecules in the brain, this is many things, not the least of which is simply being depressed. depression is both a neurological and psychological phenomenon, and once it starts it becomes a belief-enforcing and thought-molding feedback loop of negative experience. it's very hard to get out of and can eclipse nearly everything in your life. being hooked on very serious drugs only makes this worse physiologically (as you suspect) and also psychologically, since this is a horrible way to think and feel about yourself.

taking these kinds of drugs as an antidote to boredom and apathy is only going to take you down. the only way to get back up is to stop habituated usage, if not quit entirely.

they say it takes about a year for meth users to get back their dopamine after long term usage. there are many threads on here explaining this.

good luck!

 

[Cotcha Yankinov]

The main problem with amphetamines is that they "desensitize" dopamine through down regulation of the receptors on the dopamine brain cells, this is essentially how tolerance works. This is not permanent, the receptors will up regulate with time, but it can take many months to a year to get close to normal. The first couple weeks or so will be the worst however, it will get much better after the 1st month of sobriety. Exercise is a great natural anti-depressant and many studies have been done on the benefit of cardio regarding recovering from amphetamine abuse. I believe 30 minutes of cardio 4 times a week will greatly speed up your recovery, if you can motivate yourself to do it. Sleep is also very important, the effects of chronic sleep deprivation are horrible and it can take a long time to start making up for lost sleep, by some estimates it takes more than a week to make up for just one night of lost sleep. I should point out that you make most of your new brain cells in your sleep, and also that exercise increases that generation of new brain cells greatly.

Exercising regularly and sleeping regularly will increase your recovery speed greatly. Best of luck to you, I hope you can get sober now before its even harder down the road.. Any questions are welcome. Feel free to PM me any time.