Dopamine deficiency?

[Perplexity]

Hi,

I have smoked weed for the last 8 years starting at age 16 (have recently quit 2 months ago for good) and messed around with different drugs towards the last few years of being a weed addict and since quitting I feel a very strong sense of apathy, lack of motivation and some depression/anxiety.

I recently picked up opiates (roxys/oxys) and every time I take one I feel very normal .. I don't feel self conscious or anxious, I don't feel depressed, I have energy/motivation, I go to the gym, socialize, get things done, etc. and it seems to me like that is how someone is supposed to feel without taking anything (I'm not taking about the euphoria, just the motivation/energy). As soon as the next day passes I'm back to the same unmotivated, lazy, self-conscious me. Even if I exercise or eat a good meal the good feeling only lasts about 1-2 hours and then it's back to normal.

I'm starting to think that all that weed smoking and mild drug use has caused a dopamine deficiency and using opiates brings my dopamine levels back to normal (and reminds me of how I should feel) .. does this seems realistic? and can anyone relate?

Any idea of how to treat such a thing?

 

[StealYourFace]

Speaking from personal experience, You sound like me and may have inattentive add. Stop with the opiates asap it's a slick slope, and get rx'ed Dexedrine or the like.

 

[paranoid android]

^ Umm Amphetamines certainly have there place in treating psychiatric disorders but they must be treated with the same caution as you would with opiates. Amphetamines even the smoother ones like Dexedrine tend to be alot less forgiving then opiates.

To the OP: I know exactly what you mean. I have suffered from a mood disorder for most of my life and unless i really over do it they tend to make me more energetic then i normally am. I remember the first time i ever got high off a Opioid (it was either Codeine or Demerol aka Meperidine aka Pethidine i can't remember which) when i was maybe 11 and i remember thinking that this must be what it's like to feel normal. I had loads of energy, motivation, no anxiety and no pain. Ever since i was a kid i suffered from high levels of anxiety as well as a undiagnosed mood disorder which turned out to be Bipolar disorder as well as irritable bowel syndrome. I remember thinking so nice it was to not be in any pain and to not have my brain turning over like a Hamster on meth. Since i also have trigeminal neuralgia aka the suicide disease i am most likely going to be on morphine for life and i tend to wake up earlier, feel less fatigued, get more stuff done and need less sleep then when i don't take it.

I seriously doubt your minor drug use had much if anything to do with it. I don't think Cannabis affects Dopamine in any direct way though i could very well be wrong on that. But if you think Dopamine could be your problem i would suggest trying Bupropion (brand names Wellbutrin and Zyban) or if that does not work a MAOI like Selegiline which is a selective irreversible MAOI-B inhibitor at low doses (under 15mg's a day i think but don't quote me on that please) so at that dose it will only affect Dopamine and you don't have to worry about the food restrictions that you do with non selective MAOI's like Parnate. At higher doses it looses it's selectivity but if you use the transdermal Emsam patch which has higher doses of Selegiline thus it inhibits MAO-A and MAO-B you don't have to worry about the food restrictions because the cheese reaction happens in the gut and the transdermal method of administration bypasses that. I have heard very good things about it in treating depression. If the Emsam patch was available in Canada i would certainly take it when my Bipolar depression get's bad.

I don't react well to SNRI's like effexor (Venlafaxine) well at all and my experience with that med turned me off just about every psychiatric med for years. And no way would i touch a SSRI as not only do the side effects seem awful but they are really not a good thing to take if you have bipolar disorder. All the same the Tricyclic anti-depressants Amitriptyline which does a equal reuptake of Serotonin and Norepinephrine as well as acting as a strong anti-cholinergic and Trimipramine which is a odd Tricyclic that is a potent Norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor as well as being a mild atypical anti-psychotic and of course a potent anti-cholinergic did help my depression. For some reason these drugs and Wellbutrin help my depression without much in the way of side effects while Venlafaxine and Mirtazapine aka Remeron which is a Serotonin Norepinephrine enhancer either caused brutal side effects and horrible physical dependence (Venlafaxine did this hence why i only stuck it out 6 weeks) or made me straight up suicidal. Granted the Remeron may have made me suicidal because i was only taking Risperidone to help Mania at the time and some psychotic symptoms so i was not on a proper mood stabilizer like i am now.

So yeah if you think Dopamine is your problem i would highly recommend wellbutrin before anything else. In fact due to it's low side effect profile and lack of sexual side effects (unless you count increased sex drive as a side effect) i would recommend trying Wellbutrin first over any anti-depressants. It's the only anti-depressant i have found to be a actual mood lifter and the only one to help seasonal affective disorder that i get. I can also start to feel it working after about a week or so once i hit the 300mg's a day mark which is much faster then other anti-depressants.