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Dopamine and NOOOOO POSITIVE EMOTION!!!

stellium n scorpio

Greenlighter
Joined
Jul 30, 2011
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I have anhedonia and cannot feel enjoyment or any positive emotion WHATSOEVER. I've tried L tyrosine and acetyl tyrosine and phenylalanine and l dopa which is supposed to replenish dopamine, but it's not working. That means it's the receptors right? How can dopamine receptors be rebuilt or repaired? I've been eating healthy and doing everything right but my body just isn't repairing itself. Help-this is a living hell.
 
I have anhedonia and cannot feel enjoyment or any positive emotion WHATSOEVER. I've tried L tyrosine and acetyl tyrosine and phenylalanine and l dopa which is supposed to replenish dopamine, but it's not working. That means it's the receptors right? How can dopamine receptors be rebuilt or repaired? I've been eating healthy and doing everything right but my body just isn't repairing itself. Help-this is a living hell.

try adding 5-htp or l-trytophan to the mix
 
I started taking tryptophan 6 weeks ago and it worked great for my insomnia. But my bodys seems to have built up a tolerance and it doesn't work anymore. However, the serotonin deficiency is second on my list. Dopamine is responisble for happiness, love pleasure and reward and I feel none of these. I just feel miserable and halfway dead. I need to fix this dopamine issue first.
 
I don't think you're going to fix your problem with supplements. Science understands to a degree what different neurotransmitters do but don't understand the science behind them completely. You can't truly say that your lack of happiness is due to a lack of any neurotransmitter. I recommend trying to improve your health in general with exercise, healthy eating, and putting yourself in active, stimulating situations. All of this stimulates your body to utilize its neurotransmitters. IMO you have to focus on the root of your problems rather than try to medicate the symptoms.
 
^- This, this, a thousand times this. Nobody is qualified (save for if they are doing urine assays every day or if they have a fMRI and a lab crew to run it) to say "I have a dopamine deficiency" based on the fact they can't seem to get motivated. The Western lifestyle of today can lead to stagnation and depression very easily.
 
I don't think you're going to fix your problem with supplements. Science understands to a degree what different neurotransmitters do but don't understand the science behind them completely. You can't truly say that your lack of happiness is due to a lack of any neurotransmitter. I recommend trying to improve your health in general with exercise, healthy eating, and putting yourself in active, stimulating situations. All of this stimulates your body to utilize its neurotransmitters. IMO you have to focus on the root of your problems rather than try to medicate the symptoms.
Quoted for truth.

In all seriousness, OP, have you tried a drastic change of lifestyle? Sometimes a change of setting (either at work, or even just rearranging your room and picking up a new hobby) can drastically help. Do you exercise at all? Are you outdoors at all?
 
I think exercise is what you need more than anything else. Try going to the gym every day for the next 2 weeks, including at least 30min of cardio each visit. If you're still depressed and unmotivated after 2 weeks, read below.

Dopamine is the currency of the reward pathway. But it's also used in a lot of other neural pathways, most of which have nothing to do with feelings of wellbeing, and some of which are even perceived as unpleasant when they're activated. The dopamine system is extremely resilient. If you stop using drugs that mess with the reward pathway (if you do), and are healthy with your eating and sleeping, it should be back to normal functioning in a matter of months.

As a last resort, NMDA receptor antagonists upregulate dopamine receptors. They are not really safe drugs, and have significant mental and physical side effects and loads of drug-drug interactions. As I mentioned before, they upregulate ALL dopamine receptors, not just the ones in your reward and pleasure pathways. Without knowing anything about your past medical and psychiatric history, including the drugs (medical and recreational) and supplements you're on, I can't in good conscience recommend this route.
 
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