64 replies to this topic

[nupi]

Problem: Drug addict has run out of money to buy drugs
Solution: Stop using the damn drugs
NOT a solution: Feed money into his bank account so he can now keep buying drugs

I beg to differ. A whole host of studies from Switzerland where so overwhelmingly positive for the past ~15 years that to this day, junkies can get (almost) free, pure heroine... The outcome beats the alternatives, by a long shot. And it's actually quite cheap to do.

And this whole don't masturbate stuff is kind off quacky to begin with - at the very least the same people mostly don't seem to have a problem with sex which would seem to be even more dopaminergic... To preempt this from going haywire: please don't bother with that yourbrainonporn nonsense.

Edited by nupi, 14 January 2013 - 10:06 PM.

[NeuroNootropic]

Problem: Drug addict has run out of money to buy drugs
Solution: Stop using the damn drugs
NOT a solution: Feed money into his bank account so he can now keep buying drugs

I beg to differ. A whole host of studies from Switzerland where so overwhelmingly positive for the past ~15 years that to this day, junkies can get (almost) free, pure heroine... The outcome beats the alternatives, by a long shot. And it's actually quite cheap to do.

And this whole don't masturbate stuff is kind off quacky to begin with - at the very least the same people mostly don't seem to have a problem with sex which would seem to be even more dopaminergic... To preempt this from going haywire: please don't bother with that yourbrainonporn nonsense.

I definitely agree with you on this. I have a very low libido and rarely watch porn. The times I do watch it is to test my libido's state. 99% of the time I turn off the porn within a minute of watching it because I don't or get a very small reaction. Unless you're watching porn for more than 5 hours every single day, I don't see how abstaining from sexual activity is going to help you.

[gray.bot]

S-E-L-E-G-I-L-I-N-E

5mg a day, sublingual, you'll be fixed. If not, I'll give you a refund on what you paid for this advice.

But seriously, try it. You are describing classic symptoms of lack of dopamine.

Sure excessive porn, whacking off, videos games and not meditating will deplete dopamine, but if you aren't making it in the first place they are only secondary effects.

Get a good amount of phenylalaninie and tyrosine in your diet (high quality protein) and make sure you got heaps of vitamin B6 - you'll need to supplement. The secret to these is to also supplement MAGNESIUM, like crazy.

And unless you have a relatively healthy excerise regime, are eating a healthy diet, flooding your body with oxygen and pure water, and conditioning positive emotions - I'd stop looking for a drug fix and start looking at a lifestyle change.

Have you got any clearly written goals? Maybe that's the cause of your lack of drive.

Have you clearly defined your purpose or mission in life? Maybe that's the cause of your lack of ongoing motivation.

Do you work in an industry or job you are passionate about? No? Maybe that's the cause of your lack of excitement.

What are your strengths? What are your talents? What is your personality profile/typing? What are your major traits and characteristics?

Are you living your life in a way that makes the most of these? If not, maybe that's why you feel you aren't totally integrated, congruent and charging ahead like a champion.

Now if you read through what I've just said and you don't do anything - if you don't actually do it and turn your drive around - well that just proves this is not a neurochemical defect so much as its a subconscious belief issue.

Go get some selegiline boy!

[NeuroNootropic]

S-E-L-E-G-I-L-I-N-E

5mg a day, sublingual, you'll be fixed. If not, I'll give you a refund on what you paid for this advice.

I tried 5 mg Selegiline in the past, but it was oral, not sublingual. It did absolutely nothing. Felt like I was taking a sugar pill.
 

But seriously, try it. You are describing classic symptoms of lack of dopamine.

Sure excessive porn, whacking off, videos games and not meditating will deplete dopamine, but if you aren't making it in the first place they are only secondary effects.

Get a good amount of phenylalaninie and tyrosine in your diet (high quality protein) and make sure you got heaps of vitamin B6 - you'll need to supplement. The secret to these is to also supplement MAGNESIUM, like crazy.

And unless you have a relatively healthy excerise regime, are eating a healthy diet, flooding your body with oxygen and pure water, and conditioning positive emotions - I'd stop looking for a drug fix and start looking at a lifestyle change.

I tried supplementing with tyrosine in the past. I took 2 g for a week and felt absolutely nothing. I eat a lot of chicken every day. My multivitamin (LEF Two-per-day) has more than enough Vitamin B6. I tried taking magnesium in the past and it did not help.

I exercise 3 times a week, doing interval training for 30 minutes on the treadmill. It does not help, but I do it because I'm bored.
 

Have you got any clearly written goals? Maybe that's the cause of your lack of drive.

Have you clearly defined your purpose or mission in life? Maybe that's the cause of your lack of ongoing motivation.

No, if there's nothing I'm interested in how would I do this?
 

Do you work in an industry or job you are passionate about? No? Maybe that's the cause of your lack of excitement.

I'm unemployed, so no. The problem is that no job interests me, there's no job that gets me excited. You can offer me a job to live in a luxurious mansion and do whatever I want for 8 hours and get paid 1 billion dollars for doing it in a year and I'll still go meh.
 

What are your strengths? What are your talents? What is your personality profile/typing? What are your major traits and characteristics?

Strengths? None.

Talents? None.

Personality? Boring. A robot.

My traits are: Lazy, incompetent, apathetic, slow learner, killjoy
 

Are you living your life in a way that makes the most of these? If not, maybe that's why you feel you aren't totally integrated, congruent and charging ahead like a champion.

Now if you read through what I've just said and you don't do anything - if you don't actually do it and turn your drive around - well that just proves this is not a neurochemical defect so much as its a subconscious belief issue.

Go get some selegiline boy!

Thanks for trying to help, but I'm a lost cause.

Edited by cryonicsculture, 06 August 2014 - 06:04 PM.

[gray.bot]

S-E-L-E-G-I-L-I-N-E

5mg a day, sublingual, you'll be fixed. If not, I'll give you a refund on what you paid for this advice.

I tried 5 mg Selegiline in the past, but it was oral, not sublingual. It did absolutely nothing. Felt like I was taking a sugar pill.

Yeah if you are dumping it with a glass of water you may as well be taking a sugar pill.

Gotta go sublingual or transdermal (or up the butt, if you are so inclined)

If you haven't tried sublingual Selegiline then you can't say you are a lost cause.

But it sounds to me you need to go talk to your doctor about this.

Ask him about getting an EMSAM patch.
 

Now if you read through what I've just said and you don't do anything - if you don't actually do it and turn your drive around - well that just proves this is not a neurochemical defect so much as its a subconscious belief issue.

Thanks for trying to help, but I'm a lost cause.

Your responses indicate that you are more than happy to throw off new ideas with awesome excuses without actually giving them a fair shot. Your language indicates you favour the word 'try' which is a classic sign of a Victim mentality.

Honestly I reckon you are just enjoying loathing in your own misery and are looking for more and more people to confirm that you can't be helped. Why else would you be on a forum like this asking questions and then replying to every response 'nope, doesn't work'. Why aren't you dealing with professionals (doctors) who study for decades to help people having exactly your issues.

Even then, I don't think some new pep pill is going to be the solution for you - but hardening the f#ck up might.



Have you tried a teaspoon of concrete in every one of those coffees your drinking? Because that might work.

P.S. Message sent with love and peace - don't misconstrue screen texts inability to convey tone as me being mean here, this is said with a nice tonality - brother to brother

Edited by cryonicsculture, 06 August 2014 - 06:05 PM.

[NeuroNootropic]

I understand what you're trying to tell me, but I don't enjoy loathing in my own misery. That's a stupid thing to do. Life is too short for that. Harden up? What exactly does that mean? I can push myself with physical exercise no problem, but getting myself to try new things is like torture. I've forced myself countless times to try something new and each time I do it, I spend about 5 minutes on it and then get bored and space out. Or I space out and then get bored.

I didn't reply to every post on this forum with 'nope, doesn't work'. Maca has helped me subtlety with initiating a new task or activity.

I am dealing with professionals, I'm seeing a psychiatrist.

[Olon]

S-E-L-E-G-I-L-I-N-E

Go get some selegiline boy!

MUCH better than stimulant.

Dopaminergic neuron protection seems to depend on microglia inactivation, so one could also consider other microglia inhibitors, e.g. nobiletin (Sytrinol), luteolin, or EGCG. However, only minocycline and curcumin were tested in parkinson models.

Edited by Olon, 15 January 2013 - 09:00 AM.

[nupi]

I exercise 3 times a week, doing interval training for 30 minutes on the treadmill. It does not help, but I do it because I'm bored.

Do focused high intensity (to failure, more or less) weight training in that time instead - focusing on compound movements (e.g. bench press, pull ups, squats, rows, maybe dead lifts). While it does not necessarily help you with dopamine, at least gaining strength/muscle gives some confidence. It may or may not help with T (low libido would be a prime indicator of that, BTW).

[RJ100]

P.S. Message sent with love and peace - don't misconstrue screen texts inability to convey tone as me being mean here, this is said with a nice tonality - brother to brother

Adolescent machismo is unhelpful, regardless of tone.

[magniloquentc0unt]

P.S. Message sent with love and peace - don't misconstrue screen texts inability to convey tone as me being mean here, this is said with a nice tonality - brother to brother

Adolescent machismo is unhelpful, regardless of tone.

the day will come when his selegiline (or whatever hes high on atm) will poop out and neuronootropic will come by and tell him to "harden the fuck up and stop complaining"

Edited by magniloquentcunt, 15 January 2013 - 03:30 PM.

[nupi]

Is it just me or has the signal to noise ratio gotten significantly worse over the past couple of weeks?

[gray.bot]

Do focused high intensity (to failure, more or less) weight training in that time instead - focusing on compound movements (e.g. bench press, pull ups, squats, rows, maybe dead lifts). While it does not necessarily help you with dopamine, at least gaining strength/muscle gives some confidence. It may or may not help with T (low libido would be a prime indicator of that, BTW).

I think you might be onto something here. What if it's not dopaminergic issues but it's actually a hormonal issue - low testosterone???

Only one way to find out...

Here is my cheat sheet for increasing T like crazy. Get ready for balls the size of potatoes:

---

increasing muscle mass easily:

insulin boost each morning
2 bananas and a protein shake upon waking

insulin boost after workout
2 bananas and a protein shake immediately after workout!

feed ripped muscles after workout
then large protein meal within 1 hour (beans, eggs, etc)

increase testosterone easily:

correct any selenium issues:

2 brazil nuts upon waking
2 brazil nuts before bed

eat cholesterol 1-2 hours before sleeping:

5 eggs before bed

correct major vitamin/mineral deficiencies:

eat oysters for zinc

vitamin d supplement (get a home test, and get up to 55ng/ml)
(was advised of 10,000 IU's a day until up to this level, then back off to 2000IU's a day)

physical testosterone boosters:

workout major muscle groups regularly (squats at least 2 times a week, rows/chinups and bench press)

sleep well and enough, go to bed early by 10pm every night and sleep for 8 hours.

---

I've been using this strategy for building muscle and increasing testosterone to feed muscles harder and it works like a treat.


Do this consistently for weeks before you make an assessment if it works or not - if you are major deficient in something (ie Vitamin D for example) it will take some time to build it back up.

Once you have this system down pat you'll know because you are keen for a root 3-4 times a day! Warn your girlfriend and get her buy in if you can


*Disclaimer: Increasing testosterone in this fashion may have the unintended side effect of causing you to spam online forums.

[Mr Black]

- Generally tired, sleep is not refreshing (8 hours), foggy brain

You may want to look more closely at your sleep quality. For example, you may have mild sleep apnea, RLS or something else that would disrupt slow-wave sleep. And not to be an alarmist, but you mentioned a family history of PD... disturbed sleep could be an early warning sign/symptom.

[Pirate]

You could also look up some ADD coaching methods that you could adapt to your mindset. Things like mindfulness meditation and CBT to name a few. There is a wealth of information to be found by looking into techniques developed to help attention deficit disorders without drugs.

[Introspecta]

Get your Testosterone levels checked or if you don't have that option pick up some tongkat ali extract and see how you feel after a week or two on it. You may have low levels which leads to alot of the symptoms you explain. This has been the case for me. I couldn't figure out why i'm so tired and unmotivated even with tons of caffiene.. Sometimes overuse of caffiene leads to the testosterone problems. Something to at least check out.

[formergenius]

Well, it's not jacking off - I can assure you :-)

...

Thanks for the insight, so far.

Two things will help:


1.) Iboga
2.) Meditation

...


Anyway, the mere act of meditating will teach you how to sit still and this hurdle will dissolve by itself. Willpower is a muscle, and willpower is a battery. Give it some strength training.


That bidaily endurance exercise is near useless if the time allocated ratio of exercise:impulsive behaviours is heavily skewed in favour of impulsivity. This is like a posture defect. A person might do 15 mins of stretches to correct their posture. Then they sit down on the computer for 8 hours. Laughable!

Would just like to add to that: don't just go around consuming Iboga by yourself, especially if you are not well acquainted with such experiences. Yes, Iboga can be wonderful, when done in the right set and setting, with guidance. I've had a rather difficult experience with inpatience and stubborness leading to my self-administration of the aforementioned entheogen, which could have been avoided with proper guidance. I concede, meditation has many merits, it is well worth investigating. Albeit such things alone may not suffice, and in such case supplementation could indeed aid in sustaining such a habit.
Yesterday I have started a Selegiline regimen, starting at 5mg a day. How long have you taken it before discontinuing?
Judging from your self-description, I would say you're depressed (yeah, sorry to use that stigmatized word). Please, do correct me if I'm wrong. Following the previous connotation, perhaps it is worth considering a higher dose (with your psychiatrist's consult) of Selegiline, so as to also inhibit MAO-A?

Other than that, the only nootropic I've noticed ANY effect from, has been Modafinil. As Dissolvedissolve said, it has only minimal effect for most, allthough some (lovely Erowid) find it to be some sort of panacea. IME, it is not for daily use, but definitely made me slightly more motivated, and hence might be worth considering as an adjunct.

Just some things to consider, allthough, always remember to do your own pharmacological researching before jumping into a new substance

[gray.bot]

Willpower is a muscle, and willpower is a battery.

This just jumped out at me like a cane toad with a firecracker up its ass! I must've skipped past it on the first read.

Slight hijack, but still could prove benefit for the OP.

I'm familiar with the metaphor of willpower being a muscle but the idea of willpower as a battery is new to me.

Of course I think you are referring to the idea that willpower can/needs to be charged - like a battery - to have full functionality.

But I'd like to introduce the idea of battery cells. Of course we all know that batteries can be connected together in cells of multiple batteries, and the produced cell will output more power and last longer than the individual batteries themselves.

Can willpower be used in a similar method? I guess a practical application would be to collect many people with similar intentions and high willpower and form a cell with a directed output.

Of course this can happen. Everybody is familiar with so many of these social principles - group therapy, team work, accountability partners...

(in a way the OP is already using this by using this forum to get the willpower of others to support them in making the changes with their dopamine issue)

So Q -

How could someone utilize this principle for outstanding benefits to achieve their specific task?

What do you think would be the easiest way to employ this principle to achieve the maximum benefit regarding the amount of effort invested?

[anagram]

zinc deficiency?

[BLimitless]

Yes, you are correct. This is known as the Maharishi effect, look it up. Whenever any group of people set their intentions directly and wholly on one object, that object is brought into reality exponentially faster due to the collective sum of their efforts. It is a quantum mechanical phenomenon truthful by virtue of its tautological nature.


This forum is actually a prime example!


To maximise this battery-cell effect you must create a physical resonance effect. NOTHING should be out of phase, out of sync with the whole. You observe this with armies when they are marching. Good marching reveals good discipline, good training, an efficient army, a powerful army.

In a tornado, every air particle is both swimming with the stream, and directing the stream at the same time. Watch the flight of birds and watch how they feel the subtlest of air currents and glide on them. I looked up at the sky the other day at a flock of birds in formation. One was not flapping its wings, just gliding along in the air, heading west. Then a gentle northerly gust of wind arrived from the south. The birds tipped slightly to the side, and flew way away northerly. It was like watching God just breathe them in a general direction. The wind was way too gentle to actually move them alone, but they rode some subtle current that allowed them to traverse incredible distances while flying sidewards - to me they seemed to be surfing gravity ripples in the atmosphere; the sideward movement of course was the ideal geodesic. They moved hundreds of meters sideward, from a wind as gentle as my own breath.

This is the effect that must be employed.



I must apologise for mentioning Iboga without mentioning the safety principles behind it. If you take that path, please do as much research as you can on it, a good place is Erowid or Eboka forums. Iboga is not to be trifled with and it can kill you if you work with it incorrectly (i.e. working against it).

Willpower is a muscle, and willpower is a battery.

This just jumped out at me like a cane toad with a firecracker up its ass! I must've skipped past it on the first read.

Slight hijack, but still could prove benefit for the OP.

I'm familiar with the metaphor of willpower being a muscle but the idea of willpower as a battery is new to me.

Of course I think you are referring to the idea that willpower can/needs to be charged - like a battery - to have full functionality.

But I'd like to introduce the idea of battery cells. Of course we all know that batteries can be connected together in cells of multiple batteries, and the produced cell will output more power and last longer than the individual batteries themselves.

Can willpower be used in a similar method? I guess a practical application would be to collect many people with similar intentions and high willpower and form a cell with a directed output.

Of course this can happen. Everybody is familiar with so many of these social principles - group therapy, team work, accountability partners...

(in a way the OP is already using this by using this forum to get the willpower of others to support them in making the changes with their dopamine issue)

So Q -

How could someone utilize this principle for outstanding benefits to achieve their specific task?

What do you think would be the easiest way to employ this principle to achieve the maximum benefit regarding the amount of effort invested?

Edited by BLimitless, 30 January 2013 - 01:20 PM.

[gray.bot]

OMG I discovered some stuff some guy already discovered like a hundred years ago! <ZOMG>

**proof nootropics work**

To maximise this battery-cell effect you must create a physical resonance effect. NOTHING should be out of phase, out of sync with the whole.

Me be going to study Longecity to learn their synch so me can be in phase with it.

Me also going to take more Engwish lessons.

[end hijack]

[BioFreak]

Your symptoms sound like low dopamine, maybe all catecholamines (dopamine, noradrenaline, adrenaline) in general to me.

You should be aware of what lowers catecholamines:
ssri's or any drugs, that increase serotonin
overtraining in the gym
abuse of drugs, stimulants, boosters that deplete catecholamines and/or their building blocks and cofactors
not having all building blocks and cofactors for your catecholamine production.

I guess there is more, but those are the most important factors.

Many won't believe me, lol, but when your catecholamine levels are high, there is no need for caffeine, training boosters, or drugs to feel energy and motivated.

You tried tyrosine, but you do not understand how catecholamine metabolism works, and I am pretty sure that this is why you felt just so little.

See, tyrosin gets converted to: l-dopa->dopamine->noradrenaline->adrenaline.

Each of these steps is not free, it needs enzymes, and cofactors to work.
for example, d3 increased tyrosine hydroxylase, the first step from tyrosine->l-dopa.
Other cofactors are:
calcium, folic acid, b12, b6, magnesium, iron, copper.
I would advise against taking copper and iron without medical supervision because those can fuck you up in the long run (oxidation, being made worse by some kinds of antioxidants btw).


So you see, you have to take all those together to get an effect. I am pretty sure that studies using tyrosine showed only that tyrosine was only effective for 4-6 weeks because the patients ran out of some cofactors. I managed to keep tyrosine working for a long time now (years), despite the studies, BUT it stopped working for me as soon as one cofactor was missing / too low. If only ONE cofactor is too low, the whole metabolism chain down the road after the cofactor is needed will be massively slowed down!!!

with d3 you can go a lot higher, like 30000iu/week, but I would recommend blood tests to get your d3 levels into the right range.

Now if you've been supplementing with b6, you may be zinc deficient since zinc is required for the conversion of b6 to the active form. So I would add zinc too.

See how you do on this combination, rather then tyrosine alone. Its like fueling a car with gas, but having no oil in the motor, and no battery to start the motor. One could then think "gas is useless" but that would be wrong as we all know.

The alternative would be to take dopamine agonists, if that does not work for you. One drawback is that this will only increase dopamine, but not (nor)adrenaline. That may be good or bad for you, depending on your starting point. As long as you have a lack of energy, you might not want that. Or, you could try l-dopa or mucuna, but be warned, its unhealty in the long run (esp. on the heart), and the effect is short term, while tyrosines effect is not only longer, but your body can choose where to convert it to catecholamines which is an important point to remember.

Also, have you been ingesting a lot of bromide? like... mountain dew etc. You could simply have an intoxication of bromide, or other stuff like lead, etc. In this case you could try high dose iodine, together with selenium. But here is a catch too:
Iodine will sensitize your receptors, which is a good thing. And it has so many positive effects on the body that I can not even list them all. But it is also a very potent detofixier of bromide, fluoride, lead and so on. And in high doses this can overwhelm your system because all those toxins will be released into your bloodstream and depending on the level of toxins in your body, your kidney may not be able to keep up with excreting them. There is a workaround though, called salt loading... I would suggest you research "orthoiodosupplementation" and read up how to properly use iodine for detoxification.

Also, I'd recommend you let your doc check your thyroid levels(prior to starting with iodine). Not only TSH, but also t4, t3. (and d3 levels, iron levels...)

its entirely possible to get your catecholamine levels back up.

If you have a family history of parkinson, however, this will be only half of the equation. You'll also have to do anything to increase neuroprotection and regeneration. What comes to mind here would be stuff like noopept, cerebrolysin, uridine. Again - if parkinson is the cause, you need both goals: increase catecholamines, increase neuroprotection/regeneration. Because believe me, if you do not act now, life will get a lot more shitty if you get parkinson.Especially because of this, you should get iron checked. If you have an overload, this will keep damaging your brain and fuck you up. All organs, actually.

I have been where you are now, looking at your symptoms. I was able to kick them out of my life. You can do it, too...

[gray.bot]

BioFreak drops the motherload!

See, tyrosin gets converted to: l-dopa->dopamine->noradrenaline->adrenaline.

Each of these steps is not free, it needs enzymes, and cofactors to work.
for example, d3 increased tyrosine hydroxylase, the first step from tyrosine->l-dopa.
Other cofactors are:
calcium, folic acid, b12, b6, magnesium, iron, copper.

So you see, you have to take all those together to get an effect.

...

Iodine will sensitize your receptors, which is a good thing. And it has so many positive effects on the body that I can not even list them all.... salt loading... I would suggest you research "orthoiodosupplementation" and read up how to properly use iodine for detoxification.

its entirely possible to get your catecholamine levels back up.

Awesome!!!

[lourdaud]

You should be aware of what lowers catecholamines:
overtraining in the gym

Source?

[Galaxyshock]

It's not necessary about not having enough catecholamines but the binding sites = adrenergic receptors malfunctioning.

[gray.bot]

re:overtraining

Increased catecholamine (epinephrine)

This is due to decreased production of calming hormones such as serotonin and dopamine. Overtrainers may exibit irritable behavior.

http://www.athleticb...d=3486&zoneid=7

-

The fact that overtrained individuals may display either excessive, or reduced levels of adrenaline(E) and noradrenaline (NE) at submaximal exercise intensities, can be reconciled by considering the effects, rather than the volumes, of catecholamine release .

...

It is now thought that early stages of overtraining are typified by an increased catecholamine release in response to exercise, coupled with a
decreased biological sensitivity to their effects.

...

This may be coupled with decreased resting levels7,9.
However, reductions in circulating catecholamine levels are exhibited in the later stages of
overtraining

ref: http://www.peaktesto.../Overtrain.aspx

-

And another researcher pointed out that overtraining can lead to "reduced catecholamine excretion, frequent illness, disturbed sleep and alterations in mood state...

ref: http://www.peaktesto.../Overtrain.aspx

Galaxyshock,

Is funland a typo of Finland or one of those typos on purpose to fool people and make them laugh??? (like I sprinkle in to posts here and there)

[Galaxyshock]

It was some old typo joke or something, but yeah I'm from Finland.

[tritium]

Each of these steps is not free, it needs enzymes, and cofactors to work.
for example, d3 increased tyrosine hydroxylase, the first step from tyrosine->l-dopa.
Other cofactors are:
calcium, folic acid, b12, b6, magnesium, iron, copper.

Iodine will sensitize your receptors, which is a good thing. And it has so many positive effects on the body that I can not even list them all. But it is also a very potent detofixier of bromide, fluoride, lead and so on. And in high doses this can overwhelm your system because all those toxins will be released into your bloodstream and depending on the level of toxins in your body, your kidney may not be able to keep up with excreting them. There is a workaround though, called salt loading... I would suggest you research "orthoiodosupplementation" and read up how to properly use iodine for detoxification.

http://iodinehealth....odine-protocol/ Is this the protocol that you were referring to about iodine?

[jaydee]

Regardless how good dopamine it seems, maybe it is best to exclude extreme amounts of dopamine from your “better living through chemistry” five-year plan. From the standpoint of impulse buying, too high a concentration of dopamine in your brain chemistry mix can lead to impulse shopping, scientists believe. It also makes a person more susceptible for general impulsive behavior, some of which can be as self-destructive as runaway spending, if not more. An installment loan will be needed to pay for all purchases if it is not controlled.

[SlimNm]

Well, it's not jacking off - I can assure you :-)

Of course, internet surfing (in some form or another) is a similar activity pattern, if I get you right. Obivously, surfing the nets and passively consuming content is one of the things I am capable of when in that kind of mental state.
On the other hand, playing RTS games (which I don't do to a great extent) is already too hard in that mental state.

And even then, I would expect 1-2 weeks of bidaily endurance exercise to somewhat improve the brain (seeing how it takes a lot of effort to get started on it and the time off computer, etc). Or going for 1h walks. Not a cure - but improvement. I did not get that experience.

OTOH I have a great burden on me since I have to finish my degree that I have struggled with for years. But I cannot muster up the energy to begin that 6 month of intense work. The question is - is there a drug that can help you overcome this kind of burden and help reset your brain wiring/chemistry.

And then - how to get away from the bad idling habit of surfing the internet, when the alternative is other distracting acitivities or to begin a hard piece of work. What can push you over this hurdle?

Thanks for the insight, so far.

Two things will help:


1.) Iboga
2.) Meditation

Practice meditation as often as possible. This is NOT a supplement solvable issue unless your body balance itself is whack. This is purely a reward system miscalibration, every dopaminergic supplement will only add to the imbalance by reinforcing your destructive behaviours.

Let's present an analogy -


Problem: Drug addict has run out of money to buy drugs
Solution: Stop using the damn drugs
NOT a solution: Feed money into his bank account so he can now keep buying drugs


Meditation will push you beyond this hurdle. It is a direct therapy, it is infinitely more effective than any supplement you can get because meditation IS the calibration of the reward system. Sit in meditation for 30 seconds. When you can do 30 seconds, then hold it for a minute. Then for 2 minutes, then for 5, then for 10, 15, 30. 45, 1hr, 2hr, 4hr, 8hr. If you can do a full 24hr silence then damn! My advice would have been rendered obsolete in such a case (it's not remotely rare though! thousands of monks in far off countries do this every day or every so often).


Anyway, the mere act of meditating will teach you how to sit still and this hurdle will dissolve by itself. Willpower is a muscle, and willpower is a battery. Give it some strength training.


That bidaily endurance exercise is near useless if the time allocated ratio of exercise:impulsive behaviours is heavily skewed in favour of impulsivity. This is like a posture defect. A person might do 15 mins of stretches to correct their posture. Then they sit down on the computer for 8 hours. Laughable!

I love meditation and it's done wonders and helping me cope with some things, and overall improved my life, but it has done NOTHING to give me the motivation and drive that I used to have before SSRI withdrawal-induced problems.

[archangel]

Someone already mentioned the possibility of Low-T. Might want to see your doctor.

You could also try Bulbine natalensis in an appropriate dosage. Studies seem to indicate that it can raise T and lower estrogenic hormones.
The key words are "appropriate dosage"- too much can make matters worse. Less is more, etc.

A.

“Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world around you. Rise above your human passion and your human grief. Understand that you may abandon your own body, but that you must preserve your honor.”
- Musashi, c. 1640