2 replies to this topic

[Lemon.]

Hi there,

Med: Stimulant (legally)
Issue: Comedown
Regarding: What happens in the brain's CNS and other parts of the brain.
Stats: Question


Sometimes after the day and when the "comedown" starts, the feelings of:

Really bad comedown:
- Disconnect from person to person.
- Feel worried for no reason (feel like there's lots of things that are very worrying) but are in general not.
- My talk is changed to mumbling and other.
- Burned out (brain and body). Feeling of slowish & frozen. Not hungry, not able to think clearly,etc.
- Even certain words for example, if I write them I may feel that will haunt me in the future or it may cause something bad to happen
- Relationships: this is awful, when the really bad comedown starts I start feeling deeply sorry for everyone and all this stuff (it is awful, really really really painful and annoying).

Now, does anyone please know what happens to the brain's neurotransmitters,catecholamines,etc when the extremely bad comedown hits?. Or as I stated above, is there any medical disorder like this (NOT that I want to self-diagnose myself, but to research that medical disorder and see what the issue is.) Thanks.

Thank You.

Edited by Lemon., 12 December 2013 - 09:53 PM.

[3AlarmLampscooter]

"Stimulant?"

[Sciencyst]

The simplest explanation is MONOAMINE DEPLETION. You can get more in depth about the effects down the line on other neurotransmitters and which ones are affected the most, but it depends greatly on the substance. For example while prescribed Adderall I never had a noticeable (at the time!) comedown. did not really get depressed though. Focalin (d-methylphenidate), however, gave me a comedown from hell the other day, which I had never experienced. Apparently different phenotypes for SERT caused different responses to amphetamine. In one phenotype, 5-HT receptors downregulated, and in the other they upregulated. I must be the latter, because if anything I felt slightly serene on the comedown of Adderall. But actually in retrospect i would sometimes get deliriously paranoid.. But i didnt feel bad really

Think about it like this: the neurotransmitters these drugs act on can cause feelings of connectedness, well being, motivation, confidence, etc, so when the drug wears off, the monoamines and their related systems continue to attempt to achieve homeostasis by releasing less, or the vacuoles are simply depleted, of the drug-induced-overabundant ones (da, ne, 5ht with stimulants) and thus you have the opposite effect.

Like I said you can get more in depth depending on the substance, but its really just speculation based on the pharmacology, and while I doubt there are many studies detailing acute comedowns, there are plenty about the long term effects of chronic stimulant administration.

Really though its a quite simple concept, its a basic push-pull mechanism, and the catecholamine system very aggressively and proactively balances itself, so the stimulant comedown is much more noticeable than with other drugs.

Edited by katuskoti, 13 December 2013 - 08:26 AM.