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Brain Fog and Limited Pleasure

mental health brain dopamine pleasure brain fog libido

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#1 Gminor

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Posted 19 February 2015 - 11:12 PM


For a few years now, I have been suffering with a lack of pleasure in previously enjoyable and new activities as well as no libido. I also have moderate brain fog and a general feeling of being unhealthy.

Two weeks ago I started to limit the activities that I can still feel pleasure from: junk food, porn, and music. My diet was the only one to stay on track as I haven't had any soda or junk food in the past few weeks. I could definitely feel a small amount of my libido come back after the first week.

I also find social activities to be slightly more enjoyable which leads me to believe that what I am trying to do is benefitting my mental health.

I am still suffering very much but I feel optimistic that I can be back to my old self one day.. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions, supplements, etc. that will help me.

#2 β-Endorphin

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Posted 19 February 2015 - 11:45 PM

That sounds like typical anhedonic depression to me. Antidepressants supplements would be your best bet in this regard. St John's Wort is the most effective I've seen but make sure to only use it for limited times(Like 1 month max at a time for example) to avoid phototoxicity. Some amino acid supplements could be effective like L-tyrosine(for dopamine) and L-tryptophan(for serotonin and melatonin). Your symptoms look a lot like a dopamine deficiency, considering dopamine controls libido, pleasure/gratification, sense of well-being and clarity of thought. This is why powerful dopamine enhancing substances(like ritalin for example) tend to make people horny, feel an enhanced sense of pleasure in all activities, have tremendous clarity of thought and feel very healthy and overall great. L-tyrosine would be great for this. Caffeine can especially help with this as well. But at times, a dopamine deficiency can be caused by a problem with absorbing or metabolizing vitamins/minerals or other such issues. For example, if you don't absorb vitamin b6 properly, your brain will not produce enough dopamine and thus a dopamine deficiency occurs.

 

So try to get a multivitamin in your diet, get some essential mineral supplements like zinc and magnesium to make sure you are getting adequate levels of those. Try to look into iodine as well. Low iodine levels cause low dopamine levels, and supplementing iodine can correct this. Junk food, while it does boost dopamine levels right away, actually lowers dopamine in the long term, so try to cut those out as much as you can.

 

Sleep deprivation also tremendously lowers dopamine levels, even just missing 30 minutes of sleep makes my ADHD much worse I have found. Exercise is important too, with regular exercise able to increase serotonin levels to the same level as prescription antidepressants in certain cases.

 

As for actual substances and herbs to take, L-theanine elevates brain dopamine level and is good for you in many ways. It's found in green tea but I find that it's antidepressant effect usually works at higher doses. Personally, 300 mg of L-theanine(30x the dose found in one cup of green tea) gives me mild euphoria. Citicoline increases Dopamine receptor density and increase the amount of Tyrosine hydroxylase(the enzyme that converts L-tyrosine to dopamine) in the brain. Citicoline also breaks down in the brain into uridine, a compound that regulates and moderates the dopamine system in the brain. Rhodiola rosea is another herb that inhibits MAO-A, an enzyme in the brain that breaks down dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. By blocking(inhibiting) this enzyme, less dopamine gets broken down, and as a result more dopamine build up in your brain. Bacopa is another great herb for depression, it just takes a while to kick in, meaning you will have to take it every day for quite a while for it to work.

 

All in all, these supplements are mostly hit and miss. Some won't help, some will make you slightly worse and some will help tremendously. You just have to keep trying and don't get discouraged if one of them don't work for you. Good luck with getting better.

 

 

 


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#3 Babychris

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Posted 22 February 2015 - 11:39 AM

I can find some similarity betweed your case and mine, but permit me to be a bit ego-centric here by explaning my case. 

 

I'm someone very talkative usually with a severe over-thinking issue, but those attribute which use to define me has disaperead, outshadowed by a persisting brain-heavyness (don't know if I can qualify it as brain fog since my memory is still good), now my mind is pretty stable but much less funny too... 

 

I had 2 years back some severe depression induce by some events and a pramiracetam + modafinil binge which led me to have some impressive sleep paralysis and weird vasoconstriction. After those events I woked up one night heavily depressed and with this heavy head that has never disapeared yet. 

 

After I became very irritable but still very active mentally... Then I had to took 2-fa on a regular basis for 2 months. I'm affraid it has destroyed some of my dopamine and/or serotonin structures of my brain. Anyway I have tried almost anything but I can't regain myself that's pretty embarassing.



#4 MichaelTheAnhedonic

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Posted 22 February 2015 - 10:59 PM

I'm suffering from this too. Well, not exactly but I am not able to think properly, my mind is blank all day, I can't feel, I can't recall my memories, I can't create new memories, I can't concentrate, can't make simple decisions, no motivation for even shower and I'm apathethic and anhedonic all day. Ethylphenidate is really helpful for me now. 



#5 sensei

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Posted 23 February 2015 - 11:55 PM

History of substance use/abuse including opiates, cocaine, benzodiazepines, amphetamines, methamphetamines, marijuana, or alcohol?

 

History of SSRI or SSNRI use ( cymbalta, lexapro, paxil, etc)?



#6 Gminor

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Posted 24 February 2015 - 03:02 AM

History of substance use/abuse including opiates, cocaine, benzodiazepines, amphetamines, methamphetamines, marijuana, or alcohol?

History of SSRI or SSNRI use ( cymbalta, lexapro, paxil, etc)?

I've never abused any drugs of any kind but I do have a porn addiction if that helps.

I took paxil a few months ago but on a low dose for a short period of time. I already had my condition before I took the medicine.
My brain fog seemed to subside during this time.

Edited by Gminor, 24 February 2015 - 03:02 AM.


#7 sensei

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Posted 24 February 2015 - 03:19 AM

 

History of substance use/abuse including opiates, cocaine, benzodiazepines, amphetamines, methamphetamines, marijuana, or alcohol?

History of SSRI or SSNRI use ( cymbalta, lexapro, paxil, etc)?

I've never abused any drugs of any kind but I do have a porn addiction if that helps.

I took paxil a few months ago but on a low dose for a short period of time. I already had my condition before I took the medicine.
My brain fog seemed to subside during this time.

 

 

 

Porn addiction can cause anhedonia.  Masturbating to porn frequently can screw up the dopamine homeostasis in the brain.

 

It also creates an almost unreachable ideal with respect to pleasure and sexual partners -- the vast majority of women do not look anything remotely like porn stars.

 

As an experiment -- wean yourself off porn and masturbation; try and be abstinent (no ejaculation) for 30 days AFTER you have weaned off porn and see how you feel.



#8 Gminor

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Posted 24 February 2015 - 11:56 PM

 

 

History of substance use/abuse including opiates, cocaine, benzodiazepines, amphetamines, methamphetamines, marijuana, or alcohol?

History of SSRI or SSNRI use ( cymbalta, lexapro, paxil, etc)?

I've never abused any drugs of any kind but I do have a porn addiction if that helps.

I took paxil a few months ago but on a low dose for a short period of time. I already had my condition before I took the medicine.
My brain fog seemed to subside during this time.

 

 

 

Porn addiction can cause anhedonia.  Masturbating to porn frequently can screw up the dopamine homeostasis in the brain.

 

It also creates an almost unreachable ideal with respect to pleasure and sexual partners -- the vast majority of women do not look anything remotely like porn stars.

 

As an experiment -- wean yourself off porn and masturbation; try and be abstinent (no ejaculation) for 30 days AFTER you have weaned off porn and see how you feel.

 

I tried this about a year ago but stopped after I couldn't force myself to stay abstinent for more than 4 days. I'll try weaning off slowly to see if that helps.



#9 Blackkzeus

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Posted 26 February 2015 - 04:47 AM

How's your diet? Do you eat a lot of processed foods? 



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#10 Gminor

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Posted 26 February 2015 - 02:31 PM

How's your diet? Do you eat a lot of processed foods?


Yes I used to eat it every time I could. I've cut it most junk food over the past month and I feel a bit better.





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