I wasn’t sure whether to post this but I’m really scared. So my backstory in short- I had a violent reaction to Lexapro and now face a similar syndrome to PFS. Everytime I increase dopamine I make this condition permanently worse. Everytime I deplete dopamine my receptors seem to become increasingly sensitive (in theory) further and make things way worse. 3 months ago I started loosing sleep (not sure why) and getting then anxious about it. Things were getting worse every day and still do. Unfortunately insomnia sensitises dopamine receptors and downregulates dopamine receptors based on studies. I keep getting random fevers now. Can’t explain how hellish my brain feels. I feel like I’m going to die from something similar to Neuroleptic Malignany Syndrome. This happens when not enough dopamine is getting through to the brain. Of course no doctor can help me. I don’t think theres much I can do. If there was any drug I could try would. I’m so scared. Sorry if this is inappropriate or sounds like rambling.
Have you tried meditation? At worst it may help with the thought spiral of doom but it may help in other ways as well.
I am so sorry to hear what you’re going through. I know people have it much worse than me in terms of symptoms, but I also feel hopeless due to my insomnia. I am seconding meditation if you haven’t already tried. Here’s a quick introduction to it: https://www.shinzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/SeeHearFeelIntroduction_ver1.8.pdf
Would benzodiazepines like diazepam make things worse for you?
Have you tried psychotherapy and exercise? The psychotherapist has to be good, but exercise, at least walking outdoors, is free.
What did you eat this past week? Changing your diet can help tremendously, especially with mental sides.
Try baking soda helped me a great deal eating small amounts of it.
Thanks @Mercked and @Sawproblemo. This was one of the first things I tried. I did it everyday for 4 weeks but my brain was spiraling with continuous insomnia still. I feel like I’m too scared of what’s happening to be able to fix my anxiety over it and my brains stuck in fight or flight like a ptsd patient. I might try again but my heads so messed up now.
Unfortunately nearly every drug in existence effects dopamine. I can’t take any sleeping pills. Especially these guys, hence why doctors here won’t give them to anyone. The secondary effects on dopamine make them super addictive.
yeh I can’t do much exercise because of dopamine but I’ve been walking 45 minutes a day. I was seeing a sleep therapist and they were garbage. I don’t know what advice someone can give to me as I feel like my anxiety is really justified right now. Did you find help with a psychotherapy? I just feel like all these things would help if my brain wasn’t so damaged and it wasn’t getting worse.
tried to cut out all processed foods. Not sure what diet I should be on because theres so many different recommendations out there.
What effect does baking soda have? First time I’ve heard this suggestion! thanks.
thanks, ill look up psycho-active effects and if I can take it!
I use OTC Benadryl and melatonin for sleep
Yes I realize Benadryl is possibly bad long term for health, but lack of sleep is definitely bad.
can i take natron as well ?
A good psychotherapist can be very useful but an average one is just a waste of time and money imho. The things that work best for me on sleep are sleep hygiene practices such as no screens before bedtime, only lying in your bed when it is time to go to sleep, and going to sleep at 11 pm to take advantage of natural rhythms. Tryptophan is effective but I really avoid the drug/supplement route because I think it has negative psychological effects in sense that it makes you feel like you are dependent etc. 45 minutes of walk should be adequate for exercise. The most powerful thing of all for moodmreally is having friends and social contact.
Yeh im doing everything sleep hygiene related, maybe I should just accept my damaged brain and that I’ll never sleep again. Funny you mentioned tryptophan. I made my self way worse with it. It’s anti- dopamine so it’s like you guys taking anti- androgens. It was ok at lower dosages and I thought it was too weak to cause further damage but I was wrong. It was almost like taking lexapro again. Reminding me of how damaged my brain actually is. Thankyou for the advice it means a lot. I’m trying to keep up with my friends even if I’m 1/100th of the person I used to be.
I tried melatonin for a while but it’s anti-dopamine and was making me worse so I had to stop it. Benadryl also increases dopamine. I wish I was you guys so I could take a bloody sleeping tablet.
Ozeph also struggles with sleep and has reported finding ways of improving it. I view the key to getting better mental health to be to take small individual steps in order to start to form a spiral upwards. As you start to do better, it becomes easier to succeed socially. Then you have positive feedback and in turn start to do even more better, etc. My notion is that loneliness is a large component of our trouble but making gradual progress makes it easier to have a social life and it is possible to establish an upward trajectory with relatively little progress in the beginning.
This seems to help me, but my insomnia is caused by stress of dealing with this and most likely not by issues with neurotransmitters.
I have a bunch of relaxation audio files that I listen to when sleeping… maybe worth a try. Let me know if you want any audio files to use with it.
If anyone needs relaxation or audio files that could help, just PM me.
have you tried a little dose of benadryl? i realize the increase in dopamine is bad for you but i mean at last resort maybe see if its significant enough to make you feel worse?
hang in there either way, 2020 will be exciting, pls dont give up.
I did toss this up myself and decided against it. I mean trying an anti-histamine. Too risky. Even though I fucked myself up on tryptophan anyway. Thanks for the message of hope though, that’s exactly what I needed. What a dead end situation.