To quote the words of one physician posting under the name of pmgamer18 at the anabolic minds forum:
I recall some of the folks here at one point describing how their symtoms seemed to be reflective of a possible dopamine deficiency. Based on the source quoted above, such symtoms would seem to merely be one of the many effects of low testosterone, though mediated by dopamine.
It is possible to treat this dopamine deficiency independently (that is, treat the symtom but not the cause), but one might run the risk of becoming overly-tolerant to dopamine. Recall the story of letsconvenience who started off with dopamine precurors (which did the trick), and then, when the effects of precursors began to wane, proceeded to begin taking dopamine reuptake inhibitors. He was probably developing tolerance.
We obviously want to focus on treating the cause here, and not just the symtoms. Any kind of replacement, be it dopamine or testosterone itself, is in fact only a means of treating symptoms, and for this reason should be considered only as a last resort.
Just a correction – pmgamer18 (Phil) is not a physician, he is a layman like you and me (in his 60s I believe, and on TRT).
His spelling and grammar are typically not as eloquent as the post you quoted, I’m 100% certain that what he posted was copied verbatim from elsewhere. No offense to Phil, wherever you are!
Here’s a thought – what if the upregulation of Testosterone men get while on the drug lead to a “desensitization” to dopamine, as the article you quoted suggests… which for us, was further compounded when our T levels crashed, lowering our sensitivity to dopamine even more.
Down regulation of receptors for all types of nuerotransmitters is essential for normal physiology
Why is this such a surpise to post it as a new topic? Not being rude but isnt the whole reasoneveryone single one of us is on this furm is because the 1+1 =2 maths didn’t work. Taking finasteride caused all sorts of side effects some due to the over compensation of the testicular-pituitary axis. And god knows what else.
The exact same thing will happen with dopamine supplements in whatever form. tollerance will build up and then when you stop, the overshoot on the way back could make this worse that before you started.
I really am just so amazed that the medical community has not more help on this whole matter. You have countless young men from all over the world with previously normal brain and body function. They change their hormone/neurotrasnmitter profiles somehow and the whole system is buggered. There doesnt even seem to be a test to show what is wrong. Yet we all suffer from the same condition. It really is quite unbeleivable that this iumpairment which must come from so many other conditions as well has not recieved any serious help from the medical community.
cancer may be the enemy of a long life.
hormone imbalance is the enemy of a happy one
(on another note - how come girls on ‘the pill’ never get these mental issues with all their hormone profile changes?)
I came to the same hypothesis earlier. It means that correcting the deflated HPTA doesn’t provide the full answer because our dopamine receptors are expecting a high level of dopamine as normal. So, it’s possible that dopamine receptor insensitivity is a second half of this problem. It may even be a factor in why our systems remain suppressed.
Of course, considering the multiple implications and areas also in-question (adrenal function, poor response to high androgen levels [?]), the problem may originate elsewhere. Just wanted to say its interesting I had the same thought just now.
I know three persons who had become like us after a brain injury.
the first case is of pmgamer18 from Anabolic minds who had head injury in a car accident long ago. He was struggling with TRT and giving advices to new users on the forum.
pmgamer18 was obviously like us. I am sure many old pfs guys know him.
The 2nd guy I met in acupuncture clinic who had got hypogonadal after a head injury while playing basket ball. He told me he was fine on TRT and plans to stay on TRT for the entire life.
The third person was a lady( I met her in a hospital) who had suffered head injury in a car accident.
My point is brain injury can lead to hypogonadism or hormonal issues.
For MRI I believe I have made a post long ago where MRI shows lesions after Accutane use. You will need special MRI for this purpose.
How can I find that post about lesions after Accutane? I’ve just had a brain MRI and it showed some “small residiual lesions” in the white matter. Before Accutane use my MRI was completely clear.
There are many reports on the internet but what is the point to know these all now after this all? Also some studies show the brain lesions decrease or disappear after stopping Accutane.
Maybe you need another MRI to confirm this.
We should focus on how to treat or repair the damage if possible.
here are few examples. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17501969/
Three months after the onset of therapy, the patient reported lack of appetite, faintness and tinnitus. Her second cranial MRI scan showed a cerebellar lesion, and oral isotretinoin treatment was stopped (April 2002). One month after the cessation of oral isotretinoin treatment, the lesion became less prominent on the MRI scan, and after 3 months, it had disappeared.
This is also good article and describe importance of adalimumab
SAPHO syndrome: the supposed trigger by isotretinoin, the efficacy of adalimumab and the specter of depressive disorder: a case report
