Interesting, I was not at all aware of this issue. So you can build a tolerance to say, rhodiola? Maybe stick with lithium orotate, b6 and EGCG, and cycle rhodiola. The first three will just optimize the situation with tyrosine hydroxylase upregulation, substrates, some minor MAOB inhibition and COMT inhibition. The rhodiola can come in and do the rest. Or cycle EGCG with rhodiola?
Yeah, I've read numerous reports that recommend cycling Rhodiola weekly, taking a week's break. Some say it's every 2-4 weeks, but knowing how substances affect me (even alcohol and weed), I'd say I'd be on the other side of the scale. I think I'll skip Rhodiola because of two reasons, the second one being that it's a DHT inhibitor, and that's my main issue. I think even my depression comes mainly from lack of Dopamine - on days when I do things (and if I take stimulants), I actually feel great. The longer this lasts and the more things I get done, the better I feel overall.
To comment on your suggestions (and I do appreciate them, so please don't see my comments as me criticizing or something - people get that idea from me sometimes, and I don't really know why):
Lithium I will try - I have to wait long shipping times in Europe. I am also waiting for a few other vitamins/minerals to arrive.
I'm already taking B6 daily in higher-than-RDI doses. I will reduce the dosage once I receive a precision scale, now I'm just messing around with powder on the edge of my folding knife, haha. I started that recently, but since it's water-soluble, the effects should be noticeable within the hour and not build up over a period of time, and honestly - I don't feel any better at all.
EGCG - I haven't read about it yet, and it's on my todo list. It's likely I will be taking it. Strong Macha tea either makes me calm and sleepy (I really hate being sleepy until my body is worn out and I have to sleep to get more energy - if I could I'd love to stay awake for days, working, but unfortunately that is not possible in a human body).
Rhodiola, I actually commented above, hah.
How do you know you have an "overactive MAO system"?
Psychiatrist and researchers don't know enough to say that MAOi's work because they reduce the effects of an 'overactive MAO system'. They only know that through the mechanism of irreversible MAO inhibition amongst other properties that certain MAOi's exert, a certain percentage of people with depression and some other disorders achieve relief of depression symptoms.
We're not at a point where we can pinpoint the physical cause of depression and prescribe a specific medication to fix it. It's a very complicated disorder and there may not even be one type of depression just as there isn't one type of cancer that's treated the same way. In a sense, we're still in the dark ages regarding mental health.
All we can do is say that different antidepressants with different pharmacologic profiles treat some symptoms of depression in a certain percentage of people.
For example, if someone is very lethargic and can't get moving, not prone to anxiety, and sad most of the time than buproprion might be a good fit because it has 'activating' properties to it so it might be able to treat the symptom of lethargy and mood symptoms. We don't know enough to say that buproprion is 'balancing' this person's neurotransmitters like the 30 second commercials say.
Well, I certainly wouldn't trust psychiatrists, most of who say that everything is psychological and if not, "you just have to manage it by doing this" - that has never worked for me. So instead, I took a look at my genes. All genes that are associated with MAO activity are overactive in my system, and most genes that produce neurotransmitters are inhibited. That's from what I could find spending a night or two researching on caffeine. I know a lot of that information is heavily underresearched, but it all correlates with my experiences throughout my life and how I reacted to various substances, life situations and all of that, so I am rather confident about my findings in genetics.
Speaking of depression though, my main problem is lack of dopamine. I can feel sad, anxious, whatever, but as long as I can concentrate and do not have racing thoughts, I will sit down and do my thing, and feel great about myself afterwards. Of course it would be great to not feel those other negatives while doing those things - it would be a more pleasant experience overall, I would suppose.
In short - my main problem is that it's very hard for me to feel like doing anything, and depending on the substances I ingest - I might feel like doing something, but my thoughts are racing and I cannot concentrate. Sometimes I can concentrate but not feel like doing anything "productive" but I can get myself to watch a TV show I enjoy or play a video game that I like or prepare food or something else. Whenever I get a dopamine kick from some substance, it helps me substancially. Sometimes I can't concentrate still, but I am still able to do something, and that's the important part for me.
Not sure he's talking about depression though. Some people have more COMT, some people just want more dopamine, frankly I can see why. It not only feels good, makes you quick witted, potent and horny but also it makes you motivated and productive. It's something worth trying to hack if you can. I'd just cycle them if you can but take a break for a while, use the combination I suggested above. It should keep you at least optimized until you go back on it.
You're right 100%. :-) Dopamine kick makes me feel like "myself". Normally I just feel like I am not me, but I cannot get myself to be "myself" no matter how hard I try. Trying in my normal state just makes me make a lot of mistakes, both socially and practically, which then leads me to feel like a failure when I look back the next day or the day after that, or whenever the consequences of those mistakes kicks in. Not to mention my total lack of motivation and constant unproductivity that I mentioned.
//On topic of multiple MAOIs:
I still want to learn about stacking and cycling MAOIs, and if taking different MAOIs, cycling them, would be an option, or if they all would just lose efficacy over time, and I would have to go back to the normal "not myself" for a week or two, not being able to work or do anything again. Really, I should ask the same question about dopaminergic supplements - if I can cycle them and still get higher levels of dopamine (and for that matter other neurotransmintters), or if they just all lose efficacy and I have to stop for awhile, to feel some mental pain for awhile, haha.