33 replies to this topic

[Cappa]

+1 for dopamine, although for me, I can't take stimulants or anything like that without my OCD / other anxieties going nuts.

If you are hypogonadal or could otherwise use more testosterone, targeting that (not necessarily through HRT) might be the best way to go, and is probably also the safest way to increase dopamine in any long term context.

Edited by Cappa, 24 January 2010 - 12:42 AM.

[Cappa]

ignore

Edited by Cappa, 24 January 2010 - 11:09 AM.

[ribbit]

Whichever supps you do find useful, don't forget to do the mind work. After all, no one takes steriods and then neglects to actually lift weights. I think someone else also mentioned CBT, or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. I am not one to jump on to therapy bandwagons, but CBT is about as pragmatic as it gets. Its not sexy or complicated, just useful. Or you could get into the Greek stoics. Or, perhaps you have a wise cranky grandfather who could coach you?

Let the medicine be like training wheels on your bicycle (which you have to learn to ride). Before you know it you'll be doing radical wheelies past all the hawtest ladies.

Personally, I've found the following to be useful:
5-HTP
L-Theanine

Alcohol - with discipline can be helpful, but without discipline can be a big setback (read acting foolish and regretting it forever after = wanting to hide in a cave like a leper). Acting a fool and embracing it after, perhaps using a tool like CBT, though, can be huge, if not a straight up epiphany.

Psychological issues suck. They are not like physical ailments. Where, if you have a tail, for instance, the problem is clear, and the solution is (sometimes) clear. Alas, I am digressing, apologies.

[chrono]

Lufega really benefitted from Manganese. It's on my short list. That entire thread is very good; also see this one.

Benzos are great every once in a while (I don't drink, and very occasionally take 1mg clonazepam for social occasions), but it is by no means a long-term solution. They are very physically and mentally addictive, the withdrawals can be dangerous, and it is too easy to depend on their action without doing any real work to improve yourself, because they're such an easy and immediate fix.

I'm investigating dopamine production currently, as it is the axis along which most of my attention/anxiety problems seem to be modulated. I also find piracetam helpful, not for attenuating anxiety directly, but in motivating me to actually get out there and do something, rather than agonizing and playing out scenarios which only make things worse—something like an indirect fix.

Edited by chrono, 01 February 2010 - 09:32 PM.