Aside from the stuff already mentioned here, which is very good, you know what seemed to help restore my dopamine function? A monthlong break from internet browsing. Seriously. The constant seek-reward-seek again cycle of scrolling through articles and fora really messes me up over time, I think. It's like those "nofap" guys except my addiction isn't pulling my pud, it's raw information. I was also exercising regularly at the time.
Give it a shot... you might be surprised. Throw some mindfulness meditation in there, for good measure.
It couldn't hurt, right?
Honestly, kudos to this man. I've felt the same way, that haphazardly scrolling the net does damage in the same sense as always looking at porn does. While I haven't done a full month sans internet (again, kudos) I do go a few days without or a week at a drastic reduction, and I always feel better.
I think there's a lot to this, well said StevesPetRat.
As per the OP, I've been using very low-dose sulbutiamine a few days a week, along with phenylpiracetam and daily, multiple cups of gynostemma, on top of cutting back on caffeine, vigorous exercise multiple 5 times a week, meditation, etc. I went through some inositol a while back but at a much lower dosage than I've read people using on the boards for this sort of thing, mainly because I didn't have much. I have noticed great improvements, but was never depressed to begin with, just had some slight general apathy. Also, along the lines of what Area-1255 said, I'm not sure if any of these interventions help specifically with the anhedonia aspect of dopamine down regulation, but I've noticed improvement. Remember to get plenty of exercise, meditate and try to limit the rapid seek-reward-seek behavior mentioned above.
