Low Dopamine Levels

There are valid reasons for me to think I have a low dopamine level. My whole life I've been having issues with short attention span, inability to focus and trouble concentrating. While it sounds like an ADD, I also experience dreamy feeling of reality, my natural state of mind is very sleepy, slow and I feel like living in a dream more than a reality, or like looking at the world through a fog, clouds... I also have been having issues with very low motivation, extreme laziness, low energy and constant feeling of tiredness throughout my whole life. I usually sleep for 10 to 12 hours a day and I can't wake up unless somebody else wakes me.

There are very rare occations in my life, when I feel like the cloud is lifted and I can see the world in its rich colours, I feel more active and slightly motivated, but these periods are very short termed.

A lot of people have told me that it's a long term depression or other psychological issues, but I've noticed that serotinin based medication doesn't really help me. On the other hand when I use stuff that is suppoused to increase the level of dopamine I feel much better.
For example most people feel tired and relaxed when they use valium, but when I first used it I felt amazing. The clouds lifted, my thoughts were suddenly focused and clear, I saw the world in its full colours and I actually felt energized and happy, not tired at all. I know it's strange but the same thing happened to me with weed, most people after smoking feel relaxed, I felt focused, serious, present and active. Alcohol usually helps me as well, but that is also a dopamine based thing.

Is it possible that my condition is really low dopamine? I've heard that things that are suppoused to relax people with normal dopamine levels can actually energize those whose dopamine is low. Is that true? If so, how can I increase my dopamine levels? Don't worry I do not take valium or use any other drugs, that's why I'm asking about a natural way of increasing it. Also can I be prescripted dopamine based medication without an official ADD or ADHD diagnosis? And can be a low or an unstable level of dopamine caused by anything else than ADD or ADHD? (I know it's not low but unstable in ADD patients).

I too have similar difficulties Erecura, and have recently started employing the help of a herbalist to deal with chronic invasive symptoms. I did not hold out much hope that this kind of intervention would have much effect...However, I am astounded as to just how effective these supplements can be. I am now taking VitaminD3 with B Complex, L-Tyrosine and Turmeric with Black Pepper. ........Something to look into maybe. Of course it isn't a cure all...but certainly has made a world of difference.

My Herbalist says that raising ones temperature slightly can yield spectacular results with regard to lethargy, apathy and metabolic rate. I should add that it is important to consult your treating doctor before taking supplements, as many can have negative interactions with prescribed medications.

Be kind to yourself Erecura, and welcome to P.C

Hello Erecura.
There are meds for this and a lot of them are for parkinsons disease or parkasonia. They found thes people have low dopamine levels. I don't know of any test that can determine that you have low dopamine or any other chemical. Rexulti is a dopamine re-uptake inhibitor. I think the add meds also are in that class. I think your kinda hard on yourself calling your self lazy. We often can't do things we like so that is a good indication your not lazy.

I don't know for sure, but my guess is that if your dopamine system is underactive in some way, there's a good chance that there's something causing it that might also be affecting your brain and maybe also your body in other ways. For instance, some scientific review articles have concluded that vitamin D levels tend to be abnormally low in those with clinical depression, even though there doesn't seem to be conclusive evidence at this time (at least based on my understanding) that low vitamin D levels cause clinical depression. One finding relating to vitamin D that has some evidence to support it is that vitamin D increases the production of an enzyme called tyrosine hydroxylase (Puchacz et al., 1996; Cui et al., 2015), which converts the amino acid l-tyrosine to l-dopa, which then gets converted into dopamine. And since there's an enzyme that converts dopamine to norepinephrine and another enzyme that converts norepinephrine to adrenaline, increasing tyrosine hydroxylase production with vitamin D would also be expected to increase levels of these chemicals. In addition to these things, vitamin D also affects both the brain and the body in other ways, with some evidence showing that vitamin D increases the production of serotonin in the brain while reducing the production of serotonin elsewhere in the body (Patrick & Ames, 2014). So, dopamine could conceivably be low as a result of low vitamin D levels, but if it is, having a low dopamine level would be just one of many things going on. And there are other chemicals of different sorts (copper, for instance) that can affect the dopamine system in ways that could conceivably lead the dopamine system to be underactive, but as the case is with vitamin D, at least some of these chemicals are thought to affect different systems in our brains and bodies other than the dopamine system. I don't know how likely it would be that a doctor would prescribe a medication that boosts dopamine in some way to help to alleviate the problems that you described, but you might want to ask a doctor about what treatment options might be available to you, whether the treatment options would consist of pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements such as vitamin D3 or maybe the l-tyrosine and/or the curcumin/turmeric that one of the previous posters mentioned, or something else. Pharmaceuticals might be one option worth trying to give you a dopamine boost, but there might be other options worth trying (some of which might conceivably be more effective and/or less likely to cause side effects or other problematic effects), as well.

I wish you luck with finding something that might bring you some relief from the symptoms that you described in your post.

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REFERENCES

Cui, X., Pertile, R., Liu, P., Eyles, D.W. (2015). Vitamin D regulates tyrosine hydroxylase expression: N-cadherin a possible mediator. Neuroscience, 304, 90-100. Abstract: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26210580

Patrick, R.P., & Ames, B.N. (2014). Vitamin D hormone regulates serotonin synthesis. Part 1: Relevance for autism. FASEB Journal, 28, 2398-2413. Abstract: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24558199

Puchacz, E., Stumpf, W.E., Stachowiak, E.K., & Stachowiak, M.K. (1996). Vitamin D increases expression of the tyrosine hydroxylase gene in adrenal medullary cells. Brain Research. Molecular Brain Research, 36, 193-196. Abstract: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9011759

Since you mention laziness and low motivation, I wonder if you have the same problem I have. The best description I've found for it is "a weird urge to not do things." (If you're interested, I've written everything I know about it here.)

I consider it an unofficial ADHD symptom. Lots of people on the ADHD site I go to describe the same problem, and it's closely related to what ADHD is understood to entail, but it's not explicitly in the diagnostic criteria and you will find almost nothing about it in professional literature regarding ADHD. I only found out the name of the problem (initiation impairment) from reading about the same symptom in another condition.

I've found ADHD meds helpful. Since you have other ADHD symptoms as well, that seems like a promising avenue for help. The only similar drugs I know of that are typically legal without a prescription are caffeine and nicotine.

I would take any info on specific neurotransmitters with a grain of salt. Diagnostic labels aren't based on them, and even treatment is only loosely related. Most ADHD meds raise dopamine, but atomoxetine (Strattera) is an SNRI instead, and I've heard anecdotes suggesting that it helps a lot of people with this problem (although, it didn't help me personally).

To add to my previous post, I know that Valium, marijuana, and alcohol affect the dopamine system, but I also think it might be possible that the positive effects that you've noticed from having used the substances that you mentioned might be due to factors other than the effects that the substances have on dopamine or perhaps to a mixture of the effects that the substances have on dopamine and other effects that the substances have on the brain and body. I'm not sure about marijuana, but I know, for instance, that both Valium and alcohol activate the same receptors that the neurotransmitter GABA activates, so one possibility to consider is that the reason why you respond positively to Valium and alcohol might have more to due with the effects that the substances have on the GABA system than they have on the dopamine system. Of course, it might still be the case that the reason why Valium, marijuana, and alcohol have affected you in a positive way has more to do with the effects that the substances have on dopamine than with other effects that the substances might have on the brain and body, and I think it's conceivable that having a dopamine system that might be described as being underactive for one reason or another might explain why the substances that you've mentioned affect you in a positive way. But there might be other explanations, as well.

Here's a drug you might ask your doctor to let you try: pramipexole (brand name: Mirapex) It's supposed to elevate dopamine. It was ordered for me, but it made me nauseated, so I didn't take it long.

Some people with psych issues seem to do better on it. Originally, it was for Parkinson's Disease. It's been used for depression.

A simple dose of Tyrosine, perhaps 1000mg, should answer your question.

L-Tyrosine can be somewhat helpful. I take it with B6 to help start the engine. But the diminished cognitive & executive functioning calls for more stringent measures. Finding a prescribed dopamine agonist that carries few side effects is key.