Levodopa as Potential Remedy for POIS

[Nas]

Levodopa is continuing to be a success.

The problem is, though, it is gradual ( not instant relief ), and it is not full relief ( Symptoms are still there but weaker ). Trying this medication came from the idea that we have deficiency in the metabolism of dopamine, and by the gradual but eventual relief of levodopa, it seems that what we suffer from is perhaps deficiency in the production of the Aromatic L-amino Acid Decarboxylase (AAAD).

AAAD deficiency is a genetic disease that is documented in the medical world. It is known to accompany great developmental delay related to the inability to produce the AAAD enzyme. It accompanies symptoms such as
Hypotonia (floppiness)
Developmental delay
Oculogyric crises
Difficulty with initiating and controlling movements
Dystonia and dyskinesia
Gastointestinal dysmotility which can present at as vomiting, gastro-oesophageal reflux, diarrhoea and/or constipation
Autonomic symptoms including difficulties controlling temperature and blood sugar, excessive sweating and nasal congestion

These issues are not present for me. They could be some of the symptoms other people suffer here from but we can't say for sure.

What is present however are low dopamine and serotonin symptoms in the central nervous system.

But we should also note that I suffered from non of this nonsense when I was a kid. In fact I remember my first masturbation sessions to be completely harmless. But I guess as I started to masturbate to porn, high levels of dopamine and serotonin started to be produced; more than my body could have time to replenish, thus developing POIS for me at such a young age.

This is a compelling theory for now and I urge everyone to try levodopa ( with medical supervision ) to see how the drug affects them. 

[Nas]

The medical student from Syria I talk to also reported 70% improvement with levodopa.

[uhtred sonof]

Funny how we're coming full circle to the original hypothesis. All the nofappers think they have a dopamine issue too.

[demografx]

 uhtred sonof, member b_jim formulated a POIS dopamine theory at this forum in 2007!!!

[b_jim]

One point is catecholamines (like dopamine) are present in human seminal plasma and might be loss by ejaculation. In the same time, lot of dopamine is released during orgasm. Which it make a "double" usage of dopamine.

The second point is the effect of dopamine depletion, showed by scientific study :
https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/relevant-research-and-articles-about-the-studies/dopamine-and-addiction/subjective-experiences-during-dopamine-depletion-2005/

Mr. A was a healthy, extraverted, very well functioning 21-year-old medical student without even minor psychological difficulties or psychiatric disorders in his family. His Global Assessment of Functioning Scale score was 97. Written informed consent was obtained from Mr. A. We will describe the spontaneous reported subjective experiences after he started the first dose of 750 mg AMPT at t=0 hours (1).

After 7 hours, Mr. A felt more distance between himself and his environment. Stimuli had less impact; visual and audible stimuli were less sharp. He experienced a loss of motivation and tiredness. After 18 hours, he had difficulty waking up and increasing tiredness; environmental stimuli seemed dull. He had less fluency of speech. After 20 hours, he felt confused. He felt tense before his appointment and had an urge to check his watch in an obsessive way.

After 24 hours, Mr. A had inner restlessness, flight of ideas; his ideas seemed inflicted, and he could not remember them. He felt a loss of control over his ideas. After 28 hours, he felt ashamed, frightened, anxious, and depressed. He was afraid that the situation would continue. At that time, blepharospasm, mask face, and tremor were noted. After 30 hours, he was tired and slept 11 hours. After 42 hours, he had poor concentration. In the next hours, he returned to normal




Testosterone being dopamine-related, this might explain why some guys got Pois after 40+ years when testosterone starts to decrease.

[romies]

How is your experience after 3 months?

Asking because Levodopa usually causes tolerance after a few months (in Parkinson patients)

You may want to make sure your brain dopamine/serotonin ratio not change too much, as levodopa competes with 5htp/tryptophan when crossing brain-blood barrier.

[Nas]

I'm not taking Levodopa currently, I only use it when POIS is too intolerable. I'm thinking of incorporating it with the stack under reduced dosages.

[brainfogfun]

I took L-dopa and it was life changing. I finally felt normal. Maybe a little better than normal. And not in a 'covering up symptoms' way like almost every other drug has done. The issue is it lasted for less than a month. I've tried it on and off again for years and it never worked like it did when i first tried it.

[swell]

That is called my friend 'tolerance'.  I have heard that to happen with all dopaminergic drugs including Vyvanse (an amphetamine pro-drug).  I think one has to figure out, what is causing the drugs effect to fade off.  In my case, I found that:
a) taking a small dose of Iron Carbonyl, 8mg (i.e. 50% of Daily Value) every day makes Vyvanse very smooth.
b) on-and-off taking N-Acetyl Cysteine at night time.  It forces L-Dopa to get flushed from your system.  Vyvanse has a tendency to build-up in your system and NAC in my experience flushes it all away, re-setting your brain.
c) once a week, or occasionally Niacin 100 to 200mg at night. 
d) once a week, Vitamin C megadosing at night, say 1000mg.

As always consult with your doc, this is just what worked for me.

I took L-dopa and it was life changing. I finally felt normal. Maybe a little better than normal. And not in a 'covering up symptoms' way like almost every other drug has done. The issue is it lasted for less than a month. I've tried it on and off again for years and it never worked like it did when i first tried it.