Where have all my "feel good" brain chemicals gone?

[twodogs]

Just some musings.

You know all those wonderful chemicals/hormones that surge through your brain during moments of sheer pleasure and make you feel euphoric, ecstatic, elated, motivated, etc?. I'm talking about the kind of chemicals that make thier presence felt when you've been dirt poor your entire life and suddenly you hit the lottery for 50 million dollars. Or the kind of jubillant rush you get when your long-lost pet has finally been found. Maybe you hav'nt been with another person for 10 years and all of a sudden you find yourself dating a beautiful woman/man. Or still yet, you get really engrossed in a project and become very focused and motivated with it.

Well, all of that has been missing for me for a l-o-n-g time. I want those feeling/chemicals back. I want to feel highly motivated and ambitious again. I want my serotonin/dopamine/norepinephrine back and I want to be able to take an interest again in the things I used to enjoy. I have lots of wonderful pets, projects I've been "meaning" to do, lots of realy cool software programs I want to learn, and quite a few things around the house that need to be done.

I run on auto-pilot most of the time as I mentioned once before. I have lost interest in everything. It's like I have become this robot/zombie who does things just because I know they need to be done but derive no pleasure from them, nor do I feel the least bit motivated as I'm doing them. On the RARE days when I do feel even the slightest motivation, I try to pack everything I can into my day - even freezing cookie dough, paying bills in advance, etc because I know that once I start going downhill again, I won't have the motivation to do anything.

I suffer from ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) in addition to OCD, Anxiety, etc and I was on Ritalin as a kid so I'm wondering if I should ask my doc for something like this again (perhaps Straterra?). Anyway, I just felt like sharing and getting some feedback from the rest of you on this. Does depression make you feel this way?.

- Phil

[iamuneaks]

 :syou can do whatever you think is right but I will tell you about the strattera from my experience of have tried it and it was like the closest thing to nothing that I have ever gone through. I can tell you this about add and I have had this all of my life except they didn't have a name for it back then,I just got the title of Dennis the menace's twin sister. My doctor has me on concerta and it was difficult in the beginning  because if you eat and then take it you will be nauseated for the rest of the day(not a good supprise at all)  Also I have done quite alot of reading and researching the reason for the disorder in the brain and one way that you will know you actually do have it is this: When a stimulant is introduced into the body (amphetamine) your brain is not going to react in a way that a person with a normal brain chemistry would react. In orther words,you will not feel stimulated and as a matter of fact,you will feel slowed down,this is due to your brains natural imbalance and by taking the stimulant you are merely normalizing the level of where your brain needs to be. I don't know why this happens and I suppose that if the scientists and doctors ever find out maybe it can be cured some how I am just trying to explain how my brain gets when I take my medication. It does not stimulate or speed me up at all and as a matter of fact does the opposite,do you get this as well?pineyes:

[twodogs]

Hello & thank's for getting back to me on my posting. I have never been on strattera but I have seen the commercials on TV. What exactly is this prescribed for?. I just feel totally unmotivated most of the time and even coffee or tea does'nt help get me going much. If I could just stay focused on something for longer than 10 minutes that would be good.

[itsmeesindee]

To get an accurate diagnosis you should see a psychiatrist.  They can prescribe the correct meds and monitor you a lot better than a regular MD. I know a lot of regular MD's that  prescribe (my doctor did this to me and it was awful) medications that are out of their area of expertise.  A psychiatrist will evaluate you and treat you however you don't see them on like a weekly basis for like psycho therapy, that would be done by a councelor.

I have been taking antidepressants for years and they are not great but they do help alot.  They make me feel kinda flat not really happy or sad.  Recently I had a flare up with anxiety and the doc gave me klonopin in addition to my zoloft, I can actually say that I feel happy again.  I don't belive that the doc will let me take this med forever because it could be habit forming, but I am thinking maybe I need a different med.

Abyway, best of luck, I hope you are feeling better soon.

Cin