Has Anyone Cured Their Anhedonia?

[Kratos]

Too much use of electronics, we as a society in 2020 are addicted.

 

[Runenight201]

Curious that this problem, anhedonia, seems to be one for young men, not for older men or women. I may be wrong about that but that’s my perception. If true then why is it true? What is it that is causing so much anhedonia in young men?

Jordan Peterson would have a word or two about that.

 

[ecstatichamster]

Jordan Peterson would have a word or two about that.

what would he say?

 

[Runenight201]

Jordan Peterson would have a word or two about that.

what would he say?

Anything I say would end up being a half-baked affront to what his true answer would be.

Skirting away from his response, I will say that the apparent lack of a great cause leaves a big hole of meaning for many men. One of the American generals who fought in World War II mentioned how he encountered a depression following the end of the war. The great battle of good vs evil had brought a huge amount of meaning and purpose into his life, and in the absence of the struggle there was now nothing left to fill its place. The hero complex runs deep in many men and I think it’s what traditionally has driven the sex in droves to join up armies and causes (well that and of course the promise of riches in antiquity).

Uniting the species behind a cause larger than any one individual I think would drive a good deal of purpose into people. The space race was an excellent example of a coordinated effort of humanity putting their best feet forward to drive our species forward, and I think any further exploration can bring a good deal of hope into people. Because of the vastness of space, a commitment to its exploration necessitates the abandonment of any grand accomplishment expected in an individual’s lifetime. The expectation rather lies in the cause itself, and knowing that generations down the line, that individuals effort will be rewarded. Such large scale thinking I think is a powerful salvation and a grand secular response to death anxiety and the existential dread of one’s own existence.

But even in the absence of a great adventure, I still think it very possible to find a great source of meaning should one pursue the common paths traditionally laid out, such as a significant other, family, work, community, etc.... but in an increasingly sick world, these paths are harder to travel as the individual has less energy and a sicker environment to interact with, leading to an inability to meet such aims and a subsequent withdrawal into nihilism and despair.

 

[Flo93]

Anhedonia has been with me more or less my whole life. On the one hand, this symptom can be easily influenced in the short term by dopaminergic substances, but on the other hand it is the symptom that is extremely resistant to almost everything in the long term. Over and over again I fall back into this anhedonian state, even if other things in my life have fundamentally changed. I suspect the reason is a fundamentally incorrectly programmed homeostasis in my body.
I am currently testing how zinc affects these symptoms. So far I have noticed some positive effects such as motivation, higher libido (no compulsive "serotonin libido"), desire for strength training, more hunger, fewer hot flashes, etc.

What has helped me against anhedonia so far:

Short term:
• methylphenidate
• Lisdexamfetamine
• Cyproheptadine
• Diphenhydramine
• Amisulpride (50 mg)
• acetylsalicylic acid

Long term:
• zinc?

Maybe zinc would help you too?
My zinc deficiency was likely caused by a combination of an unhealthy diet, chronic excessive sweating, a tendency to systemic inflammation, and excessive masturbation.

 

[Runenight201]

Anhedonia has been with me more or less my whole life. On the one hand, this symptom can be easily influenced in the short term by dopaminergic substances, but on the other hand it is the symptom that is extremely resistant to almost everything in the long term. Over and over again I fall back into this anhedonian state, even if other things in my life have fundamentally changed. I suspect the reason is a fundamentally incorrectly programmed homeostasis in my body.
I am currently testing how zinc affects these symptoms. So far I have noticed some positive effects such as motivation, higher libido (no compulsive "serotonin libido"), desire for strength training, more hunger, fewer hot flashes, etc.

What has helped me against anhedonia so far:

Short term:
• methylphenidate
• Lisdexamfetamine
• Cyproheptadine
• Diphenhydramine
• Amisulpride (50 mg)
• acetylsalicylic acid

Long term:
• zinc?

Maybe zinc would help you too?
My zinc deficiency was likely caused by a combination of an unhealthy diet, chronic excessive sweating, a tendency to systemic inflammation, and excessive masturbation.

What do you eat in a day?

 

[Flo93]

What do you eat in a day?

Unfortunately, my diet is still very unhealthy. I just can't manage to eat healthy and balanced food in the long term.
My daily diet mainly consists of cola, soda and ready meals. I very seldom cook for myself because I am often out and about or visiting friends.

 

[Runenight201]

Unfortunately, my diet is still very unhealthy. I just can't manage to eat healthy and balanced food in the long term.
My daily diet mainly consists of cola, soda and ready meals. I very seldom cook for myself because I am often out and about or visiting friends.

You don’t need to stop all your other approaches but I would definitely look at increasing the amount of energy you spend on taking care of the foods your consuming. Food is like the bedrock of your energy, so not paying attention to it is easily missing low hanging fruit.

I’m not sure what your ready meals consists of, but prolly some fatty meat with some starch and fat? Your cola and soda habit might be because your brain isn’t receiving enough simple sugars from your foods. You could prolly eat a ready meal but make sure to add some fermented veggies (pickles, sauerkraut, pickled onions, kimchi, banana peppers, jalapeños, etc...) and you might notice a huge difference in how you feel afterwards. Combine that with like a fruit sorbet or something to help the sweet tooth.

Also rice cookers make cooking rice super easy. Meat might be a little trickier learning how to cook properly but well worth the effort imo. If super lazy deli meats, some combination of ham/turkey and a fattier meat like salami or pepperoni, and then toss some cheese on top of that and you got your protein and fat sorted out.

 

[tankasnowgod]

I can not seem to snap out of it. I have this constant feeling of emptiness and hopelessness, even when i’m doing everything i want to do and things i enjoy. Kind of like learned helplessness. It makes me fall back into bad habits like oversleeping, cutting people out of my life etc. Complete self sabotage but i can’t seem to stop and i don’t understand why.

I don't know if it was full on anhedonia, but I felt myself slipping into this during July. I was feeling worse every day, skipping a lot of meals, felt blank, and drinking excessively.

What worked for me was using some ritanserin (I have an old bottle, but other Serotonin Antagonists might be useful too), and especially, doing a No Starch Diet with lots of sugar. Fruit, Fruit Juices, Soda, but really, as much sugar as I wanted.

Within two weeks, mood and energy were drastically improved. I cut waaaaay down on drinking, and I think all the sugar especially made it easy.

I was inspired by this Hans thread- My Starch Free And Zero Fiber Experiment

 

[orewashin]

A lack of zinc and B6 are both correlated with anhedonia, and they are both depleted by an excessive stress. If you have anhedonia and dandruff or flaky skin, then there's a high likelihood that supplementing one or both of these would help.

 

[Runenight201]

Short fasts combined with psychoactives and an inwards predilection can take leaps towards salvation

 

[GorillaHead]

Got dandruff? The bacteria living on your head might be to blame

 

[Daniil]

It looks like I succeeded. I took magnesium and injected myself with vitamins b1 b2 b6. Recovery took me about 3 weeks. But, I would not say that I have recovered 100%, but now it is much easier for me.

 

[fasoracetam]

Yes I have with TRT (testosterone replacement therapy). But it wasnt the testosterone, it was the Estrogen/estradiol.
Estradiol is heavily implicated in dopaminergic and serotonergic synthesis/function.

For me an acute rise of estradiol is almost recreational. still trying to get it dialed in but gave myself a booster by applying t gel to my tummy for extra aromatization lol.

This of course only works for those who are deficient to begin with

btw im male ofc. but i noticed that high T low e2 still felt like mental hell. raised e2 and it was night and day difference

 

[Michael Mohn]

Yes I have with TRT (testosterone replacement therapy). But it wasnt the testosterone, it was the Estrogen/estradiol.
Estradiol is heavily implicated in dopaminergic and serotonergic synthesis/function.

For me an acute rise of estradiol is almost recreational. still trying to get it dialed in but gave myself a booster by applying t gel to my tummy for extra aromatization lol.

This of course only works for those who are deficient to begin with

btw im male ofc. but i noticed that high T low e2 still felt like mental hell. raised e2 and it was night and day difference

Ray said that elevated estrogen can feel like taking cocaine. I tried once some estrogen and my anhedonia seemed to vanish with intense emotions and passion but my mood turned quickly into raging anger and irrational behaviour like in my childhood and teens before my depression or what it was. I wonder if what I experience as anhedonia is just the normal state but my brain interprets it as a deficiency as it was conditioned by high estrogen during its development. I had taken pregnenolone at the time but not testosterone. Maybe estrogen from aromatised testosterone is different.

 

[fasoracetam]

Ray said that elevated estrogen can feel like taking cocaine. I tried once some estrogen and my anhedonia seemed to vanish with intense emotions and passion but my mood turned quickly into raging anger and irrational behaviour like in my childhood and teens before my depression or what it was. I wonder if what I experience as anhedonia is just the normal state but my brain interprets it as a deficiency as it was conditioned by high estrogen during its development. I had taken pregnenolone at the time but not testosterone. Maybe estrogen from aromatised testosterone is different.

interesting! have that article/comment of peat on hand? Yeah thats definitely what it felt like. 2 days later after the dose of T gel (i know estrogel has a halflife of 36 hours but i dont know about the half life of aromatized estradiol from tgel) im still having a blast listening to music. now i get out of music what only a dopaminergic stimulant could give me, in terms of reward response. Im feeling so GOOD, im so motivated.
I know estradiol augments dopamine release, increases dopamine receptor density and acts as an MAO-A and MAO-B inhibitor so this has actually massive potential to really feel like coke.

maybe you just dosed too high on the estradiol. too high e2 is known for being overly emotional, like crying at animal videos or such haha.
I think with estradiol its the same as with testosterone, you may get some acute effects but others take a long time, like upregulating receptor densities or such.

like with all hormone therapy it takes some time to get it dialed in to have a constant positive mood for the rest of your life

 

[FitnessMike]

High acetylcholine can cause anhedonic

i think this is what is happening to me too, weirdly low mood for awhile.

 

[blackface]

Lift weights and read philosophy books.

 

[Frankdee20]

i think this is what is happening to me too, weirdly low mood for awhile.

It is tough to differentiate and distinguish which neurotransmitters are responsible for that particular episode. Too much acetylcholine creates mental inflexibility. Then again, too much choline acts as a methyl agent and can increase DA, SERT, NE and lower Histamine. Taking Niacin will deplete methyl donors and elicit some response or improvement.

 

[Hitchens]

try hcg and or e2