Has Anyone Cured Their Anhedonia?

fitnessgirl

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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.
 

redsun

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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.

Too low dopamine and either excessive or low glutamate are the major players.

Do you take NMDA antagonists or other things that may negatively affect glutamate? If so, they may be contributing if your issue is low glutamate. If you have low glutamate, eating meat proteins provide more of the amino acids that agonize glutamate than dairy and eggs. Also you can try and see how you feel from taking folic acid, 800mcg 3x a day.

If you improve than likely low glutamate is your issue.

Low dopamine probably is involved as well but low dopamine is less simple to increase. Many try and try to this day and have little luck.

I have used folic acid and I would say at least in my case it helped anhedonia for me significantly.
 

somuch4food

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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.

What do you want to do and what do you enjoy doing?

For myself, having children and dropping screentime are what helped the most.

I can now actually feel anger. Before, I was so numb that I would let people get to me easily.
 

GreekDemiGod

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Your life is not exciting enough. It's as simple as this. You are not meeting your soul's needs and desires.
I'm guilty of this too.
Eve though you may induce a hormonal or neurotransmitters boost, that will make your perceived experience of life better, at the end of the day, if you are not living the life you desire, what is the point anyway.
You can achieve perfect health and euphoria, and it still won't be enough.
My view is this: gain enough metabolic energy, get to a state of health where you've broken out of learned helplessness, and then start hustling and shaping your life the way you desire.
 

johnwester130

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It's caused by the society we live in.

It's a terrible example but look at how Nazi Germany rose to power out of depression.
 
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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.

Have you tried 5mg of lithium for a few days?
 

Runenight201

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Anhedonic moments tend to slip in and out of my life. For me it usually is a sign that my nutrition hasn’t been on point. I can reliably cure it with good nourishment.

Meat + herbs + wine and life becomes wonderful.

Wine makes me fall in love, but then I’m not Productive. Coffee + milk + sugar makes me hyper productive and filled with motivation, but then I usually get some side effects of anxiety. Still trying to completely perfect everything. Ironically, the anhedonia gives me meaning because it then stimulates the desire to cure my anhedonia!
 

Markus

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Your life is not exciting enough. It's as simple as this. You are not meeting your soul's needs and desires.
I'm guilty of this too.
Eve though you may induce a hormonal or neurotransmitters boost, that will make your perceived experience of life better, at the end of the day, if you are not living the life you desire, what is the point anyway.
You can achieve perfect health and euphoria, and it still won't be enough.
My view is this: gain enough metabolic energy, get to a state of health where you've broken out of learned helplessness, and then start hustling and shaping your life the way you desire.
This!
 

alephx

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You should try an activity where you are not thinking but just relying on instinct. Sports and dancing tend to place me in that mood and the effects last several days.
 

boris

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I heard or read from haidut that someone cured this with a course of cyproheptadine.

It might not be as simple as that for everyone though.

How are you doing on Maslow‘s Hierarchy of Needs?
https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
upload_2020-5-25_11-30-26.jpeg
 

somuch4food

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You should try an activity where you are not thinking but just relying on instinct. Sports and dancing tend to place me in that mood and the effects last several days.

I agree with you. I always feel better when I'm not lost in my thoughts.
 

Michael Mohn

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Ray Peat said that estrogen is like cocaine, high estrogen before the depression gave deep emotions. Sensitivity of emotional parts of the brain to estrogen might be reduced after depression and interpreted as anhedonia.
 

Lokzo

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Anhedonic moments tend to slip in and out of my life. For me it usually is a sign that my nutrition hasn’t been on point. I can reliably cure it with good nourishment.

Meat + herbs + wine and life becomes wonderful.

Wine makes me fall in love, but then I’m not Productive. Coffee + milk + sugar makes me hyper productive and filled with motivation, but then I usually get some side effects of anxiety. Still trying to completely perfect everything. Ironically, the anhedonia gives me meaning because it then stimulates the desire to cure my anhedonia!

I love your awareness man, it's great!!!
 

Frankdee20

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High acetylcholine can cause anhedonic depressions with ruminating thoughts, try some doxylamine succinate at night. This can block muscarinic receptors, and I’ve never noticed tolerance....
 

postman

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What are your temps like? What are you eating? Are you taking any supplements?
 

Geronimo

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Dropped wheat and started taking creatine. It's a night and day difference for me, due to wheats's prolactin stimulating effects and creatine's dopamine stimulating effects.
 
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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?
 

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