Can dopamine receptors truly recover?

G

Gavalar09

Fapstronaut
I say this because I think either sex or my girlfriend going away for a week led mine to be fried.

I was addicted to porn, which I no longer am. I can go several weeks and months without and get hard with my girlfriend easily. This is up until last Saturday.

My head is massively brain fogged, my depression is back, libido none existant all after having sex before she left.

I'm worried either sex has put me in a huge flatline or my dopamine receptors have finally all died.

I've not felt happiness for over 6 days now and I'm majorly concerned. My ED is back completely too.
 
Important fact: Your dopamine receptors do not die, get fried or dissolve into nothing.

Parkinson's disease is the result of low or severely decreased dopamine levels. At the onset of Parkinson’s disease, the cells that produce dopamine receptors have decreased by around 70%.

In other words unless you are; experiencing shaking in your hands, your movement is slow or you have experienced loss of bodily functions, you are fine and should recover with time. How much time I do not know.

If you are saying that after having sex you have slipped back into what feels like flatline, your best bet is to abstain from any PMO (for now), continue to count the days and wait until you recover. It might be that you still need to recover after orgasm in which case you’re not at 100% yet.
 
Don’t overdo sex. It will get tasteless if u do it too often. Take a break for a week. Get sleep and plenty of rest. Do other things like reading books, vacations, gardening, meditation etc. Otherwise this will happen again.
 
mentorr said:
Important fact: Your dopamine receptors do not die, get fried or dissolve into nothing.

Parkinson's disease is the result of low or severely decreased dopamine levels. At the onset of Parkinson’s disease, the cells that produce dopamine receptors have decreased by around 70%.

In other words unless you are; experiencing shaking in your hands, your movement is slow or you have experienced loss of bodily functions, you are fine and should recover with time. How much time I do not know.

If you are saying that after having sex you have slipped back into what feels like flatline, your best bet is to abstain from any PMO (for now), continue to count the days and wait until you recover. It might be that you still need to recover after orgasm in which case you’re not at 100% yet.
Click to expand...

But I have lost the boldiy function of getting erections?
 
Alam44 said:
Don’t overdo sex. It will get tasteless if u do it too often. Take a break for a week. Get sleep and plenty of rest. Do other things like reading books, vacations, gardening, meditation etc. Otherwise this will happen again.
Click to expand...

Its not felt like it though. For some reason my libido just died after she left for a holiday for the week.
 
Neurotransmitters are more like letters of the alphabet, not just things that control 1 or 2 things but unfortunately that's been the internets understanding. They can be used for and impacted by several different things so this might have nothing to do with dopamine. Keep in mind dopamine is related to wanting, not enjoying. That's an important distinction. This is a pure assumption, but if you felt that bad after your girlfriend left, and didn't feel like that when she was around, it sounds like maybe the relationship/sex is one of your few sources of enjoyment and that might be a problem. I guess its up to you if that's a problem though.
 
mentorr said:
What is your back story? How long have you been recovering? When did you last PMO? Further back story might help.
Click to expand...

I had what seemed to be PIED. Went a year without and seemed to recover. Got morning wood back to a degree, sex without drugs etc. Happiness returned and all felt normal. Starting watching hits of porn during the pandemic again and met my now gf.

Had an amazing time with her the last 8 months, barely watched porn, always been successful for sex.

This week she left for a holiday for a week and all the sudden my libido and erections have died.

Can't even get hard with ED drugs on my own.
 
PegasusKid said:
Neurotransmitters are more like letters of the alphabet, not just things that control 1 or 2 things but unfortunately that's been the internets understanding. They can be used for and impacted by several different things so this might have nothing to do with dopamine. Keep in mind dopamine is related to wanting, not enjoying. That's an important distinction. This is a pure assumption, but if you felt that bad after your girlfriend left, and didn't feel like that when she was around, it sounds like maybe the relationship/sex is one of your few sources of enjoyment and that might be a problem. I guess its up to you if that's a problem though.
Click to expand...

So she will get back and I'll suddenly be normal? Surely I shouldnt be like this with someone. Drugs is get but people?
 
Gavalar09 said:
So she will get back and I'll suddenly be normal? Surely I shouldnt be like this with someone. Drugs is get but people?
Click to expand...
Yeah I mean, that does seem like a potential problem for sure, especially if when she gets back you're back to normal. Like I said its kind of an assumption I will admit cause idk a lot about you or your backstory, but yeah that seems like a bad thing if she left and all of a sudden you're like completely drained and you can't find any other explanation.
 
PegasusKid said:
Yeah I mean, that does seem like a potential problem for sure, especially if when she gets back you're back to normal. Like I said its kind of an assumption I will admit cause idk a lot about you or your backstory, but yeah that seems like a bad thing if she left and all of a sudden you're like completely drained and you can't find any other explanation.
Click to expand...

I just don't get why it's happened like that. Like my dopamine just switched off because she's gone for a week.
Its not normal at all.
How can I go from being fine to completely depressed, sick and unable to get it up with no interest in sex.
 
Gavalar09 said:
I had what seemed to be PIED. Went a year without and seemed to recover. Got morning wood back to a degree, sex without drugs etc. Happiness returned and all felt normal. Starting watching hits of porn during the pandemic again and met my now gf.

Had an amazing time with her the last 8 months, barely watched porn, always been successful for sex.

This week she left for a holiday for a week and all the sudden my libido and erections have died.

Can't even get hard with ED drugs on my own.
Click to expand...

  1. How many years was your addiction?
  2. What does ‘barely watched P’ actually mean. When was the last time you watched P?
 
mentorr said:
  1. How many years was your addiction?
  2. What does ‘barely watched P’ actually mean. When was the last time you watched P?
Click to expand...

It was about 7 years I'd say. After that it was rare I'd watch.

Last time I watched properly, maybe 6 weeks ago.

Simce I got my erections back with women I've watched it very rarely and never had issues afterwards.
 
Gavalar09 said:
It was about 7 years I'd say. After that it was rare I'd watch.

Last time I watched properly, maybe 6 weeks ago.

Simce I got my erections back with women I've watched it very rarely and never had issues afterwards.
Click to expand...
I think in this case you just have to accept that you can’t be sure what has caused the symptoms to reappear and that you have no choice but to move back into recovery mode.

One thing I would say is that you may want to focus on curbing your P use for good. Who knows whether it is still affecting you negatively now. The only way to be sure is to cut it all for good, otherwise you risk scenarios like this happening in future.

Count the days and journal how you feel each day so that you can gauge how bad the knock has been for your recovery.

If after a week you feel better, I’d say you haven’t much to worry about, however if it’s a month+ I think you need to reevaluate how you are looking at your recovery.
 
mentorr said:
I think in this case you just have to accept that you can’t be sure what has caused the symptoms to reappear and that you have no choice but to move back into recovery mode.

One thing I would say is that you may want to focus on curbing your P use for good. Who knows whether it is still affecting you negatively now. The only way to be sure is to cut it all for good, otherwise you risk scenarios like this happening in future.

Count the days and journal how you feel each day so that you can gauge how bad the knock has been for your recovery.

If after a week you feel better, I’d say you haven’t much to worry about, however if it’s a month+ I think you need to reevaluate how you are looking at your recovery.
Click to expand...

I've been documenting since she left for the week.

I've had zero morning wood, not even a semi. Libido has dissapeared.
When I manage to force erections with ED drugs, the shaft is hard but the glans, not so much.

I've also felt a strong disconnect between my brain and my penis. Something I had when I watched porn alot. So I'm not sure what caused it.

Its like my brain rewired to my gf but now she's gone for one week, its like I'm flatlining because she isn't here. Or I've overdone the sex/orgasm but after the recovery I've had that's a massive concern for me.
 
Gavalar09 said:
I just don't get why it's happened like that. Like my dopamine just switched off because she's gone for a week.
Its not normal at all.
How can I go from being fine to completely depressed, sick and unable to get it up with no interest in sex.
Click to expand...
I get the idea you are sort of addicted to her. Now she is out of your side the real you pops up. And it's not fun but it seems you have some work to do on yourself.
Do some study on codependency.
That will help you imo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top