Posted by bleauberry on September 21, 2018, at 11:01:41
In reply to Re: MMJ and anhedonia, posted by SLS on September 6, 2018, at 8:59:45
Eleuthero. Rhodiola. Ashwaganha. Cordyceps. Holy basil. Astragulus. Reishi. Licorice. And more. I mention these because they all work to balance out the glucocorticoid system, sort of like agonists and antagonists all in one. I take full dose Rhodiola every day, full dose Ashwaganda, full dose Cordyceps, and smaller dose of a product called Adaptogen made by Paradise Herbs which has a couple dozen of these all in one. The synergy of these kinds of compounds is helpful to a wide array of symptoms, diseases, and syndromes, including anhedonia and depression.
I agree with this article. I especially agree with their theory that anhedonia is mostly a dopamine thing. That's why I always scratch my head when a depression patient's worst symptom is anhedonia and they give them a serotonin med instead and squash out dopamine and then wonder why the patient got so numb.
Investigating dopamine and glucocorticoid systems as underlying mechanisms of anhedonia.
Lamontagne SJ1, Melendez SI1, Olmstead MC2,3.
Author information
Abstract
RATIONALE:
Anhedonia, a deficit in reward processing, is an endophenotype of several neuropsychiatric conditions. Despite its prevalence and debilitating effects, treatments for anhedonia are lacking, primarily because its underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Dopamine (DA) has been implicated in anhedonia through its role in reward-related learning; glucocorticoid systems may also be involved in that anhedonia is often preceded by chronic stress.
OBJECTIVE:
This study investigated DA and glucocorticoid systems in anhedonia using a rat version of the probabilistic reward task (PRT).
METHODS:
Adult male Wistar rats were trained on the PRT and then tested following: (1) activation or inhibition of DA activity induced by amphetamine (AMPH) or pramipexole (PRAMI) injections, (2) chronic mild stress (CMS), or (3) glucocorticoid system activation (dexamethasone (DEX)) or inhibition (mifepristone (MIFE)).
RESULTS:
AMPH increased and PRAMI decreased response bias, pointing to enhanced and diminished reward responsiveness with DA agonism and antagonism, respectively. CMS reduced response bias but only in a subpopulation of rats. DEX also decreased response bias, suggesting that glucocorticoid processes contribute to anhedonia, although glucocorticoid inhibition (MIFE) had no effect. None of the manipulations altered the ability to detect and respond to reward-paired stimuli.
CONCLUSIONS:
These results confirm a role of DA in anhedonia and elucidate the contribution of the glucocorticoid system to this effect. In addition, chronic stress may interfere with normal DA functioning, leading to impaired reward-related learning in some animals. These findings may direct future treatment of anhedonia by targeting DA and glucocorticoid systems, as well as a possible interaction between the two.> I think it is accurate to say that not all anhedonia is the result of a depressive disorder. However, it can be. Drawing upon my own experiences with bipolar depression, when antidepressants alone improved my depression, anhedonia improved along with it. I found Nardil to be the most hopeful in this regard. However, my response to Nardil is usually short-lived. Effexor and Cymbalta also helped with anhedonia when I responded to them.
>
> For me, Focalin (dexmethyphenidate) gave me more mental energy, but did nothing for anhedonia. I found Focalin better than Ritalin (methylphenidate).
>
>
> - Scott
poster:bleauberry
thread:1100647
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20180728/msgs/1100988.html