Dopamine-Blockers to cure Addiction

[Gregory1]

Hey guys,

some time ago I saw a link of a very interesting youtube video here on the forum. It was about a substance that blocks your dopamine receptors 1h after you take it. It could be used to cure addictions for smoking or alcohol.

Addicts would take the anti-dopamiine substance one hour before drinking / smoking and then would drink / smoke. They would not get pleasure from smoking / drinking anymore so if they went through this procedure often enough they would not be interested in smoking / drinking anymore.

Do you know the video / substance I am talking about? I have forgotten the name of it:(

I‘d be very happy if you could share it with me, in case you still remember name of the substance or of the video.

Thanks and have a nice day everyone!

Edited November 8, 2021 by Gregory1

[Rilles]

Dont know... but there is pill called Antabuse that purposely makes you sick from drinking just a tiny amount of alcohol. 

Edit: Naltrexone?

Edited November 8, 2021 by Rilles

[cjoseph90]

i would be intrested to know also

[Tim R]

Probably Nexaltrone

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4969763/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27401883/

[flowboy]

It will not solve the underlying problem.

Emotional work has to be done to cure an addiction.

A neglected inner child version has to be loved, heard, nurtured and integrated.

If that doesn't happen, you can take someone's dopamine away, but they will just switch to something else.

Something that provides serotonin, or endocannabinoids, or oxytocin, or numbness, or pain.

Anything else really.

 

[Michael569]

The role of dopamine isn't only to give you motivation to drink, jerk off and procrastinate on the internet. It has an important physiological role in motion, movement and physiology overal. Parkinson's disease is basically lack of dopamine. 

So do yourself a favour and do not play with a fire unless you have seen long term safety data of such drug. 

As @flowboy said, this does not cure the underlying problem.

[Farnaby]

17 hours ago, flowboy said:

It will not solve the underlying problem.

Emotional work has to be done to cure an addiction.

A neglected inner child version has to be loved, heard, nurtured and integrated.

If that doesn't happen, you can take someone's dopamine away, but they will just switch to something else.

Something that provides serotonin, or endocannabinoids, or oxytocin, or numbness, or pain.

Anything else really.

 

^ This 

Yes, sometimes a chemical help is needed for a period of time, but it won't "cure" any addiction. 

[Espaim]

N-Acetylcysteine is your best bet. It doesn't "block" dopamine but has plenty of studies on it for treating some types of addiction.

Edited November 12, 2021 by Espaim

[Fearless_Bum]

22 hours ago, Michael569 said:

The role of dopamine isn't only to give you motivation to drink, jerk off and procrastinate on the internet. It has an important physiological role in motion, movement and physiology overal. Parkinson's disease is basically lack of dopamine. 

So do yourself a favour and do not play with a fire unless you have seen long term safety data of such drug. 

As @flowboy said, this does not cure the underlying problem.

I agree with this, make sure to actually understand the functioning of dopamine before taking such a serious action like that. 

Dopamine is not just a pleasure hormone.

[Egzoset]

For a second i thought it would be about prégnénolone, or more specifically Bial's "BIA 10-2474" molecule...

[Danioover9000]

@Farnaby

On 12/11/2021 at 2:28 PM, Farnaby said:

^ This 

Yes, sometimes a chemical help is needed for a period of time, but it won't "cure" any addiction. 

   Yes, and some people have severely strong addictions they need some chemical help for much longer, as they lack the necessary level of will power, discipline, focus, mental stability and emotional fitness to go thoroughly with quitting the addiction at it's root.

[Farnaby]

@Danioover9000 yes, some substances create such strong cravings that a chemical help is needed. However, if you only focus on stopping the use/abuse of the substance, it's likely to come back in another way. You need to find out what purpose the addiction was serving. 

I don't think the issue is lack of will power or discipline. I think the issue is trying to get rid of bad habits through will power and discipline, without understanding why we do what we do and finding healthier ways to fulfill those needs we are trying to fulfill through the addiction.

[Danioover9000]

@Farnaby

11 hours ago, Farnaby said:

@Danioover9000 yes, some substances create such strong cravings that a chemical help is needed. However, if you only focus on stopping the use/abuse of the substance, it's likely to come back in another way. You need to find out what purpose the addiction was serving. 

I don't think the issue is lack of will power or discipline. I think the issue is trying to get rid of bad habits through will power and discipline, without understanding why we do what we do and finding healthier ways to fulfill those needs we are trying to fulfill through the addiction.

   I was mostly referring to the 1-3 percent of people who have incredible addictions that develop into compulsive disorders, at which point chemical intervention should be considered. However, most people won't have such levels of addiction which can allow for conventional/unconventional methodologies of tackling and unwiring addictive behaviors with healthier ones. The main issue behind all addictions, from vanilla ones to severe, is that it depends on many factors and is relative to the development of the individual. When I was talking about will power and discipline as one of those factors that can be problematic, it can be the case because if you took an adult's level of discipline and will power, and compare that to a child's, there is a noticeable difference in will power and delaying gratification for a near future reward, real or imagined. Children have yet to develop the neo cortex enough to enforce a sense of self control, self discipline and power comparable to the selected adult. Of course, selection for the adult/child comparison can be biased as well, for example I could select an obese adult with an eating disorder, and a child who might have a different metabolism type, genetics for mental/emotional fitness or eugenics that favors slightly faster development of will power due to the parent's/family lineage's slightly more developed traits for discipline from surviving their past environments, of which I'm not fully aware.

[Osaid]

I probably would not take such a thing unless there is some serious extensive research done before, and even then I would be reluctant. A magic pill to addiction that messes with dopamine receptors? Red flag IMO. There are equal costs and benefits to everything. You really have to weigh out your situation here. How bad is your addiction, is it really worth the risk?

I'm reminded of people who take SSRIs and then get indefinite anhedonia after. You're messing with something we still don't fully understand.

 

[Gregory1]

Guys, I never talked about taking that thing, I'm simply interested in researching it more because I think it is an interesting substance worth looking into. 

Also I'd advise all of you to be more open minded here. There are multiple ways to solve problems and yes, the substance of which I have forgotten the name really cured alcohol- and smokeaddicts of their addiction. If it works, it works - stop creating problems.

 

[Javfly33]

Meh... I don´t know if that would really work.

For example when I used to take Kratom I would get absolutely no pleasure/stimulation watching porn or scrolling through social media.

Yet if I not on Kratom again the same dopamine-hit pathways would still be active.