On May 15th, 2008 Carl Carino wrote:

My initial thoughts - is there an effective treatment to increase the number of dopamine receptors on the cell; out side of denying dopamines availability?

On May 22nd, 2008 cathy smith wrote:

As what I have read from an article, Dopamine is given to patients with Parkinson's disease and dystonia. This is given to patients with this kind of diseases because it can cross the blood-brain barrier. I only knew then that this is also given to alcoholic person and addicted to drugs.
____________________

cutie_tech123
Comprehensive resources for those looking for recovery from addiction.
<a href="http://www.addictionrecovery.net">http://www.addictionrecovery.net</a>

On May 31st, 2008 micheal smith wrote:

Once you know you are addicted the next step is to stop thinking about it and work on recovering from it.

........................
Micheal Smith
Suffering from an addiction. This website has a lot of great resources and treatment centers. http://www.treatmentcenters.org
<a href="http://www.treatmentcenters.org">http://www.treatmentcenters.org</a>

On Jun 4th, 2008 Gary S wrote:

Rick, I am very interested in the biochemical and physiological aspects of alcohol addiction. What are your clinical sources for the dopamine information? Any other sources you would recommend?

Thanks

On Jul 23rd, 2008 Gary Larareo wrote:

The most important point that was made and that most non-recovery people don't understand is that once a person becomes addicted they effect the number of domapine receptors. As is the case with Opiates (Heroin) the reduce the number of receptor cites. Opiates kill pain. Dompaine helps a person feel pleasure. If Opiates kill pain and effectively reduce the dopamine receptors than when the addict stops using they will feel a whole new level of increased pain...hence horrible withdrawal symptoms. But not only that, the effects of this increase pain will last in some forms for months. Now your an heroin addict and you going through that and your mind tells yout if you get high you won't experience the on-going pain. Now I ask you, what are you going to do?

On Aug 25th, 2008 me wrote:

I have for many yrs been aware n have learnt about dopamine or rather the lack of this in ALOT OF PPLE,(pple who rnt even aware of this)..
I became enlightened?, i suppose as my family on 1 side has a total lack of dopamines and a total lack of awareness regarding this. my father who i do not see, irrelivant really, but he has always been an alcoholic as was most of his family..he has now been affected with the parkinsons disease. on the other side, my mother has a total addiction to many things, n a total lack of honesty or awareness also about this.As a nurse know this is not a disease that has a VERIFIED trigger but rather many triggers.
i think, a chemical imbalance in the brain is a hormonal, genetic and chemical imbalance, which can b exurberated by 2 parents being affected.. also by brain damage, in any way..
a ladk of dopamines is something i\'\'m very interested in as i do nt believe in using medication to control this. as i also believe that pple with a lack of dopamines have an adverse reaction to socalled legal medication. hence the reason why pple with this condition continue to abuse or have issues with substances that some can easily walk away from. pple mostly with this condition know its not right but they seem to not b able to control it. its like driving beyond a persons control, the car is way out of sinc?
i\'m very interested in hearing from other pple n their own xperiences with this subject.
i know i have a lack of dopamines, its obvious to myself as to my family history n the history of my own life. i hope i\'m making sense, it is late.lol.
please reply if u have any way etc on how to manage this without drugs etc..
regards..
to all like minded pple..

On Sep 2nd, 2008 sabrina wrote:

hi well i am a drug adicct and i have tried rehab many times and never recovered i found a doctor that said its becaese of this and i am now being treated with dopamine, he asures me its not a drug i feal a lot better and with this and my AA meatings its muh easier and I dont feal the need of any drug anymore

On Sep 24th, 2008 Samantha @ Stonehill wrote:

While I do believe that addiction is a disease, I do not think that medication is the sole way to solve the problem. There are innumerable biological and chemical reactions that occur within an addict’s brain while they are using drugs—but there are also even more physiological reactions that occur before and after the drugs are administered into the body (aka the brain processes that cause “craving”). For this reason, I do believe that medication is appropriate in the treatment of drug addiction. Medication that inhibits neural dopamine receptors help to diminish the alertness of the brain’s pleasure centers. This enables the addict to fight their cravings. However, studies have also shown that these medications can have extreme negatives effects, causing an extremely under-stimulated reward center—causing depression. For this reason, I think that even though medication can assist in the cure of drug addiction, I do not believe that it should be the only solution. If treatment were to include medication as well as some type of therapy, then I do believe that medicinal treatment would be appropriate. That way, therapeutic techniques would not only help the drug addict on his way to recovery, but it would also help to prevent the extreme side effects of the medication.

On Sep 24th, 2008 Samantha @ Stonehill wrote:

While I do believe that addiction is a disease, I do not think that medication is the sole way to solve the problem. There are innumerable biological and chemical reactions that occur within an addict’s brain while they are using drugs—but there are also even more physiological reactions that occur before and after the drugs are administered into the body (aka the brain processes that cause “craving”). For this reason, I do believe that medication is appropriate in the treatment of drug addiction. Medication that inhibits neural dopamine receptors help to diminish the alertness of the brain’s pleasure centers. This enables the addict to fight their cravings. However, studies have also shown that these medications can have extreme negatives effects, causing an extremely under-stimulated reward center—causing depression. For this reason, I think that even though medication can assist in the cure of drug addiction, I do not believe that it should be the only solution. If treatment were to include medication as well as some type of therapy, then I do believe that medicinal treatment would be appropriate. That way, therapeutic techniques would not only help the drug addict on his way to recovery, but it would also help to prevent the extreme side effects of the medication.

On Dec 4th, 2008 Randy Stokes wrote:

After being addict for 30 plus years I know what is working for me is NA,a good sponser,Faith in yourself,and WORKING the 12 steps.

On Jan 26th, 2009 ted Smith wrote:

It is a facinating subject of attracting pleasure or euphoria. Yes Neural dopamine receptors are responsible for this high feeling but a study should be made on what our society call good addictions. Religion, patriotism, love, and family. Are these good addictions taken to extremes not driven by pleasure and a euphoria feeling. I think our cures for the true chemical addict is to point them to the good addictions. My point is society is the cause of large number of addictions-good or bad. It just us euphoria seeking people tendd to find the easiest path. Help!!

On Feb 8th, 2009 kit wrote:

Looking for advice from recoverig/recovered addicts on how to best handle a spouces addiction.

On Mar 12th, 2009 Kenneth Shaw wrote:

I found your page by search engine. What I experienced was nothing short of extraordinary. I had alcohol brain damage from daily drinking for 27 years. It took a year to restore the chemical imbalance. I felt it 'leave me'. My face felt like needles poking it like some TV channel with no station. The crazy was gone. No obcessions. Wow. I think that was supposed to be permanent. I wasn't willing to re-injure myself by continued drinking. Most people aren't willing to wait that long. Once the 'crazy' is gone, you can wait long as you want. I think what I went through was rare. I'm sure some ex-drunk over in Russia drinking vodka might understand what I'm talking about.