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the dopamine hypothesis of addiction is wrong

it's about insulin and blood sugar

alcohol and cannabis increase insulin response, caffeine (via paraxanthine) increases conversion of fats into blood sugar, i know there is definitely a big role of blood glucose regulation with methamphetamine, and i found that after about 24 hours (and fasting, obviously) it changed my metabolism in a way that helped me think clearer, though continuing to dose after that point leads to a slow crash of blood sugar that you can tell is happening because your body gets colder and you can't think properly... most likely cocaine has a substantial effect on blood sugar too, it's just a drug i've rarely taken because for me it is worse than too much alcohol and too much amphetamine at the same time, the hangover is horrendous

all of these are addictive drugs, all have notable effects on sugar metabolism

it's not and never has been about dopamine, it's about blood sugar

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Discussion

Gowron 1y ago

You know I think you may be onto something here 👀

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴍʟᴇᴋᴜ 1y ago

i think if it makes you euphoric, changes your body temperature, then it has to be doing something to your blood sugar, those are all blood sugar things

imo, the introduction of simple sugars into the human diet has been one of the most harmful things, a mass poisoning, that has altered the behaviour of people in very bad ways, it's the basis of making people more susceptible to manipulation, because malfunctioning sugar metabolism interferes with your ability to reason

Gowron 1y ago

*Pours Dr. Pepper*

This little poison.... 👀

*Down the drain*

H 1y ago

If you have low dopamine, dopaminergic drugs reduce addictive tendencies even though under your model these drugs would negatively impact blood sugar.

Fasting lowers testosterone which is part of the reward cycle, leading to lower dopamine.

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴍʟᴇᴋᴜ 1y ago

dopamine has a role in this but it's a side show compared to the change of metabolism, you can see it in all of the side effects of these different drugs, the flushing skin of alcohol, the dry eyes and mouth of cannabis, the increase of acne and skin fats that happens from amphetamines, the clogged fine capillaries from caffeine and nicotine

euphoria is not a dopamine effect, which can be observed in the behaviour of children with sweets, neither is a change in metabolic function, there is little to no dopamine receptors outside of the brain, and very common with euphoric effects is a feeling of warmth, even heroin does this (i kinda had to mention that)

there is other receptors that are outside of the brain that are involved in this though, like histamine, those change body heat, cause itchy nose or dry mouth/eyes and increase wakefulness

but when your blood sugar is low, and the thing causes it to rise, or to increase burning of it, you feel better, that is what drives the addictive behaviour, the rest are part of it but not the base of it

H 1y ago

Nicotine (while also dopaminergic) primarily targets the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the brain. Blocking this with buproprion (a nicotinic receptor antagonist) significantly reduces the addictivity.

Methamphetamine (while EXTREMELY dopaminergic) also hits opioid receptors in the brain. Blocking this with buprenorphine (an opioid receptor antagonist) reduces addictivity. This also works for cocaine and actual opioids.

The other things you mentioned are only weakly addictive anyway.

pseudo~u *likes nostr already* 1y ago

Interesting, any sources i can look at to understand this? thanks!