As I have said in my recent articles, I believe the last year has a much larger psychic impact that simply being housebound for many months. The emotional impact is huge and the stress and pressure of living through the pandemic has jostled us on a deep level. I liken it to a constant dopamine bombardment for many months and the neurological impact would be the same as stimulant yes for all that time. 

I have worked with a large number of folks who are trying to crawl back to sanity after detoxing from stimulant addiction. This includes things like cocaine, methamphetamine, diet pills, ephedrine drinks, psuedopepipephrine drinks, Sudafed, caffeine, Ritalin, or NutraSweet products. It also includes screen time including gaming, bingeing on Netflix or YouTube.I have gone back to the literature to refresh my own understanding. It was fascinating to see that in the mid 80's psychologists decided that "behavioral" addictions actually work pretty much in the same pathways as drug addictions. I think the behaviors that ping dopamine are difficult to deal with because the impact is so intense. This article is about what you can do to help restore your brain.

All of these substances activate or cause to be activated a brain chemical called dopamine. Dopamine makes you feel bright, clear, focused and functional. When you first start using these substances or behaviors, you feel like you can take on the world. After a while, your brain adjusts and you simply feel normal after use and very discombobulated when the effect wears off. Addiction sets in when you start needing your substance in order to stave off the withdrawal.

Withdrawal from these substances makes you feel just the opposite. You feel dull, foggy, sludgy, torpid, teary, scattered and incapable of functioning. Cranky, very cranky. And as soon as you get your drug, even if it is a Diet Coke, you feel better. Stimulant addiction is seductive. You feel so fine when you are using and so bad when you are not, it is almost inconceivable to imagine not having it.

But, part of you has known that it is progressive and you are feeling worse. You may not have though about COVID fear time as a stimulant equivalent. You no longer have times of feeling good, and a particular kind of bone weary exhaustion started setting in. You had to up the dose, or shorten the time between your fixes. What started as one latte in the morning became a triple in the morning and a single in the afternoon just to function. You knew you were in trouble and decided it was time to get off.

Doing the steps helped to get you to this place. You have been reasonably steady with your food and you were ready to get out from under this addiction. For the sake of this discussion, I am going to assume you have stopped using and you feel pretty crappy. This is a how to intervention to hold you up and restore your brain so that your willingness to get clean can stick over time.

There are some very specific changes you are going to make over a 3-month period to get your old brain back. [and yes, you will get back to normal!]

1. Increase your protein intake to .6 - .8 grams per pound of your body weight. But play with it to see what has the best effect. Work into it. Do not make this change all at once. You are working to increase the level of large neutral amino acids, particularly one called tyrosine. Tyrosine is the precursor to dopamine just like tryptophan is the precursor to serotonin. Do not just go get some tyrosine [you see I know the addict's mind, LOL]. You want the package that comes with protein meals. ¹
2. In the early weeks of your detox, you may want to add a protein snack mid morning and mid afternoon.  George's® Restore is great for this.
3. If you are already on Step Four, increase the size of your potato at night. Serotonin reduces the craving for stimulants. If you start having wild or hallucinogenic dreams, simply cut back some. Find the edge so you are getting restorative and restful dreaming and not getting uncomfortable dreams.²
4. Take omega 3 fatty acids with a high concentration of EPA/DHA. These fatty acids are abundant in the membranes that are associated with synaptic function the place where the neurotransmitters talk with one another. Increasing the omega 3s helps restore this function. Check the radiantrecoverystore for the brands and products I use.³ 
5. ^{If you are feeling particularly edgy or cranky, take a hot shower. If you have access to a a hot tub, go for a soak. Warmth helps quiet dopamine withdrawal.}

Make a concerted effort to stay away from foods that are high in omega 6 fatty acids things like margarine and saturated fats [butter, cream, and meat fat] Eat foods high in omega 3 like cold water fishes such as salmon.

In your early phase, you may find it helpful to supplement with omega 3 fish oils capsules like the ones we sell in the store. 

If you are taking fish oil, it will tend to thin your blood. Sometimes this will make you more vulnerable to bruising. I have found that the antioxidant pycnogenol helps with this by strengthening capillary walls. I added this product to our store as a nice adjunct to the fish oil.

I am including some citations here if you would like to read more about this. They are linked so you can read the actual abstract on line. If you click on the link that says related articles, you can follow the topic and gather more information.

And of course, you may always email me at kathleen@radiantrecovery.com

Kathleen

¹Fernstrom, JD, Can nutrient supplements modify brain function? Am J Clin Nutr. 2000 Jun;71(6 Suppl):1669S-75S. Review.

²Yu DS, Smith FL, Smith DG, Lyness WH. Fluoxetine-induced attenuation of amphetamine self-administration in rats. Life Sci. 1986 Oct 13;39(15):1383-8.

³Zimmer L, Vancassel S, Cantagrel S, Breton P, Delamanche S, Guilloteau D, Durand G, Chalon S. The dopamine mesocorticolimbic pathway is affected by deficiency in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Am J Clin Nutr. 2002 Apr;75(4):662-7.