Dopamine questions

[kaypeeoh]

My understanding is narcotics give a dopamine release. The stronger the narcotic, the stronger the release. If you have a rash and scratch at it, the body responds with a dopamine release. If you start the day with a cup of coffee there is a dopamine release. I had MRSA. The skin lesions were incredibly itchy. Responding with scratching the dopamine release was almost like an orgasm. Does this make sense? If I have PD which means little-or-no dopamine release shouldn't I not react to itching with dopamine release?

[Trixiedee]

Only cocaine releases dopamine. Opiates release endorphins, MDMA releases serotonin.

[sharoncrayn in reply to Trixiedee]

Trix:

"Only cocaine releases dopamine" ...So, nicotine doesn't?

Sharon

[Hidden in reply to sharoncrayn]

I doubt she intended to provide an exhaustive list of every ingestible substance that can give rise to a dopamine release, and think it more likely she was operating within the context of 'narcotics', a term most laypeople likely wouldn't use when thinking about nicotine.

[rescuema in reply to Trixiedee]

drugabuse.gov/publications/...

[MarionP]

Isn't that simple. Plus there is the entire complex of histamine that has a lot more to do with itching then dopamine, until you get into the higher doses of dopamine...these are areas of sugars and the sugar substitutes that are neural stimulants such as aspartame. Then there is itching that can come from processed foods that use MSG (sometimes called hydrolyzed vegetable protein), a neural stimulant. If any of these are in your system, OR if you have the slightest allergy to any of the (such as to sugars, as I have...too much sugar triggers my histamine 1 receptors) then even a tiny amount of dopamine or dopaminergic can push you over an itch threshold without being the main cause. Then there are opiates and stimulants and they cause huge amounts of itching.

[Healthnut03toNow]

Is carbadopa/levadopa the same as a dopamine agonist?