Just wondering if anyone has seen any useful explanations about damaged dopamine receptors? I don’t see anything really helpful online. My main concern is, of course, wondering if mine will return to normal after 12 years on Pramipexole.
I did see that damaged receptors caused by drug abuse do get better. Interestingly, I saw that one result of damaged receptors is a loss of interest in things that used to bring you pleasure. Again, this was in the context of drug abuse. Makes sense that it applies for us as well. Maybe another explanation for the depression many of us have?
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707twitcher
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Hello Twitcher, I agree that it is very difficult to find information on the topic. So all that I have to offer is my own experience. I was on an extremely high DA dose for over 12 years and experienced severe depression, anxiety and general agitation. My unprofessional opinion is that the receptors do repair, it just takes a very long time. I am finally getting back to my old self after almost 4 years. I’m interested to see if others have found any research on the subject.
Hi 707 Twitcher, I have taken DA as well for quite a few years. Once I realised how bad they were and that it was causing the RLS I stopped taking them. It took me about 2 years to notice consistant improvement. I didn't understand why I felt so dreadful. I thought it was related to stress at work but in the end I couldn't pull out of it without retiring. I then progressively weaned off all the drugs I was prescribed and slowly I improved. But over the last 12 months the RLS has got worse but I'm trying to find a more natural solutions as drug side effects scare me. It was a very dark time for me.....not one I can easily forget. I've learnt so much since then.
I had the same question as you about dopamine receptor repair after navigating a withdrawal from 30 years of Pramipexole at levels well above the recommended 0.5 mg. I found almost nothing online or in any literature, nor did my doctor offer any insight.
It took me about 8 months to stabilize my symptoms and successfully move to a combo of buprenorphine and pregablin. But it has been almost 3 years and I’m just emerging from the shroud of depression and loss of interest and passion for things. So like you I concluded that the receptors do repair themselves, but it just takes a lot of time.
Curiously, I had been very passionate about golf before my withdrawal period, and was a 10 handicap. But my athleticism and ability to properly sequence a golf swing suffered a big degradation during this withdrawal period. And most importantly I loss all joy for the game. Instead of joy, I experienced torture when I played a round. I went up to a 16 handicap and am now down to a 12.5. I don’t know if my golf ability will fully recover. But I am enjoying much more. Not quite the same, but better.
I don't think it's a matter of dopamine receptors eing damaged but that dopamine receptors naturally 'down regulate' themselves under the bombardment of high doses of dopamine, i.e. they get less sensitive. As in the case of recovered drug addicts the receptors should get back to normal eventualy.
After getting DA's behind me, I too have suffered a distinct drop in the level of joy in my life. It is not so much a new state of depression as it is an amplification of a mild depression I have dealt with most of my life. Whereas it has always been a challenge to explain RLS to people who have not experienced it, now after finding buprenorphine and at last getting RLS under control, I find it difficult to convince friends, family and doctors that this new more serious depression is possibly the result of damaged dopamine receptors and hopefully will improve over time. More meds and talk therapy, though they might help some, are not necessarily the answer. At least for me.
I have gone through a lot of transitions in my life lately and my ability to adapt to them has been severely hampered in this post dopamine period. Social anxiety has increased. Parties or large social gatherings are almost impossible for me now. I have become more reclusive. There has been a lot of panic and tears. Darkness that comes out of nowhere and then, just as suddenly, disappears. But slowly, after almost a year, I believe things are improving.
One more thing, despite all of these challenges, despite all of the emotional pain, despite the guilt I feel from having put my wife through this hell with me, I could never go back to pramipexole and ropinirole. Those days were only getting darker and darker and darker... Now I can see at last see a slither of light on the horizon.
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences. At the one year post-DAs point, I also feel a modest improvement. It's hard, though, to avoid depression when thinking about how much of my life now centers on dealing with the challenges of this RLS/opioid side effect world.
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Pramipexole withdrawals (Dopamine Agonist Withdrawal)
Life after dopamine agonists
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dopamine???
