# 24/7 Anhedonia, any way out?



## will22 (Mar 28, 2011)

*Diagnosis: Major Depression, SA, GAD, ADD*
I haven't experienced pleasure for a year and a half now, with the exception of 3-5 flashes of pleasure that lasted a couple seconds. I know what pleasure is because I experienced it occasionally for 19 years prior to this. I'm not even talking euphoria, but just the shades of pleasure that accompany various activities such as listening to music that motivate you and inspire you. The fluid kind of pleasure that paints life and gives it color. All I experience 24/7 are various degrees of unpleasant feelings and emotional flatness, but nothing above the flatness.

*Relatives, nurses, and therapists response to my anhedonia*
If something is comforting or relaxing to me, it simply elevates my mood to a less unpleasant state, not pleasure. I have to explain this previous notion to skeptical people and medical caretakers who challenge my feelings (as if there'd be a reason for me to lie by this point?!) saying things such as:
"Well you must have hobbies that you do", "presumably hobbies are enjoyable, correct?", "ive seen you smiling and laughing...", "ive seen you happy" "you are self diagnosing, you arent a doctor" "Do you feel better now,... goooodd" (not realizing feeling better doesn't mean feeling pleasure)

*My psychiatrists response to my anhedonia*
1st psychiatrist (he prescribed me Prozac which elevated my anhedonia from 70% to 100%)
me: "I think the Prozac is helping, but I'm feeling emotionally numb, not happy, is this common?, have any of your patients complained of this?"
psych: "no, none of my patients taking SSRIS have complained of this"
2nd psychiatrist
psych: "anhedonia is just a symptom of your depression, your antidepressant will get rid of your depression, don't worry. What are you so depressed and shy about? You're a man! Use willpower!" (thinks moving me over to Celexa is a good idea)
nurse: (close by) mentions something about possible dysthymia
3rd:
psych: very confused look on her face, and after much explaining, "maybe you should have been prescribed a high dose of effexor"
me: "Do really think that 2nd generation antidepressants work, they have so far made my condition worse, is there any evidence of there efficacy?"
psych: "you should check out the Star*D trial"
me: "didn't that just expose modern antidepressants as mainly placebos"
psych: "placebo is a powerful effect"
4th: "there is no drug that targets anhedonia, you are very very depressed, you need a large cocktail of drugs, and you need a good dose of antidepressants, particularly effexor, then maybe anafranil + abilify, thats a good combination"
5th: "anhedonia is definitely evidence of a brain abnormality as opposed to lifestyle, I'll research something to help your anhedonia" *Never actually does any research*
6th:
psych: is completely silent, doesn't look me in the eye, doesn't respond
I've really only had two long-term outpatient psychiatrists, one who I'm still seeing, the rest of the psychs are from the times i've ended up in hospitals for suicide related stuff.

*So far I've tried:*
*Antidepressants*
Prozac, Celexa, Wellbutrin XR, Effexor XR, Nardil
*Anxiolytics*
Klonopin
*Antipsychotics*
Risperidone
*Amphetamine*
Adderall, Dexedrine SR, Vyvanse
*Mood-Stabilizers*
Lithium Carbonate ER, Lithium Carbonate, Lamictal
months of CBT, life coaching, group therapy, hospital care, trying brute-force socialization, retrying college and jobs

*Amphetamine - only keeping me alive*
The closest I've felt to pleasure was on one of the amphetamine. I was immersing myself in a social situation I was comfortable with, it was a therapy group, and for 2 seconds the sounds, smells, experience of the room filled with people actually felt like something, something mildly pleasant and pleasurable. Amphetamine keeps me functional for about 5 hours if i don't abuse it, makes me pro-social sometimes, alleviates half of my depressive symptoms for those hours, and seems to have potential to alleviate anhedonia given just the right circumstances. For these reasons I'm staying on it. I've quit before to try Nardil, and I'll quit again if there really is a viable option out there. I don't like to be on one of the most dangerous drugs there are. Because of all the physical damage amphetamine has done and is doing to my body, and the fact that it still leaves me 24/7 anhedonic and frequent depressive misery leaves me searching.

Any viable ways out?:sus I really don't care too much about a long term option. I no longer care about living long. Oh, and by viable I don't mean pure MDMA powder, as that is apparently impossible to obtain. I"m also seeing my psych in 3 days. Am I alone in a state of total 24/7 anhedonia, is there anyone else with constant anhedonia? What drug helped you the most? thx


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## A Sense of Purpose (May 8, 2011)

will22 said:


> 2nd psychiatrist
> psych: "anhedonia is just a symptom of your depression, your antidepressant will get rid of your depression, don't worry. What are you so depressed and shy about? You're a man! Use willpower!" (thinks moving me over to Celexa is a good idea)
> nurse: (close by) mentions something about possible dysthymia


I have posted several times about suffering from Anhedonia (as the primary issue im having the greatest problem with).

The first psych i went to said the exact same thing. Its a symptom of your depression and will decrease when treated. Bulls!!t in my opinion.

The TCA amitriptyline, dothep, Lexapro and Mirtazapine have made the anhedonia worse each time a new treatment was initiated. The only improvement was titrating off a drug, and returning to my normal state of anhedonia (what i sought treatment for the first place).

Ironically the most relief i got were from certain types of serotonergic drugs that i wont specify, along with another popular street pill. Momentary engagement and meaning, which dissipates as quickly as the halflife.

Now im seeing a much better psych, however is still reluctant to give any stimulants. Currently trying no meds as its almost my final year uni exams, and to see how things go.

I would really like to try a stimulant. Failing that, a very low dose antipsych with a stimulant as a combo. I need to find someone or come up with some pretty convincing evidence as to why this should be given to me.

Anyway good luck.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

A Sense of Purpose said:


> I have posted several times about suffering from Anhedonia (as the primary issue im having the greatest problem with).
> 
> The first psych i went to said the exact same thing. Its a symptom of your depression and will decrease when treated. Bulls!!t in my opinion.
> 
> ...


What about Reboxetine? It's nothing fancy but it may help somewhat with energy, drive and concentration.


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## super (Sep 9, 2009)

i only really read that you can't feel happiness or positive things
all i can suggest is taking pure MDMA.

it will work in the right setting/mindset. and most likely 'cure' you


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## will22 (Mar 28, 2011)

Sense of Purpose: thx for the reply, it is bs:sus and I think most psychs think the same way, or they have been brainwashed to. Those psychs that accept the common anhedonic effect of modern ADs are even more repulsive to me. I remember reading an account of a patient complaining of loss of emotion on SSRIs, and the psych attributing that "as part of its therapeutic effect" .... sick :sus

I forgot to mention that the other flashes of relief came from 
1. binge-eating simple carbohydrates
2. staying up all night, and the feeling the day after
I avoid both of these things because they are impractical, and I don't want to end up overweight like my entire extended family.

The simple carb thing suggests that serotonin releasing agents might very well be a solution. Recent studies detail how simple carb, low protein meals spike insulin, increase the ratio of tryptophan to other amino acids in the blood, and result in an increase of production of serotonin in the brain.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019566638880045X
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6381575
There are better studies that I cant find as of the moment, particularly one of a double blind experiment assessing the impact on mood of an identical tasting carb-rich drink vs protein-rich drink

yes mdma seems promising as mentioned before in my long first post. However, pure mdma powder is impossible to come by. There seems to be other options here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serotonin_releasing_agent
So Sras are my new treatment goal, i'll see what my psych says.

There is an opioid kappa antagonist in development called JDTic. It may prove to be good for anhedonia. Kappa agonism is associated with stress/dysphoria http://www.jneurosci.org/content/28/2/407.short It seems it could get government approval and enter distribution. So theres hope for that. Also I'm very interested in Deep Brain Stimulation for anhedonia/depression, anyone know the current progress/efficacy on that?

comments? suggestions on other approaches?


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## A Sense of Purpose (May 8, 2011)

jim_morrison said:


> What about Reboxetine? It's nothing fancy but it may help somewhat with energy, drive and concentration.


Never thought too much about it but it may be what i need. I fear that it may be a bit too anxiogenic for me though, cos it doesnt take much of anything to get me 'fired up'. 5 mg lexapro made it impossible for me to sit still or focus. In terms of anxiety my diagnosis is GAD, and not overly social anx. Ill ask my doc and see what he says though.



will22 said:


> Sense of Purpose: thx for the reply, it is bs:sus and I think most psychs think the same way, or they have been brainwashed to. Those psychs that accept the common anhedonic effect of modern ADs are even more repulsive to me. I remember reading an account of a patient complaining of loss of emotion on SSRIs, and the psych attributing that "as part of its therapeutic effect" .... sick :sus
> 
> I forgot to mention that the other flashes of relief came from
> 1. binge-eating simple carbohydrates
> ...


Yeah i consider loss of emotion a side effect. Not a therapeutic effect. How can you rebuild yourself if there is no emotion to build on and help you engage back into reality?

Definately, binge eating does provide some intermittent relief but as you say, its not healthy. Sleep deprivation does tend to do the same to me. A subtle calming euphoria, but also is not friendly to normal routine.

Crazymed has been experimenting on a few things that might proce useful to some degree in this area of anhedonia.

Haven't checked in with him lately but im curious as to how its going.
A combination of low dose risperdal (to cap the euphoria) and low-ish dose amphetamine (to facilitate drive and motivation). I guess the idea behind it is also psychological. If you are more motivated and doing things, you have a greater chance of being happy about doing things, because you actually ARE.

The risperdal might be beneficial in more ways than one as it would prevent illicit substance abuse and generally dull any type of that kind of behaviour down. Thus reinforcing good health and preventing use which indirectly effects mood.

Wonder if memantine can be added to that combo to prevent further stim tolerance? Not sure how safe it is in combo with an AP and amphetamine though. Would need some seasoned input on that


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## will22 (Mar 28, 2011)

In this one study that damns SSRIs (I like those studies ), it shows Reboxetine as improving reward processing. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006322309013225
So I have a chance to suck up to super moderator, and say interesting suggestion!

Yeah, well I'm on the lowest dose of Vyvanse(d-amphetamine) and after a few months of amp use this year, it pummels me physically, even in low dose, I guess I'm sensitive. I get tachycardia doing the simplest things, and ordinary tasks leave me out of breath. This stuff is going to kill me if I can't find out how to reduce cardiac stress on the drug, or find an alternative someone will prescribe me.

So SenseofPurpose, be careful with amp, your mileage may vary. I know a few who take it in the long term fairly well, and many more who get excited the first few weeks, and then realize they cant tolerate it any more. Without a doubt it is one of the most physically damaging drugs out there. I'm not so sure what is meant by low dose amphetamine, and what that would entail. I don't think that low dose amp correlates with lower physical damage as much as he would think. I've done 5mg of pure d-amp before, and the physical damage accumulates, slower than higher dosages, but still fast, like over a few weeks.

aand im getting tire ddd so, yeah theres MOdafinil so look at that if you havent. Memantine is cognitive enhancing on its own beleive it or not, not so sure about motivation


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## michael10364 (Feb 4, 2011)

maybe the med known as cyproheptadine. it isnt even used as a psychiatric med, but it is like food for my soul. one of my problems is long term/permanent anhedonia caused by adderall and mirapex. for about the 1st month on those meds i felt great! but then the effects reversed and left me very messed up. i then tried cyproheptadine after reading some reports about it, and it is great. i think it works so well because of 5ht2c antagonism. 5ht2c antagonism has an effect on dopamine where it causes your brain to release more of it when you experience something that is normally pleasurable (instead of forcing an increase in dopamine like adderall). i really think you should give cyproheptadine a try.
e
also, it could either work quickly where you will notice a very slight benefit the day after taking the 1st dose, another small benefit after the 2nd dose and so on and so forth. but if this occurs you may become tolerant to a certain dose farily quickly (after around 5 days) and the have to raise the dose OR it may take a few weeks before you notice anything from it.


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## A Sense of Purpose (May 8, 2011)

Yeah, i dont doubt its damage. I'd just like something that will work, even for a short period of time. Maybe i can get other aspects of myself going during this stage so if/when it becomes intolerable, ill have other things to pull me through and keep me motivated.

As far as i know the antipsychotic / stim combo is to prevent stim abuse, not neccessarily to prevent damage. SO its mainly a psychological thing.

Michael, how goes your anhedonia as of late? Cyproheptadine given you dramatic improvements? Ill need to do some reading up on it as im not familiar with it.

Is it possible that its only beneficial for *your* type of drug induced anhedonia?


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## michael10364 (Feb 4, 2011)

yes it could be possible it is only beneficial for my drug induced anhedonia. but i'd like to see how it affects others that have anhedonia. i dont think it would hurt to give it a shot. but... to be honest my anhedonia has been absolutely horrible. lol i feel like a pile of sh*t! because like i said in my above post* i get tolerant to the effects of it very quickly and the have to raise the dose.. and i got to a sky-high dose of it that would kill a man if he didnt take the time to work get tolerant to the antihistamine effect of it before takinf a dose that high.
i have been taking it most recently for mirapex induced anhedonia.i sadly had to stop taking the cyproheptadine because of the high dose.. and have slowly sunk further and further in a hole as the days go by.

it was a few years ago when i took it for adderall induced anhedonia, and that was when it took a few weeks before i noticed any effect from it, and when it finally kicked iin.. it was a MAJOR improvement.
(also, im not sure if all this makes sense since lately it has been hard for me to make sense with my words and things i write.)


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## A Sense of Purpose (May 8, 2011)

the anticholinergic effects would be a bit sh!tty though wouldnt they? and with withdrawal would come anticholinergic rebound
which is generally bloody horrible


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## michael10364 (Feb 4, 2011)

the only effects i felt from it were sleepyness. sometimes if i would run out of it and not take it a week or so and then start back at too high a dose i would be "out of it for a few hours". but the overall effect was that it slowly surely made me able to experience more and more pleasure after every dose.
if it makes you sleepy though, you can take it at night, and the effect on dopamine seems to last longer than the anticholinergic effect. (2 or 3 days)
thats how my experience was anyway.


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## A Sense of Purpose (May 8, 2011)

interesting. sounds good.


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## Porterdog (Sep 17, 2010)

Hey buddy
I can relate to you in every single way, down to diagnosis. and only amphetamines helping.

But im going to be constructive here
If you never experienced pleasure, you wouldn't be alive. 
"I've seen you laughing and happy" As much as you want to deny it you do feel pleasure. Reading your post gave me a massive dejavu from about 5 months ago. I was making posts exactly like yours.

The big realisation i came about was that i was getting so obsessed with my 'problem' that i was actually creating it. Im still pretty far from normal, but i can say ive gotten alot better. 

I've tried lots of prescription medication and supplements, and i realised that you cant use them as fixes, only as tools, mostly because they do **** all.

The only fix you will find will be in LSD/Mushrooms. And its not so much of a fix, more of a 'Put you on the right path' sortof thing. But im giving you that advice with alot of warning, do alot of research on it. In the exact same way it can help you it can maim you. With the right knowledge that wont happen though.

Have a good one


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## crayzyMed (Nov 2, 2006)

A Sense of Purpose said:


> Yeah, i dont doubt its damage. I'd just like something that will work, even for a short period of time. Maybe i can get other aspects of myself going during this stage so if/when it becomes intolerable, ill have other things to pull me through and keep me motivated.
> 
> As far as i know the antipsychotic / stim combo is to prevent stim abuse, not neccessarily to prevent damage. SO its mainly a psychological thing.
> 
> ...


Yes to prevent abuse but then a strong dopamine blocker is needed like risperdal, otherwise its a combo to treat shizophrenia, both positives and negatives.


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## baranok (Nov 17, 2011)

ssri (but must be taken to point when they are effective, some weeks) with some psychedelics shrooms or hwbr may open your mind and maybe you will find something that makes you feel pleasure
the experience itself should be pleasure, ssri should cancels any bad trips


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## Jimminy_Billy_Bob (Nov 26, 2008)

I have anhedonia badly for years, amongst many other symptoms. My doctor has just put me on armor thyroid extract, just to see how I respond to it. I have always thought my symptoms indicate low thyroid function, but tests have pretty much come up normal.

Anyway ill see how I go anhedonia wise, let you know if I see any change.


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## crayzyMed (Nov 2, 2006)

A Sense of Purpose said:


> Never thought too much about it but it may be what i need. I fear that it may be a bit too anxiogenic for me though, cos it doesnt take much of anything to get me 'fired up'. 5 mg lexapro made it impossible for me to sit still or focus. In terms of anxiety my diagnosis is GAD, and not overly social anx. Ill ask my doc and see what he says though.
> 
> Yeah i consider loss of emotion a side effect. Not a therapeutic effect. How can you rebuild yourself if there is no emotion to build on and help you engage back into reality?
> 
> ...


Memantine is safe when added to that combination, its been studied added to a antipsychotics and further improves negative cognitive symptons, amphetamine also has been studied added to antipsychotics, causing negative symptons improvement that are simular to avoidant personality disorder, anhedonia and concentration, motivational issues.


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## crayzyMed (Nov 2, 2006)

will22 said:


> Sense of Purpose: thx for the reply, it is bs:sus and I think most psychs think the same way, or they have been brainwashed to. Those psychs that accept the common anhedonic effect of modern ADs are even more repulsive to me. I remember reading an account of a patient complaining of loss of emotion on SSRIs, and the psych attributing that "as part of its therapeutic effect" .... sick :sus
> 
> I forgot to mention that the other flashes of relief came from
> 1. binge-eating simple carbohydrates
> ...


I have used the selective serotonine releaser MDAI in daily low doses, it does help because it does the opposite as SSRI's, lower tonic serotonine levels and increasing phasic (in response to outside stimuli) release.


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## crayzyMed (Nov 2, 2006)

> i'll see what my psych says.


They can only be ordered as research chemicals as only rodents have enjoyed their therapeutic effects up till now.

Another MDAI experience:
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/threads/...an-Anti-Depressant-Safe?p=7825684#post7825684


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

will22 said:


> David Pearce who I respect as an honest and intelligent commentator on pharmacology has hope in a kappa antagonist in development called JDTic as a good option for anhedonia. (http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Pearce/377442241841 near bottom of page) And his recommendation seems to make sense. Kappa agonism is associated with stress/dysphoria http://www.jneurosci.org/content/28/2/407.short It seems it could get government approval and enter distribution. So theres hope for that. Also I'm very interested in Deep Brain Stimulation for anhedonia/depression, anyone know the current progress/efficacy on that?


Yeah the Kappa-opioid receptors do appear to be associated with dysphoria (and dissociation) and probably deserve further research. A common ADHD medication Strattera is a partial agonist at kappa-opioid receptors, I wonder how commonly dysphoria is associated with it.


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## will22 (Mar 28, 2011)

> I have anhedonia badly for years, amongst many other symptoms. My doctor has just put me on armor thyroid extract, just to see how I respond to it. I have always thought my symptoms indicate low thyroid function, but tests have pretty much come up normal.
> 
> Anyway ill see how I go anhedonia wise, let you know if I see any change.


Jimminy_Billy_Bob: I hope you haven't experienced it for too many years, life without pleasure is horrible, especially with accompanying depression.
I'm very interested in any relief you have found from it, or will in the future (there is hope!).



> I have used the selective serotonine releaser MDAI in daily low doses, it does help because it does the opposite as SSRI's, lower tonic serotonine levels and increasing phasic (in response to outside stimuli) release.


CrazyMed: Thats awesome you've been able to get ahold of that, I wonder if thats legal to do so where I live in America. And thats great that its helping you, I just skipped over that one 'cause of some bad anecdotal reports on bluelight and erowid, but it shouldn't be that dangerous to try should it be? Its supposed to be more cerebral and with less negative side effects. Yeah, and Mementine is something I'm pushing on my psych now with little success, I mean whats the harm besides a high price? Its a fairly benign drug I think. I hoping for it to improve cognition with my ADD problems.


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## crayzyMed (Nov 2, 2006)

Its not legal in america as its considered a structural analogue of MDMA and therefor you risk the same penalty's. Most rc's are however legal in europe.

Yes memantine is a benign but good med, it shows alot of potential in the tolerance area mainly.


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## belfort (May 3, 2009)

im curious if anyone on here has had success witrh meds since this post was made??

to the OP, if you experience no pleasure what does your typical day look like?i have to believe you do feel some sort of pleasure, probably just much less than the normal person, am i right?


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## mark555666 (May 1, 2008)

My anhedonia is fully blown again too. The only thing that helped me is dexedrine until it stopped working. I can't enjoy things anymore. The only thing that holds my attention is watching porn and listen to some music tunes. I have never tried drugs like GHB or MDMA though. MAOI's look interesting, but scary. Oh yeah exercise helps me too, but many times my anxiety is too high to do things.


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## imrj (Jan 20, 2009)

have you tried any sort of opiates? I dont recommended it neither think is a good idea due to its strong addictive property..but oxycodone gives me massive mood improvement, the key is to avoid tolerance and escalating doses.....thus using sparingly


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## Hulgil (Oct 4, 2010)

I have suffered from anhedonia, to some extent, for many years. I used to believe it was a combination of an anxiety disorder and depression; the anxiety may or may not be related, but it's definitely experienced as a separate issue, and the description of depression I read on Wikipedia doesn't sound like me - except for the loss of interest, energy, and pleasure. I still have an intellectual interest in my hobbies, but I don't have the - _something_ - to do them. 
‎
I wouldn't say I cannot feel any happiness; it's just unusual, and brief when it does come. It can be intense, but if so it won't be for more than a few minutes. There's no guaranteed way to achieve it, no activity I know to produce desirable feelings.
‎
I have tried various solutions: therapy (from various sources), _self-_therapy, amphetamine, benzodiazepines, alcohol, SSRIs, SNRIs, and buspirone. Of all of these, only benzodiazepines and amphetamine have been effective at all. Benzodiazepines really only relieve me of an unpleasant sensation rather than provide a positive one; amphetamine provides relief in the form of rapid mood swings, from dysphoric to euphoric (the wrong stimulus, for example, can plunge me into a blacker abyss than I was in before).
‎
I left one thing I tried out of the above list: for me, opioid analgesics are what worked best. I used a daily dose of them for over a year, and never experienced tolerance or any negative side effects whatsoever (except one, which I'll get to at the star*). They would completely relieve anhedonia (as might be expected), and either as a consequence or as an additional action, they also gave me the motivation and willpower to pursue my goals and hobbies, and eliminated my anxiety.
‎
Opioid use also relieved my sole physical ailment (something less than IBS but irritating nevertheless). This wide-spectrum relief of symptoms suggests to me that some people may have a problem with their endogenous opioid peptides. To paraphrase opioids.com, it would be unusual if this was the one system in the human brain that can never malfunction.
‎
*This star. Opioids are *extremely* addictive, so I would never recommend them unless you want to use them the rest of your life and can acquire them legally. Illegal use is too expensive to sustain, aside from the other problems involved. The one negative side-effect I experienced? Dependence. Physical withdrawal was _extremely_ unpleasant, and to this day I feel that desire for opioids. 
‎
I'm still confused by the reluctance to prescribe or even research them for psychiatric purposes, though. Benzodiazepines are less addictive, but their withdrawal is far worse. (Meth)amphetamine is probably nearly as addictive, and more physically harmful (and tolerance develops quicker too). Why no psychiatric use of opioids?


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## belfort (May 3, 2009)

^^ive always said that opiods like Nubain and Bupenorphine helped my anhedonia more than anything else..addiction was imminent though, no way geting around that in my case..

Ghb destroyed all anhedonia for a span of 3-4 hours..u cant dose it nonstop though..

hulgil-im very similar to you, i can feel pleasure but its very rare and the same activities dont always produce same results..my pleasure moments are so few and far between that they are almost meaningless...that said i am starting to take welbutrin today, 150 mg per day so i will see what happens..if this doesnt work, i dunno what to do..

whats strange lately with me is im not depressed at all yet still have major anhedonia..everything u read online concerning anhedonia is its link to depression but my moods arent low, im just anhedonic..


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## reef88 (Mar 5, 2012)

Ok so you can laugh and smile and stuff, but you don't feel any pleasure. You don't feel any pleasure from what activities exactly? You don't feel pleasure from sex? or even if you masturbate?


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## Hulgil (Oct 4, 2010)

belfort said:


> ^^ive always said that opiods like Nubain and Bupenorphine helped my anhedonia more than anything else..addiction was imminent though, no way geting around that in my case..


I'd take the addiction over anhedonia any day. Unfortunately, I was prescribed opioids for a non-psychiatric problem, so when that problem went away I had to stop taking opioids. The period during which I was on them was amazing, though - over a year of the most productive time of my life... and I never even had to increase the dose.

I've been considering claiming opioid addiction (not far from the truth, psychologically) in order to obtain buprenorphine, but I don't want that on my record, so that's a last resort for me.



belfort said:


> Ghb destroyed all anhedonia for a span of 3-4 hours..u cant dose it nonstop though..
> 
> hulgil-im very similar to you, i can feel pleasure but its very rare and the same activities dont always produce same results..my pleasure moments are so few and far between that they are almost meaningless...that said i am starting to take welbutrin today, 150 mg per day so i will see what happens..if this doesnt work, i dunno what to do.


I'm sorry to hear you've having the same problem - but please let me know if Wellbutrin helps you! I have not tried it.

Your GHB report is interesting, since I heard that from other people, but as it's another GABAergic like benzos I'm not too terribly excited. I'd give it a try if it ever came up, though; it's just a bit hard to acquire in the U.S.

How do benzodiazepines like alprazolam (Xanax) affect you?



reef88 said:


> Ok so you can laugh and smile and stuff, but you don't feel any pleasure. You don't feel any pleasure from what activities exactly? You don't feel pleasure from sex? or even if you masturbate?


For me, I do feel physical pleasure; what's lacking is excitement/interest. I will enjoy masturbating or having sex while it's going on, but I won't seek it out very often, and even the most marathon wank session has to end eventually.

It's causing some problems in my relationship; I have a beautiful, sexy fiancee... but I'm usually too listless to initiate anything. Once it gets going it's self-sustaining, but that initial desire is hard to come by... unless she waltzes in naked with a paddle or something.


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## reef88 (Mar 5, 2012)

Hulgil said:


> I'd take the addiction over anhedonia any day. Unfortunately, I was prescribed opioids for a non-psychiatric problem, so when that problem went away I had to stop taking opioids. The period during which I was on them was amazing, though - over a year of the most productive time of my life... and I never even had to increase the dose.
> 
> I've been considering claiming opioid addiction (not far from the truth, psychologically) in order to obtain buprenorphine, but I don't want that on my record, so that's a last resort for me.
> 
> ...


Well bro this sounds more like depression, maybe not, but certainly it's a big lack of motivation you got there, and I'm not a doctor so I really don't know what you can do to improve this, medication-wise, I know that Zoloft worked for me, all I can ever tell people is my experience, because I don't know about other people's experiences.


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## FeyIndigoWolf (Nov 12, 2013)

*I know this is 2 years late but...*

I found that Tramadol helped my anhedonia and in some ways helped me stay focused on tasks, which is great for my ADD. From my little bit of research it seems psychs are reluctant to prescribe it for depression, but it seems like something worth investigating more.


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## inerameia (Jan 26, 2012)

will22 said:


> Sense of Purpose: thx for the reply, it is bs:sus and I think most psychs think the same way, or they have been brainwashed to. Those psychs that accept the common anhedonic effect of modern ADs are even more repulsive to me. I remember reading an account of a patient complaining of loss of emotion on SSRIs, and the psych attributing that "as part of its therapeutic effect" .... sick :sus
> 
> I forgot to mention that the other flashes of relief came from
> 1. binge-eating simple carbohydrates
> ...


I've done the same things recently. Binge-eating simple carbs and sleep depriving myself. I've got the same Dx too. I wondered if I had anhedonie as I have no enthusiasm for anything. Thanks for the info


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## cyanide444 (Oct 20, 2013)

NMDA antagonists might promote neuroplasticity. The glutaminergic system is pretty a central system in the neurobiology of depression, and might be responsible, at least in part, for some anhedonia.

From your initial post, it appears that amphetamine helps you the most. I think you would benefit most from an SNDRI. Unfortunately, the only common ones I can think of are cocaine, methylphenidate and ethylphenidate. Those are too short-acting to be helpful. 

MDA might be helpful (it works more in the dopamine/norepinephrine system than MDMA and has affinity for the 5-ht2a receptor which could theoretically influence plasticity), but it too is short acting. The plant "Kratom" (Mitragyna speciosa) contains alkaloids with dual mu-opioid and kappa-opioid activity. This limits the traditional "opiate" effect, and could help in preventing severe addiction from occuring.

I'd have to do more research into SNDRIs. There are a few interesting piperazine analogs that could be synthesized easily, but they are not on the RC market nor are they on the pharmaceutical market.


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