IH >> a plea for help despite the fact that much has been said already.

I'll get Guy Abraham's work on Iodine if it's in the form of a book. I already have Dr. Brownstein's book on iodine--but haven't read through it yet. I have lots of good but unread books.

chipdouglas - If you got Bernstein's book that's all you need. Dr. Guy Abraham stuff can be found on the Internet.

chipdouglas - Regarding Dr. Braverman's theory. Something causes seratonin to be low. Research shows that low seratonin results from adrenal fatigue. If your pituitary, thyroid and adrenal systems are not in concert, that is the source in my view.

Calcification of the pineal gland happens with age Note that it is the pineal gland that makes melatonin and seratonin. Also note that if you do not get enough Vitamin D, this could interfere with that cycle as well. Your digestive issues should be corrected, because it could exacerbate the bad to good flora ratio in your gastrointestinal tract.

I would strongly suggest getting on a good probiotic. Ultimately you want to keep your calcium in the right place. Vitamin D, Omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin K2 and Magnesium make sure you don't calcify except on your bones. One other note, if your glutathione levels are low, that can lead to calcification too.

I should re-emphasize the importance of Vitamin D--if you're short on that, you will get low seratonin. If you live in Canda you are especially vulnerable to a lack of Vitamin D. If I lived in Canada, I would take 5,000 IU everyday in the winter and 2,000 IU during the summer.

CS - Regrading Vitamin D - do the 8 capsules per day of Cod Liver Oil suplly enough?

CausticSymmetry wrote:chipdouglas - Regarding Dr. Braverman's theory. Something causes seratonin to be low. Research shows that low seratonin results from adrenal fatigue. If your pituitary, thyroid and adrenal systems are not in concert, that is the source in my view.

Calcification of the pineal gland happens with age Note that it is the pineal gland that makes melatonin and seratonin. Also note that if you do not get enough Vitamin D, this could interfere with that cycle as well. Your digestive issues should be corrected, because it could exacerbate the bad to good flora ratio in your gastrointestinal tract.

I would strongly suggest getting on a good probiotic. Ultimately you want to keep your calcium in the right place. Vitamin D, Omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin K2 and Magnesium make sure you don't calcify except on your bones. One other note, if your glutathione levels are low, that can lead to calcification too.

I should re-emphasize the importance of Vitamin D--if you're short on that, you will get low seratonin. If you live in Canda you are especially vulnerable to a lack of Vitamin D. If I lived in Canada, I would take 5,000 IU everyday in the winter and 2,000 IU during the summer.

I'm puzzled about one thing. 4 years ago, when my state was at it's worst, I tested saliva Cortisol (4-points) and it didn't appear to be low--Of course that was 4 years ago and things might have changed since then, but that was when my sex drive was much lower than it is now. It's improved some over the last year. I think you've seen that file already, but I've just emailed it to you just to make sure.

I just find it weird that at the worst of my symptoms, my cortisol appeared fine. I really hope to have AF since that would cause me to stop wondering about what it is I've had, but if cortisol was fine back then where my symptoms were worst, then that raises a few questions.

What do you think about this ?

I've been taking L-theanine from AOR for couple days and this too boost my libido to a noticeable degree.

I seem to recall that theanine's mostly Gabaergic although it also seems to have some Dopaminergic benefits in certain brain regions.

I didn't want to mention theanine at first because this was rather new and I didn't want to jump to any conclusions about it, but now I can confirm a noticeable outcome on my libido. It took 2 days for it to kick in.

Further, IIRC when Norepinephrine goes up as a result of stress, Dopamine goes down since norepi is made from Dopamine, thus most of it is diverted to make norepi and probably epi. as well in times of stress. If my reasoning is sound, increasing Gabaergic tone would lower Norepi and thus favor a rise in DA. I think Dopamine should generally make us feel cheerful while not drowsy (of course that also depend on the receptor subset that's been hit).

For years on end, I've been having what most people refer to as palpitations, that is, a strong forceful beating of my heart--not necessarily faster, but more forceful--normally, this is what happens when one has too much circulating catecholamines.

What happens to nutrient absorption while under stress (whether psychological or physiological) ? I'd think that absorption is decreased since one is under SNS activation. I get this reasoning from what the PNS does, which is summed up as rest and digest.

scottyc33 - Depends on the type of cod liver oil, but most of them list the contents on the back.

chipdouglas - Since your results are from four years ago, everything could be dramatically different. Your results showed a normal cortisol profile, but accompanied with a higher than average DHEA output. This is representative of higher anxiety and sensitivity to stress.

Have you ever tried phosphatidylserine?

CausticSymmetry wrote:chipdouglas - What JJB mentioned should definitely be checked out.

You might be interested to know that Ecklonia Cava (Fibroboost) could raise your GH levels, I would highly recommend it.

Have you tried sustained arginine such as Arginine alpha ketoglutarate or Arginine Pyroglutamate? Try a couple grams of that and see what happens.

Experimentation is really the key to success.

What is the difference between 'sustained' arginine and regular old arginine?

CausticSymmetry wrote:chipdouglas - Since your results are from four years ago, everything could be dramatically different. Your results showed a normal cortisol profile, but accompanied with a higher than average DHEA output. This is representative of higher anxiety and sensitivity to stress.

Have you ever tried phosphatidylserine?

Yes, I did, but that was years ago and low dose, but sex drive did go up at first and I felt real good, but I think that it stopped working after a while. But the dose was very likely too low--I think it was 60 mg.

I'll try and get back here in late PM tomorrow. This is a very interesting discussion. I like this place.

Green tea seems to help too, probably because it contains some theanine.

Dashing this off before hitting the road this AM :

Although green tea and theanine boost my libido, magnesium causes it to go down--I thought Mg would boost it too though.

This Mg related observation I've made for months now. That is, when I had some sex drive, Mg would turn it off.

I wonder why ? Is it cause of NMDA blockade or because Mg has some outcome on serotonin ? I'm saying this from the top of my head.

chipdouglas - Got me, I don't know. I can tell you that Magnesium is needed to make dopamine. But magnesium is really important for everybody.

scottyc33 - Regular Arginine doesn't last all that long, so its nitric oxide potential is short-lived. Also as far as growth hormone release is concerned, two grams of Arginine Pyroglutamate is about the same as 30 grams of regular arginine, but without the stomach upset and without competing for lysine. Arginine Pyroglutmate works even better with Lysine for GH and at the same time doesn't compete for it. The nitric oxide boosts lasts a lot, lot longer. The other form of sustained Arginine is Arginine alpha ketoglutarate. It's easier to find that AAKG than it is to find Arginine Pyroglutamate, I'm not sure exactly why, as I prefer AP, but they're both good.

CausticSymmetry wrote:chipdouglas - Got me, I don't know. I can tell you that Magnesium is needed to make dopamine. But magnesium is really important for everybody.

Hopefully, I didn't come across as not promoting Mg--I strongly agree with you that Mg one important mineral--definately worth it's weight in gold. I'm the type to rack his brains quite a bit--admittedly, this has downsides, but it also has a few upsides. I feel through your help, I'm now very close to finding out what has been wrong with me for so long.

Regarding Mg, I simply wonder, when I have a little sex drive, that it causes it to completely disappear time after time after time. You noted that Mg is needed to make Dopamine--I've seen this mentioned in a few text on the web--IIRC you even linked me to a study pointing to this. Now, Selegiline HCl (Jumex) didn't increase my sex drive at all--quite the contrary actually ; what little was on Deprenyl annhilated it each and every time I had it, and I got the first ever series of panic attacks in my whole life after I combined DPR and dark chcolate (PEA & theobromine) = far too much stimulation to an individual who already has plenty naturally.

Now here's something I've just recalled as I was typing about Mg : I recall that initially, when I started taking Mg (a few months ago) 205 mg was fine, in that it didn't bring about any anxiety, while having a second Mg pill on the same day, caused me to get extrasystoles. Strangely, I didn't expect to get anxiety through taking more Mg, I thought it was going to make me really mellow. Now I can have 2-3 250 mg pills/day without any problem, so maybe that was just the initial placebo effect, which is very likely and very real too.

I didn't expect for Mg to boost my sex drive, but at least I expected it not to harm it. Nevertheless, I'm not going to stop taking Mg, because it's far too beneficial elsewhere.

Could Mg be causing some subtle DA stimulation and while I do not get revved up on it, would be enough to kill any libido ? Umm, this is merely a conjecture at best, cause I keep seeing Mg as a natural anxiolytic.......so it's just a shot in the dark really.
Now, could it be that it's the Malic acid in my Mg formula that's skewing the result Mg has on my sex drive ?


Was I correct to say that theanine is more of a GABA agonist than a Dopamine agonist ?

Supplement wise, the following was yesterday's recipe :

1000 mg vitamin C
250 mg theanine (suntheanine)
two cups of green tea

End result, libido went up noticeably. Of note, is the fact that vitamin C taken standalone doesn't boost my libido even in higher doses like : 2 g/day.
Is it also possible that my cortisol is simply too high as opposed to being too low ? Is this still a possibility ?

There's more : remember earlier I was relating that I'd been having inflammation from working out--clearly, this is where it's from since I resumed working out 4 months ago. However I spent a week off training (both cardio and weight lifting), and those aches and pains didn't go away, no matter how rested I was. Now the funny thing is only a little green tea and they're almost gone. I don't know how to explain that, and that's not something I was expecting at all from green tea. However I spent a day without having green tea and those aches and pains returned.
While a lack of libido is definately not like suffering a life-threatening condition like a myocardial infarction, it's a significant role to be played as part of one's overall enjoyment of life, or at least one of life's aspect. Also we males, don't like to know we're below par in this department--this alone can adversely impact any male's self-confidence.

Thanks

chipdouglass - Theanine can act as a dopamine antagonist. How do you respond to taking a sustained Arginine such as Arginine Pyroglutamate or AAKG version? Be aware that It can also reduce dopamine in theory, so it's worth a try.

CausticSymmetry wrote:chipdouglass - Theanine can act as a dopamine antagonist. How do you respond to taking a sustained Arginine such as Arginine Pyroglutamate or AAKG version? Be aware that It can also reduce dopamine in theory, so it's worth a try.

Um, haven't tried it yet, so I'll have to get some.

Do you still see a connection to adrenal fatigue, or it looks like it could be something eles too ?

Sorry for the long email above, I tend to take detour to say what could be said in just a few words.

CausticSymmetry wrote:chipdouglass - Theanine can act as a dopamine antagonist. How do you respond to taking a sustained Arginine such as Arginine Pyroglutamate or AAKG version? Be aware that It can also reduce dopamine in theory, so it's worth a try.

Really? Theanine is usually marketed saying it will boost dopamine.

Joejoebaggins - It can do both, it may act as a modulator.

Joejoebaggins wrote:

CausticSymmetry wrote:chipdouglass - Theanine can act as a dopamine antagonist. How do you respond to taking a sustained Arginine such as Arginine Pyroglutamate or AAKG version? Be aware that It can also reduce dopamine in theory, so it's worth a try.

Really? Theanine is usually marketed saying it will boost dopamine.

I know it has Gaba agonist properties, but IIRC it also has some pro DA outcome in some specific part of the brain, but can't recall which one specifically.

I've seen guys on Mind and Muscle say that at higher dosing their libido gets good boost. I'm quite puzzled at the moment.

Come to think of it, can't dopamine have anxiolytic benefits ? I seem to recall that it can, but again it probably has to do with which DA receptor subset is hit.

I really really want to get my case cleared up--seriously, I'm tired of just existing, I want to start living--this issue of mine has been on my mind for the last 10 years.....it's beyond any word at this point.

IH has raised some really good point so far.

I'd like to know whether theanine is actually lowering DA or boosting it ? I guess not, cause DPR didn't work. However I was told that it might have worked to boost libido had I used a higher dosage.

I guess it's lowering it--I've just recalled that my heart often beats forcefully.

Chip have you ever tried SAMe?

Joejoebaggins wrote:Chip have you ever tried SAMe?

Well, yet, but I didn't try it long enough I beleive.

I for some reason have been thinking that low libido is most of the time a consequence of low dopamine (of course low DA can be the result of low testosterone, DHEA, low thyroid etc..).

At this point, I'm a perplexed, but what I wonder about is : in the event that I have too much catecholamines on board, I guess that would be in relation to other inhibitory neurostransmitters, because when I went to Pathmedical, I underwent a BEAM test (brain electrical activity mapping), which revealed a 7% dopamine drop--I had drops in serotonin and GABA as well, but DA had to highest drop of all.

I'm puzzled here, because I'm not sure what dopamine is supposed to feel like *exactly*. I'll try and keep this thread alive, as this is pretty much my only hope. Locally, docs don't really want to hear about my case.