Dopamine
Do you have too much or too little Dopamine?
Symptoms of too little dopamine:
- More adaptive to stress
- Addictions & Substance abuse
- Anger & Risky behaviour
- Lack of motivation, Forgetfulness
Symptoms of too much dopamine:
- Less adaptive to stress:
- Worry/Anxiety, Aggression, Insomnia, Paranoia, Chronic pain
- High blood pressure,
- Schizophrenia, Psychosis
- Brain fog and poor memory,
- Lower emotional resilience
- Sensitive to pain,, Lower ability to release opioids after pain or stress
- High fear state ‘Startle reflex‘
- Higher incidence of anxiety and major depression For instance when people have anxiety or depression it may be that they have a defect in the COMT gene that affects how fast or how slow their Dopamine is broken down in the prefrontal cortex. In essence how well you cope with stress is a direct result of how much Dopamine is in your prefrontal cortex. We can use nutritional supplements to help this process work better.
TREATMENT: Nutritional & herbal interventions
B6 rate limiting co-factor in the synthesis of neurotransmitters such as dopamine
Iron cofactor in dopamine synthesis/storage.
Support methylation
FAD (B2) crucial for absorption of iron; a deficiency affects brain function.
Magnesium COMT is a magnesium dependent enzyme
Adaptogen herbs Support healthy cognition, improve the response to stress normalise cortisol levels and nourish overworked adrenals.
Exercise improves cognition reduces stress
Manage stress Meditation, diaphragmatic breathing, dancing and reading
Avoid environmental toxins detox pathways and reduce gut inflammation. (note: high cortisol levels take blood supply away from the gut)
