How To Upregulate Dopamine Receptors After Addiction

The Dopamine Fasting course I mention in the end of the video can be found right here.

Are you wondering how to upregulate your dopamine receptors after porn addiction?

Or after any addiction?

Or how to upregulate your dopamine receptors in general?

Well, if so, today's content is for you.

Let's begin...

How To Upregulate Dopamine Receptors After Addiction

Hi, it’s Scandinavian Bob here.

Just a short disclaimer before

This video is information only and NOT medical advice. If you need medical advice please see your doctor. I’m not a doctor, I’m just a former porn addict who is going to share information here and I assume no liability for the application of the information discussed in this video. So always do your own research!

Alright so I’m going to be zigzagging between actionable tips and supplements here, so make sure to stay with me until the end of the video as it will get more and more interesting as we go along….

But let’s start to the left here with the action steps and these are the 3 absolute most important things if you’re wondering HOW TO UPREGULATE YOUR DOPAMINE RECEPTORS…

Stop engaging in your addiction (or DRASTICALLY cut down)

And the first one is of course to stop consuming or at least drastically reduce the very thing you are addicted to. So if you’re a porn addict then that’s obviously going to be porn, if you’re an alcoholic it’s going to be alcohol and so on….

That already is your main thing right there. If you remove the thing that blasted your dopamine system and you live an otherwise healthy life, your dopamine system will slowly but surely start to recover. 

But pay attention here now, because the next one on the list here is physical exercise. 

Physical exercise to help repair dopamine receptors...

Now, most of you are probably not surprised to hear that, as we all know how good exercise is for us, but take a look at the following study they’ve done on this…

They had a group of people who were using and were addicted to “meth” which is an incredibly dangerous drug in so many ways and for the dopamine system as well.

And sure enough these people had severely downregulated dopamine D2 receptors.

I mean, they were really desensitized. 

And THEN they divided the people into two different groups and had one group quit the drug, take health education classes and otherwise live a healthy life, but nothing else.

And THEN they had the other group also quit the drug, live a healthy life, and on top of that ALSO do pretty intense physical exercise 3 times a week.

And after 8 weeks of doing this when they took a look at the dopamine system then the group who only abstained from the drug saw a 3.13% increase in their dopamine receptors while the group who abstained and also did physical exercise say an increase of 13.89% increase in their dopamine receptor density.

I'm not comparing a meth addiction with porn addiction...

Now, before you even go there I need to point out, don’t anyone twist my words here,  OF COURSE I’m not compering a porn addiction with something as destructive as a meth addiction.

But we do know that ALL addictions, no matter what you are addicted to, take a troll on the dopamine system  and I’m showing this study just drive home the point how extremely beneficial physical exercise is with helping the repair of dopamine receptors.

I mean you saw the 8 week difference there, black on white in the meth study. And so if it can make that big of a difference there, then just imagine what it can do for quote on quote “milder addictions” in life, 

Which brings me to the third important point to the left here…

Quit / reduce amount of other supernormal stimuli…

If you have any other addictions besides porn then in order to upregulate your dopamine receptors you obviously also need to stop engaging in them, or then at least drastically reduce the amount. 

And this is true even if you’re not addicted, but let’s say you have overcome your porn addiction, but you’re still playing super stimulating video games for more than 6 hours a day.

Or, maybe you’re NOT addicted to alcohol, but you keep drinking recreationally many times a month to get that sweet dopamine buzz. 

OR maybe you eat super stimulating junk food several times a week. Well, you should know that all the stimulating things add up, and also take their toll on your dopamine system. 

Now, I’m not saying we can never indulge in any super stimulating things every now and then because we certainly can and we will recover just fine, but overuse of supernormal stimuli will certainly hold you back, and if you go REALLY hard with them it may perhaps prevent recovery altogether. 

The good old word “MODERATION” is a word that comes to mind here, guys. And when I use the word moderation here I’m obviously thinking of things that are fun and pleasurable that  you are not addicted to. 

Ok, so there are more actionable things we can do, but before we go to those, let’s now take a look at a few supplements that may help to upregulate and repair your dopamine receptors

Supplements to help with dopamine receptor upregulation...

• Inositol  
• CDP-Choline  
• N Acetyl -L-Cyctine 
• Uridine Monophosphate 
• Cordyceps Mushroom 
• Acityl L-Carnitine
• Omega 3 Fatty acids
• Sulbutiamine (check legal status in your country)

Ok, so before we start I just want to say that I am not sponsored by any of these, obviously since I won’t even mention a brand, so I don’t get one single cent from listing them here, I just use some of them myself, and I’ll tell you which ones in just a moment.

So, most of these I have of course been reading about before, but just yesterday I also copied this list from a nootropics channel here on YouTube, but what I myself have learned when reading about them, honestly, is that well, they really are not that impressive. 

I personally take CDP-Choline...

Except for the CDP-choline, which I myself already use as it’s the one that seems to have the most evidence behind it and which ironically was not even included on his list. 

I also sometimes take inositol, but already that one seems to have a bit weaker evidence behind it than the choline. 

It could be that inositol is more helpful for upregulating receptors in general, and not just dopamine D2 receptors, and perhaps even more so serotonin receptors. 

Omega 3....

And then I also take a good quality omega 3 supplement. 

More so for health and brain health in general, because here’s the thing we don't know if it also helps with upregulating dopamine receptors specifically.

But there are plenty of studies showing how it helps with brain repair in general and if that’s the case, then it might potentially help with your dopamine system too and since there are so many other health benefits of omega 3’s, like cardiovascular and general brain health I think it perhaps more for that with the hope that it’s also good for increasing my receptors.

So, those are the ones I myself take, but I wanted to include the rest of them here as well incase anyone of you want to take a deeper dive, because honestly, I have not been diving that deep into the rabbit hole with everyone on the list here, so of course I might have missed some interesting evidence.

But again I do have to say, yes, some of the rest here might potentially help a bit, but from what I’ve read so far, I’m not impressed.

The actionable steps are way more important...

In general, I have to say the action based things to the left we are about to talk about are probably way, Way more effective, and cheaper as well of course.

But I do have to say I’m also a bit interested in the last one here, I have not yet tried it, but according to some people it has a homeostatic effect. 

Which would mean that when taking it, it temporarily actually reduces your dopamine and thus it’s forcing your brain to create more receptors as a response. 

Kind of like, suffer now and get the reward later. 

Now I personally did not find that very convincing evidence of this when it comes to this very compound, but I am, however, fully aware of that principle behind that phenomenon from a neurobiological standpoint,  as it is the very opposite of an addiction and the very reason why things like dopamine fasting works for example.

The neurobiological process behind down - upregulation of receptors...

I mean as those of you remember from my presentation of how downregulation of the dopamine system happens, it happens because you present your brain's reward system with something super stimulating so that it releases so much dopamine, which are the small dots you can see on the screen, that your brain starts going “Gnnh, now there’s too much dopamine here, I need to protect myself from it”.

And it does so by reducing the number of dopamine D2” receptors as you can see on the screen right here. 

Well then likewise the idea is that some compounds can temporarily reduce dopamine itself, to the point that the brain starts going, “Oh, now there’s actually too little dopamine here, I need to upregulate some of my receptors in order to compensate”.

And then that would be the idea behind how they upregulate dopamine receptors.

Now, I know that there are some prescription drugs that are able to do this, but since we do not talk about medications on this channel, I have to say I'm a little bit skeptical of the claims with this very compound here. 

And also, I would be very careful of consuming something artificial to provoke this response, since there might be side effects we do not yet know about, and what if something goes wrong so you get stuck in a state of too low dopamine production.

Dopamine fasting for upregulation of dopamine receptors...

AND besides  we can use this exact principle by for example doing different dopamine fasting protocols. 

Yes, because that’s what you are doing when you dopamine fast  you drastically reduce dopamine releasing activities so that the brain will compensate by upregulating receptors. and unlike putting any chemicals in your body in an unnatural way.

That’s a much safer and probably also a more effective way of depriving your brain of dopamine for a short while. I mean there is nothing dangerous about reducing the amount of social media, junk food and internet for a few days. 

And with dopamine fasting YOU are actually in control. I mean, at any point you can just add back the activity you removed and you're not stuck with anything. It's just a natural, effective way of reaching the same effects.  

Actually I seriously believe that dopamine fasting might just be the most effective thing you can do to help upregulate your dopamine receptors out of everything you are about to see on the whole animation board. 

Aside from removing the very core of your addiction of course which is obviously the number one thing you should be focusing on.

Feeling stuck? You can transform your life in 13 weeks OR LESS by Downloading my FREE guide below...

And some of the world's most famous brain experts, like the addiction expert Anna Lembke as well as the neuroscientist Andrew Huberman speak very highly of dopamine fasting when it comes to  upregulating your dopamine receptors. 

But again, if you want to explore some of the supplements to the right here, by all means go right ahead, but when it comes to stuff you consume, always remember to proceed with caution and always do your own research.

Cold showers...

Cold showers are amazing because they help to increase both your dopamine as well as your dopamine receptors. 

Research suggests that regular meditation practice may lead to changes in the brain, including potentially increasing dopamine receptor density in certain areas. 

Meditation...

At least we know that it helps with dopamine production, but the jury is still out on just how effective it’s for upregulation of receptors, but if we apply the same logic here,  in that it’s basically the opposite of an addiction, then we understand that it could indeed be plausible.

I mean just think about it, when you’re meditating you temporarily deprive yourself of all simulations, and you're just sitting there with your breath and your thoughts, and it’s very boring.

Well, again, that’s kind of like the opposite of instant gratification activities, which, as we know, are the activities that can downregulate your receptors.  

Intermittent fasting...

Intermittent fasting has also been shown to help dopamine receptors sensitivity and may potentially also upregulate the receptors. And the easiest way to do this is, in my opinion, to do the 16-8 window, or why not the 6-18.

If you don’t know what I mean by that you can easily find info on that on google, but here I also have to say that I have personally had some really interesting results a few times after having fasted from food for about 48 hours or so.

At the end of the fast food tasted amazing, which is obviously to be expected, but not only that music suddenly sounded better and focus was sharper.

And why would that be the case?

That could very well be an indication that the dopamine receptors were more sensitive, which is great.  

Now, if you do want to try fasting, again, please build up to it, be careful and always do your research first.

Sunshine...

Sunshine has also been shown to be good for your brain as well as upregulate your dopamine receptor. Now, this one is kind of surprising as many of the things that have shown to work are things that take effort or a bit of pain in the moment, but then you get the reward afterwards.

Like exercise, cold showers or fasting, but getting some sunshine is actually really pleasant in the moment as well, yet it still helps, which hey, that’s totally fine by me, I just find it very interesting. 

Now, when it comes to dopamine fasting, I've received so many questions over the years about how to create a good dopamine fasting protocol so I actually went ahead and created a full online course about that, where I share 5 different fasting protocols along with many other interesting dopamine hacks you can try so and you can read more about by clicking right here.

Action steps summary...

• Stop (or drastically reduce) The thing that desensitized you
• Physical exercise
• Reduce the amount of other stimulating things that may hammer your dopamine syste
• Dopamine fasting
• Cold showers
• Meditation
• Intermittent fasting
• Sunshine

Supplements summary...

• Inositol  
• CDP-Choline  
• N Acetyl -L-Cyctine 
• Uridine Monophosphate 
• Cordyceps Mushroom 
• Acityl L-Carnitine
• Omega 3 Fatty acids
• Sulbutiamine (check legal status in your country)

Related posts...

• Porn can be damaging for your dopamine D2 receptors
• Dopamine receptor desensitization from watching porn looks like this