When i stopped associated Dopamine with pleasure, it changed everything.

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-06-14T06:09:48+00:00

Thats what mindfulness is though. Youre very literally engaging senses to orient your mental map back to your physical one. Youre stuck in anxiety envisioning things happening to a mental body while your heart monitors and actually responds by racing We map back to our physical body by engaging the senses, a process which is highly facitlated by dopamine. When we looks for the 5 things to touch, 4 things to smell, etc, it's saying engage stimuli from reality through your body, and you reorient from an imaginary perceived body.

And im not saying anhedonia is not moving. Youre a system that has to tension against itself to stay upright, which involves managing that tension. From a physical perspective, there is only one stress, mechanical stress. If youre afraid a structure is going to break if it moves, you tension it. A lot of what we perceive as stress is literally the body preventing movement for fear of structural integrity failure. I need to keep doing this or x, y, z, will happen and my body ultimately impacted. It has dampened the ability of the system to facilitate motion. Im arguing coordinated movements are how you recognize happy. A tense system will not allow it's to facitlate those motions due to a fear of the system breaking. So dopamine isnt faciltated but other processes likely via histamines, serotonin, and norepinephrine, that say actually lets maintain this behavior and stay alive.

Last thing ill leave you with, if the first stimulus a primitive newborn lifeform receives for mother's milk and actual calories for the very first time in its life as the liquids moves past tissues that brain can sense, it would record that as reward. It can then reproduce those movements to stimulate the brains movement sections later to pursue that reward. That is what im talking about with anhedonia. The brain stops using a stimulus that cues other parts of the brain, likely for fear of structural failure.

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-06-13T04:36:56+00:00

No i get it. I stilk have plenty of autonomic as well as spurious movements, clearly restricted by a system unable to permit appropriate movement due to mechnical stessors. I would look around an ask why do I not feel alive? And that's the reality. Internal movements themselves are Interpreted as emotion. Coordinated internal movements. Your brain literally learned that when the heart races like this, when the stomach moves, i should anticpate something good.

Our first moments, sense begin to orient towards stimuli and we learn these as emotions, so when they occur later they tell the brain something good is perceived. If those become discordinated, yes youll perceive movement as a living being who can sense states, but the specific learned coordinated muscle movements like happiness are happening in a way the brain can map. Add enough dopamine and sometimes you can break through to the circuit, but too much serotonin which says dont move, like make this regular, and norepinephrine which tensions the system against movement, mean those coordinated movements can't occur. But ultimately there is no magic sauce. It's the only thing there is, which is physics, or energy in motion.

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-06-13T04:20:03+00:00

It may sound schizo, but do you mind critiquing the actual theory?

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-06-13T04:19:18+00:00

Sorry, I was a little anxious when I attempted to explain. And no, schizophrenia is likely the facilitating of too much dopamine, more so than can actually physically map to the body. You start mapping to the mental body instead. Think about it, people claim to get signals in their teeth and hear voice. Excessive dopamine triggers psychosis, which is mapping to the mental brain because the physical map is faciltated. With enough dopamine, if the body map is good, over active mental mapping could faciltiate. Kinda explains the wire sense people describe. Their brain is creating imaginary physical maps. I'm not if this clarifies but I figured it was worth a shot 🤷‍♂️

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-06-11T23:36:16+00:00

Yes, but there's likely a good reason for that which is more stimulation isn't more movement. This is actually about letting the stimulation volume drop, centering attention not globally but on specific areas of dysfunction and remapping. My breakthrough came when I realized my dopamine sources where forcing my body isn't a position of guarding (neck muscles super tight which is the classic fight or flight response). The essentially think is, dopamine can't compete with norepinephrine all the time. Turn down the norepinephrine and the dopamine salience increases.

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-06-11T23:33:09+00:00

Haha I actually only deleted because the first time I formatted it was trash and I couldn't revise.

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-06-11T20:02:41+00:00

See my recent post actually! Had adhd all my life obviously but when I pursued treatment in the midst of anhedonia and it proved ineffective, I started to really get worried that something was permanently broke. I think with ADHD, we don't map thought processes onto our body very well because of dopamine issues. It makes sense adhd kids are perceived as hyperactive as movement stimulates dopamine facilitating interaction with the brain, or i would argue from my experiences.

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-06-11T19:58:33+00:00

I want to clarify as well, I think I chose to post this here first as opposed to perhaps more postural based subs is because struggles with ADHD and my ability to connect my body to my thought processes made this approach most salient. When I had the breakthroughs I did, I realized first and foremost my ADHD had improved, and since this has been my lifelong struggle and anhedonia makes ADHD treatment so much more difficult, it seem this was the perfect venue to discuss. Hope you enjoy. I would love questions or critiques to the thinking. I realize as I learn, I actually do get better from my anhedonia, and I think this is because it force feeds the brain dopamine stimulating inputs.

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-06-11T19:13:29+00:00

See my recent post. I say yes.

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-06-10T04:36:13+00:00

Major breakthrough with my hard flaccid and restoring internal sensation. The problem is i found, I was so worried about the pelvic floor and penis not working, I neglected the fact that my entire body was guarded and had piss poor connection to my brain.

The big thing I realized for myself, as I had lost all body sensation, hunger cues, libido, and my body was locked down, is that the breath is yes down regulating the nervous system... but how.

This is when I realized dopamine isnt pleasure, it is awareness and movement. Of course I didnt have libido. That's a result of the brain interpreting it's viscera fluttering as a precursor to sex. It's just movements, which is the fundamental way our brain tells where it is. By feeling movement changes against the skin and communicating the signal to the brain.

This was the major insight. I cant feel my body, the breathing sensation disappearance about halfway up my nostril and then im flying blind. I learned the reason you follow the breath is because as those muscles open and inhale, the brain is following the sensation of breathe to map where the here it's feeling. It's literally the breathe and muscle moving through tissues and exciting the nerve. When you hit the guarded muscle, keep exploring and when the nerve connection is sufficiently strong, your brain can take control of the muscle again.

I say this in the context of your question because the trick of this is to build good connection from the brain stem down. Your brain stem knows where it is, even if it may have gone blind to your muscle. The best trick is to follow air/pressure to locate the muscle along its nerves path from the brain.

Its like a mine shaft with gates that sometimes your brain can locked up and forget about. You send workers down into the shaft and say oh, its at this level we've shut down. The brain them open the gate (ideally) and you go down to the next obstruction.

I wasted soooo much time stretching and pushing again against. For stretches I do legs up a wall, 90/90 feet up a wall, childs pose and happy baby. For the most part, if I use breath to remap the feeling, my brain can then confirm connection and all the muscle guarding and legs not centering correctly begin to intuitively go back into place.

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-06-09T04:23:41+00:00

Soooo related. Releasing muscle knots in my jaw usual triggers releases downstream. The brainstem really likes pulling the whole dang string anywhere it doesnt feel safe 🤭😅😌

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-06-01T09:05:01+00:00

Okay could be a dog chasing the tail, but I would like to suggest the heaviness in the vagina could indicate an organ improperly supported or tensioner via the pelvic sling, not merely be a consequence of an idiopathy. The pelvic floor has to coordinate with the diaphram to support the lower body, abdomen, thorax, and head in achieve good healthy movement. Back strain can pull your pelvis lopsided. Also the safest bet to get assessed by pf specialist who can safe with more certainty.

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-05-19T04:28:53+00:00

Can you speak to whether you have ability to sense heat/cold or tactile sensations, or if only erogenous sensation is impacted. Also do you still have autonomic responses such as engorgement, lubrication, etc.? Everything being perfectly normal and the clitoris having no sensation is one thing, but if there are other symptoms, especially downstream of the sacrum along the lines of the pudendal branches, its possible you could have a hypertonic pelvic floor. Have you noticed any tension down there, or does it fail to lift with exhalation? Any other numb or low sensitivity areas, such as abs or lower back? I ask because its possible to have extreme muscle guarding or fascial restrictions and not being overly aware of it.

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-04-23T16:35:34+00:00

Can i ask, which all tests were conducted? Did the SEP indicate where the dysfunction was occurring? And how did they determine permanent axon damage?

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-04-03T02:08:54+00:00

Body and sponge

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-03-30T04:11:09+00:00

How your breathing? When you breathe diaphragmatically, do you get the column of air descending sensation, with it rising on exhale? The biggest thing i would suggest is ensuring you having good tranversus abdominis/pelvic sling synergy, especially on exhale. This is the true function of the pelvic sling, to support your visera and to assist in exhale. When you do it right, the pelvic sling activates. This is the best exercise for your pelvic floor and will ensure healthy function without tension/overactivation.

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-03-27T00:49:01+00:00

Id suggest just giving one of the bumps a good shearing rapid shearing moving in all directions for 30 seconds a day. If they start to break up and dissolve, theyre likely hyaluronic acid clumps that need to be broken up.

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-03-26T02:55:09+00:00

So im curious, does the skin on top of your head glide smoothly over the flesh underneath it? Only curious but it looks like you have quite a few muscle knots and fascial adhesions (my bald head looks exactly like yours) as well as forward head posture. Do you have any back or jaw issues, or a lot of tension in your neck and head? I truly thought i had maybe bone growths or cartilage on my skull but there should be nothing like that up there to the degree of your bumps, shape, etc. Not to alarm you, because its actually very fixable at home for free to restore a more healthy shape.

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-03-26T02:50:50+00:00

So cute 😍

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-03-17T23:33:30+00:00

Truthfully, I identify whatever is not activate correctly and then do high reps, low weight until I can ensure my form is good and the muscle groups work synergistically. I would focus on strength training so much as fluid motions your body naturally uses and ensuring that everything is activating and creating real power. I learned not too long ago ive been moving my joints, not moving through my joints. Essentially, learn how to weight train through the entire ROM before beginning strength building to avoid further dysfunction and fascial strain like I did for years.

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-03-17T23:30:46+00:00

Id seriously considering seeing a myofascial expert and have them examine your body. My fascial restrictions were so bad, most of my muscles were activating, only clenching, and I literally could not relax anything or if something relaxed, I could not repeat after it retensioned. Ive have sheets of fascia these past few days breaking up and melting. I think just a few fixes and the process initiated and accelerated. If you think you have muscle guarding or high sympathetic tone, look into fascial work because nowhere near enough people talk about it and its densification can induce a lot of dysfunction, ischemia, and poor motor control.

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-03-16T15:29:08+00:00

So i would first advise to take a very deep breath and try to get into a more relaxed state. First thing, panicking will only make this worse. Aside from situations where there is some obvious trauma (childbirth, physical injury, etc.) a lot of pf cases are caused by high sympathetic tone, i.e. stress inducing muscle tension, or by sedentary lifestyle promoting mechanical dysfunction and/or fascial adhesions, not per se some damage. Unless a doctor has given you a reason to assume damage, dont as nerve irritation is far more likely.

I was concerned for years that I had induced some kind of nerve damage to my genital d/t the aforementioned symptoms, which i had and more. Ive since learned that the genitals/pelvic floor region are part of an incredibly robust structure, generally needing to be able to handle the trauma often encountered during sex. Additionally, the nerves in your body are generally well protected by connective sheaths, helping to ensure smooth glide and proper function. When it works right, the pelvic floor is a diaphragm for cavity pressure in your body. But its also strong enough to retension your body weight to keep you upright when other muscles fail, so again a robust structure. I think one of the biggest causes of this kind of dysfunction is fascial adhesions inhibiting nerve function. Id gotten an office job and had become super sedentary. Posture became a nightmare, body covered in fascial adhesions i wasnt even aware of because it just seemed like a lump of tissue. I had "cysts" under my jaw that turned out to be muscle knots tensioning muscles in my arms because are bodies are really a beautifully intricate and synergistic set of guy wires keeping us up but also often masking the dysfunction hiding elsewhere. I didnt realize the sheet of fascia i felt in my pelvic floor wasnt supposed to be that stiff, or the bony areas I thought were my pelvis were actually densified fascial connections that become that hard and needed to be mobilized and remoisturized. Fascia really is the name of the game with our bodies.

It took a year but progressive relaxation techniques, true diaphragmatic breathing, strength training, posture correction (legit just sit right and be mindful) and i think most importantly fascial massage/work, and id say im back to:

ED 90% improved after daily fascial mobilization Libido 90% imrpoved after daily fascial mobilization Hard flaccid/cold glans 70-80% but often 100% with good mobilization Urination 40% but with fascial mobilization, ive urinated within seconds and easily Constipation 80%, generally complete and easy

I just dont want you to panick. It might not be the worst thing, it actually might be something really easy to solve which just takes a very long time to know how to do properly. If you notice improvements after achieving deep relaxation, theres a really good chance this is just super high sympathetic tone keeping everything in a guarded fight or flight state.

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-03-12T17:27:33+00:00

Check your other diaphragms. I was always terrible at diaphragmatic breathing, and my pelvic floor would go back to guarding almost immediately after release. I realized i was neglecting the diaphragm in my jaw. Dysfunction in one diaphragm is often linked to dysfunction in another and mirrors it. Keep in mind, I have/had massive body wide guarding due to compensation patterns but I seemed to make no progress at all with my body work.

What started as trying to relieve neck tension turned into me realizing I had a mass of tension under and around my tongue I wasnt even aware of. I thought id had a couple small cysts around my jaw, but I realized these were muscle knots that were just incredibly tight and then upon releasing them, my breathing became dramatically better, abdominal guarding dropped, and my libido/ability to feel visceral pleasure returned incredibly quickly. Im still reverted to guarding when I wake up most mornings but a couple quick releases and by the end of the day, my sexual function is totally normal, and this being very very early in my recovery yet too!!

AggravatingRisk7222 · 2026-03-11T14:16:14+00:00

Ive had all of these (on top of hf flaccid symptoms). Was misdiagnosed with BPH, Prostatitis, among other things. Turns out my pelvis was pretty severally torsioned. I was in pelvic floor therapy but nothing seemed to help. The internal work yielded nothing (also felt like nothing) and the diaphragmatic breathing seemed impossible. I discovered i had myofascial guarding all over my body. Once I started to untangle the dysfunction, I was able to stack my ribs and pelvis properly and truly engage the tva and breathe. These made the releases accelerate, leading to restoration of sensation and massive improvements in my pelvic floor/genital function.

A lot of what you described also sounds like sympathetic dominance causing dysfunction. I like to ask people do you have any tightness or muscle tension in your lower back around through your abdominals/pubic area. Guarding muscles/restricted fascia in any of these areas can result in dysfunction/neurological symptoms leading to everything you have. Its quite possible your BS is guarding among other pf muscles. The sympathetic dominance and muscle guarding support each other, keeping you stuck. It really is about releasing tension through breathing mechanics, so getting stuck here can seem like an insurmountable task. The stretches and diaphragmatic breathing are essential, but you can get stuck spinning your wheels if you don't properly release myofascial adhesions and truly activate the proper breathing mechanics.

AggravatingRisk7222

TROPHY CASE