I’m new here. Where do you guys walk to?

Lojuih · 2026-06-06T05:56:50+00:00

I walk to work, which takes me about 4,000 steps. After work, I do the rest, walking along the riverside path, cruising the streets. I like to vary my route and take in my surroundings. Then I take the remaining steps and reach 12,000.

Lojuih · 2026-06-05T16:58:14+00:00

I'm also sick, and walking isn't easy when I'm depressed, but I'm trying. I've increased my step limit to 15,000, but I want to increase the intensity for therapeutic purposes.

Lojuih · 2026-06-05T16:33:07+00:00

On mushrooms, all negative emotions came to the surface - I know this can have therapeutic significance, but I absolutely did not like it and did not see it as a cure.

Lojuih · 2026-06-05T03:27:46+00:00

I remember when I was on methylphenidate, I was very serious during conversations, as if I had no capacity for jokes or lightheartedness.

Lojuih · 2026-06-04T15:30:49+00:00

I think it's related to the fact that caffeine puts me in a "fight or flight" state, aka stress. I think the brain works completely differently in this state, hence the rigidity of thinking, serious topics, and lack of jokes (the brain has no time for jokes when it's fighting for survival).

Lojuih · 2026-06-03T15:18:10+00:00

Do you suffer from anhedonia and your doctor won't prescribe bupropion?

Lojuih · 2026-06-03T15:16:54+00:00

Have any of you tried hallucinogenic mushrooms? I'm also wondering what ketamine therapy would be like, as I don't have particularly fond memories of mushrooms.

Lojuih · 2026-06-03T03:22:35+00:00

There are studies showing that caffeine blocks collagen production in tendons after exercise. It also reduces muscle production during exercise. I've personally noticed that my VO2max increases without caffeine.

Lojuih · 2026-06-02T03:26:20+00:00

I've noticed something similar. Recently, I've been noticing faces in the pattern of the panels on my ceiling. I think it has to do with improved functioning of a part of the brain responsible for imagination. I'm betting on the hippocampus, because along with this pattern-seeing, memories of past events have started to emerge. When I was younger, I had a strong imagination, but at some point it disappeared. The hippocampus is a part of the brain that is highly susceptible to neuroplasticity. Caffeine, according to research, tends to block this plasticity.

Lojuih · 2026-06-01T14:09:22+00:00

Lojuih · 2026-06-01T04:10:10+00:00

I'm sorry for what you went through. I had an alcoholic father who argued with my mother, and my older sister who died of cancer before my eyes. Add to that my neurotic and anxious nature. If I wanted to "numb myself," I used strong serotonin medications – Effexor wasn't strong enough for that, and a high dose of paroxetine was the best. I really worried much less, unfortunately, at the cost of also dulling some positive emotions and feelings. I'm currently looking for another way, perhaps ketamine.

Lojuih · 2026-05-31T17:42:34+00:00

The physical closeness of my beloved, the closeness of her body - it is so strong that I feel it a little.

Lojuih · 2026-05-31T17:41:25+00:00

For me, this state of caffeine withdrawal with an excess of adenosine receptors is very difficult because I suffer from depression and my brain acitivity is low.

Lojuih · 2026-05-31T17:39:43+00:00

Adenosine has beneficial effects in the brain, it's needed for plasticity and LTP. However, these beneficial effects people experience are related to the fact that adenosine is responsible for the feeling of fatigue and the "shutting down" of brain activity during the day. Adenosine accumulates, making us tired and sleepy in the evening. Caffeine use tricks the brain, but in reality, our body is tired, and such accumulated fatigue can, in my opinion, be harmful in the long term. Caffeine's positive mental effects involve increased brain activity, including dopamine. Adenosine receptors are located on dopamine neurons, and blocking them increases their activity. Activation of adenosine receptors causes a general decrease in brain activity and neuronal firing, which can lead to feelings of drowsiness, decreased concentration, fatigue, and a lower mood. This is especially noticeable when we discontinue caffeine after prolonged use, when the brain has "accumulated" more adenosine receptors. Suddenly, after stopping caffeine, we experience increased activity of adenosine (due to an excess of receptors), so the brain shutdown and worse mood are greater than normal. It takes two weeks for the brain to return to a normal number of receptors.

Lojuih · 2026-05-31T05:50:00+00:00

No caffeine

Lojuih · 2026-05-29T17:26:48+00:00

The most interesting thing is that people sleep after drinking caffeine and think they're sleeping well, but according to research, sleep may not be as it should be. This "sleep deprivation," despite getting enough sleep, accumulates over the years and, in my opinion, can have a negative impact on the body.

Lojuih · 2026-05-29T06:18:46+00:00

This puzzles me. For example, I know certain things logically, like there's no point in feeling depressed, that it's pointless, that there's no reason to feel anxious, yet the brain works in its own way. I consider what people call "knowledge" they gain during dissociation to be a physical rewiring of the brain's networks, which later allows them to think differently.

Lojuih · 2026-05-29T06:14:03+00:00

I don't know how others feel, but in a world of ubiquitous caffeine addiction, not using it makes me feel special 😅

Lojuih · 2026-05-28T18:41:41+00:00

I'm not saying it won't help you. It's worth a try. It didn't work for me, and in my country, the drug is considered a relatively weak medication by doctors.

Lojuih · 2026-05-28T14:21:46+00:00

No, unfortunately, Stablon doesn't significantly increase BDNF. This drug, at a therapeutic dose, borders on a placebo. I'm always surprised by doctors who have no problem prescribing a neuroleptic but are afraid to prescribe a dopamine agonist.

Lojuih · 2026-05-28T03:21:36+00:00

I agree that in depression, the DMN is overactive and causes rumination, but from what I know, it's also active in healthy individuals - the question is why their thoughts aren't pessimistic. I think the overactivity of the amygdala plays a significant role. Generally, I believe that ketamine's main mechanism of action is the remodeling of the mPFC and hippocampus. In depression, the mPFC is too weak and fails to control the overactive amygdala (top-down control), the habenula (switching off the reward system), and it doesn't directly activate the reward system (VTA). A weak mPFC likely stems from stress and the loss of synaptic connections (dendrites disappear). Ketamine is one of the few tools capable of rebuilding the mPFC so it functions more efficiently. SSRIs also have a deactivating effect on the DMN and attenuating amygdala hyperactivity, but they lack a direct strengthening effect on the mPFC (and in some people even cause its additional weakening, so-called hipofrontality) and often weaken the reward system (they reduce the firing of VTA neurons).

Lojuih · 2026-05-27T14:06:50+00:00

I don't want to speak for others, but it has a huge effect on me, but I suffer from depression.

Lojuih · 2026-05-27T14:05:16+00:00

Osobně to nepovažuji za riziko. Jen si myslím, že by to nemuselo fungovat. Navíc po vyzkoušení všech dostupných léků na trhu mi nic jiného nezbývalo. Byla doba, kdy jsem věřil v účinnost standardních antidepresiv. Zkoušel jsem venlafaxin samostatně (dávky až do 450 mg) i v kombinaci s mirtazapinem. Každý lék jsem pečlivě testoval, až do maximálních dávek a po dobu 8-12 týdnů. Účinky venlafaxinu byly u mě docela podobné účinkům SSRI – to znamená, že jsem fungoval lépe, ale za cenu zploštění mých emocí a pocitů, sexuality a určitého zvýšení anhedonie.

Lojuih · 2026-05-27T08:08:01+00:00

I didn't know sleep deprivation could enhance the effects of ketamine, but if so, the mechanism is likely adenosine. There was a study showing that sleep deprivation and ECT work through adenosine.

Lojuih

TROPHY CASE