Hacker News Reader

Comment by nickalaso | Hacker News Reader

Low Dopamine and glucose in the brain leading to seizures. I wonder if taking adderall/stimulants as an external dopamine source + sugary drinks/food for the glucose could have helped with this.

View on HN

No. Adderall forces the brain to release the dopamine it already has and causes increased brain activity, using more glucose. It's more likely to cause this condition or make it substantially worse than it is to treat it.

The amphetamine molecule enters the neutron and does several things, two of which are:

1) Force dopamine that is in storage in the neuron to be released prematurely.

2) Reverse the direction of the dopamine transporter so that free dopamine within the neuron that hasn't been reclaimed yet is forced back out into the synaptic space. Usually the transporter moves dopamine from the synaptic space back into the neuron.

To restore dopamine levels you'd need plenty of rest and a healthy diet. Forcing the brain to use the last dregs of dopamine it has left with drugs would be the worst thing you could possibly do.

Edit: In short amphetamine doesn't replace or substitute for dopamine, it just forces the brain to use what it already has. If you're running low it's going to mess you up.

Yeah I distinctly remember on day three or so of bangface (a n extremely intense rave festival in the UK) just kinda sitting slumped against a mattress in our chalet with almost this feeling like air was whistling through my empty neurons because you go hard on uppers and whatnot again and again.

sidebar: I have a lay theory that childhood mistreatment can kneecap the reward system and that ADHD is one manifestation of that.

When burnout similar to OP hit me, the company I was working at had free soda available all the time. I'd get slow while working stupid hours, and so I'd be guzzling soda to pep me up (or so I convinced myself... actually I was just addicted to the sugar). It was the lack of rest that was the cause of the debilitating burnout that destroyed me for years, and not for lack of glucose.

In the short-term amphetamines and sugar are great to push yourself. And in the long-term, some people find they function better with some amphetamine in their system.

But, I can think of no /quicker/ route to some sort of intense crash and possible health issues than using a constant diet of sugar and speed to push oneself beyond their capacity day in and day out 24/7.

The median diet in the USA can accurately be described as "using a constant diet of sugar". It's nothing special.

The author of TFA simply didn't run out of glucose as he claimed. The symptoms from that are entirely different than what he described.

I dunno about Adderall but Id experience similar cases (stuttering, brain fog, social anxiety) after working hard for extended time, albeit nothing as extreme, and figured out a long time ago it was probably low glucose (there's sort of a saying for it in Chinese) and I'd indulge myself a bit in sweet stuff like chocolate and sodas. Most of the time I try to eat healthy. I have no idea if it actually helps though lol

Reply on news.ycombinator.com