I am starting to wonder if there is such a thing as dopamine withdrawal symptoms. Two weeks ago I came down with the flu. Everyone around me also got it and we all agreed it was unpleasant.
Since then everyone has gotten better. I also got a lot better but then I seemed to plateau. All the symptoms of flu went away, but I was left feeling exhausted and with a slightly sore chest that came with an occasional cough.
Strangely, around day 26 in my journal from last time, I also started complaining about similar symptoms. I said that my breath tasted like smokers breath, that I felt anxious for no reason, and that my heart would start beating way too hard at completely random times.
This morning I recognized all those symptoms.
I have not been able to find anything about dopamine withdrawal symptoms in my research, but that is understandable since my experiment is the first of its kind (as far as I can tell). Although, the withdrawal from dopamine stimulating medications seems to coincide almost exactly with what I am experiencing. I would be very curious if anyone else does this detox and has similar results.
My thought is that this may be a stage of the detox. The last time it started a bit later than it did this time, and it was still there in a minor way by day 40. This gives me even more encouragement to continue this fast for another 60 days.
I am starting to truly believe that this challenge is truly going to work.
I also forced myself to go to a second toastmasters meeting today. In fact the whole day I did a good job forcing myself to do things my lizard brain didn’t want to do.
This incorporated two major failures from last time. I am doing social things and practicing self control. The feeling was empowering. I went to bed feeling proud of myself, and that is a healthy dopamine rush.
My only concern is that the possible dopamine withdrawal symptoms will drag me down for the next two weeks. The anxious feeling is the worst part of it. Especially becasue one of my main focuses this time is to generate a feeling of peace.
The good thing was that my stretches and breathing exercises seem to have a noticeable effect… That and I usually cough up a lot of phlegm at some point in the early morning.
I am eating a lot of flax bread and I think I may go get some unsweetened cranberry juice and blueberries to help my heart with the transition.
The good part about feeling sick is that I can look forward to what it will feel like to feel better! In the mean time I plan to keep cutting back on food and keep up the exercise. I have become totally convinced that a lean healthy body is a major part of creating a life changing moment.
List of Possible Dopamine Withdrawal Symptoms
- Funny tasting breath – especially in the morning
- general exhaustion
- dramatic mood swings, from outright depressed to feeling like you can conquer the world, usually about 24 hours to swing
- Heart randomly starts pounding
- A feeling of intense anxiety for no reason
3 Thing To-Do List
- spend 3 hours writing conclusion
- spend an hour going over interludes
- do heavy duty work out
