L-Dopa

[Khyron]

Sooo.... as most people know, Dopamine is one of the more 'fun' chemicals in the brain...

Well, im wondering how recreational a bottle of Levodopa might be for someone. Incase you dont know, L-dopa is a medication perscribed for Parkinsons disease... it is metabolized with only about a 10% efficiency into your blood stream, and when it enters the brain it is turn to dopamine and serotonin by the amino acid Aromatic-L-amino-acid decarboxylase.

What im wondering, if anybody knows, is that parkinsons is caused by a defficiency in the D2-4 dopamine synapses. does L-dopa affect only the D2-4 synapses, or all 4 of them? because the D1 synapses are the only excitatory ones, while the other 3 are all inhibitory.... and with one of L-dopa's side effects being Gastro-intestinal bleeding, id like to know if anyone has had any experiance with it before i pop 3-4 of the lil buggers

[snapper]

L-dopa is not recreational - sorta like taking pseudephedrine to approximate methamphetamine. You want something that releases dopamine endogenously to get the effects you seek, not extra dopamine...

Snapper

[Khyron]

hmm...

so you mean to get a 'high' the dopamine has to either be released by synaptical stimulation (ie nicotine) or its reuptake has to be blocked (ie meth)? So just to take it to an extreme, if you got an injection of dopamine straight into all the dopamine pathways in your brain (just an example... nobody go out and try it) you wouldnt actually get 'high' from all the extra dopamine now in your brain?

[snapper]

Dopamine does not cross the blood brain barrier, so you get peripheral effects of increased blood pressure, etc. with a dopamine injection IV.
L-dopa does cross the BBB, but just gets converted to dopamine when there. It still exerts stronger peripheral effects (hence the pseudephedrine meth analogy). Endogenous dopamine release or reuptake inhibition modulates levels far better and does it at the level of the central nervous system to a greater degree, hence more recreation and less body load.
Also, previous reports have indicated it is not fun.
Bodybuilders also use it to block prolactin (so you could check some bodybuilder forums on experiences with use), and I suppose it could be used to supplement dopamine with other drugs. However, there would likely be body load with the latter.
Lastly, just because stimulants and psychedelics increase dopamine levels, this does not mean that this is what causes the desired effects. 5htp turns into serotonin in the brain, but it certainly doesn't cause any of the interesting effects of other serotonin agonists.

Snapper