opiates destroying love.

[fnord]

i know ive read a few studies on how opiates destroy the part of your brain responsible for love but cant find any,anyone help me out?

[Ethyl]

I don't think there is a part in your brain that is responsible for love, but i believe that sensations of love are dependent on neurotransmiters and opiates is one of them (an important one), so by messing with the opiate receptors you are messing with the love sensations that you feel towards other stuff except opiates.

I used to say that opiates are a love relation, and i still believe that.

[c757peaches]

on a emotional link swim and their boyfriend were both on opiates he was on lorcets and she on heroin, they began to go to the methadone clinic and the boyfriend never missed a day the heroin gf quit cold turkey and went throught withdrawls and is now happy but still watitng for her boyfriend. he goes to the clinic religiously at 5:30 am every morning so love and opiates make a weird combination whether is is love of the opiate which grows over time and has always been there to comfort him in the past, and not love for his gf waiting for him to be with he....if drugs are on your mind they will come first people come and go..it does not make you incaqpable of lovin is jsut makes you see people for who they are and what matters most to them

[fnord]

maybe not a part but theres neuro transmiters peptides oxytocin and a whole slew of chemicals that help build the neural conections that cause you to feel love,or at least i think they do..

but i definatly remember reading a study on how opiates kills off something that is conected to love.

[jcdjinn]

Love is caring for another, and opiates make people very self-centered and focused on their next high, so perhaps that's the reason.

[Donmeka]

i think fnord is talking more chemically. that it effects something in the brain that diminishes natural production of the emotion love.

if you find the study id love to give it a read. sounds interesting

[fnord]

still searching,anyone have medline?

[pixplzthx]

I remember reading something similar in these links (the second link is a good, hard read)

But I do know what you are inquiring about. It has to do with the "reward response". Essentially they are saying that the part of your brain that limits (or determines) what is "good" becomes inactive to triggers other than the drug. You might say that opiate use has us looking for love in all the wrong places

(The two links I posted aren't the ones I initially read and I can't seem to find the original one.)

[pixplzthx]

I hate to double post but this caught my eye.

And while I don't like Wiki as a first source, it[ll do in a pinch

Essentially, being in love (that is to say having an abundance of oxytocin (read it again if you saw OxyContin) can lower opiate tolerance.

Panksepp believes that one of the effects oxytocin has is to reduce the tolerance [of opiates] effect that plays such a devastating role in drug addiction

Phrases like "saved by love" actually mean something more implicit in the light of this research.

Reputation Comments on this post:

thanks and welcome to the forum!and im quite aware of the diffrence between oxytocin and cotin!

[eltimmy]

It sure worked for William Burroughs. :P

[Henfer]

one thing SWIH knows for sure is they kill the "love" you can do with your penis, as opiates prevent any orgasms very effectiverly for SWIH and all other opiate using people SWIH knows.

SWIH has a friend who has the problem that he comes off in a matter of seconds and that this is a serious threat to his sexual life. So SWIH gives him some of the tilidine he's getting the script for by the doctor, and that solved the problem for his friend.

[BakaBilly]

SWIM has a hard time with LOVE making as well ever since he started OXY.

SWIM also beleives he would go a great distance to get some more OXY but if his GF moved away he probobly wouldnt care. >_<

[snapper]

SWIM has always been very unloving when on opiates. In part it takes all the user's focus towards drug-seeking / using, makes sex difficult to pull off for all kinds of reasons, and also, SWIM feels, slowly degrades the ability to love or relate to another individual. SWIM found that over the course of months of steady use, people normally dear to SWIM became nuisances, and SWIM had a difficult time feeling any kind of empathy or love towards anyone. There was still an intellectual memory of previous bonds with people, but no emotion to back them up. This is SWIM's subjective opinion, and one of the reasons that SWIM does not like opiates a whole lot these days.

[BakaBilly]

Yes SWIM will admit once truly hooked (even if one doesnt want to admit it.) all that really matters is getting the next fix. And sometimes friends get in the way of that. Girlfriends worry, drug buddies want you to kick them a fix and other people dont seem that understanding.

[beentheredonethatagain]

swib has never done H. He does live in so. cal where a lot of mexican mud is around. (black tar). once while visiting the county jail for 78 days I was in a tank with mexican men who spoke about their addiction to the mud. the tattoos read the names of their ladies, and the leader of said group said" yea she is my second ole lady" pointing to the name on their arm, " she know s she is second too, the "chieva (heroin) is my first
Love". I took what was said to believe just that , the fix is first above the pussy or Love.

[God_Albino]

a g protein in the nucleus accumbens (pleasure center) gets depleted with heroin and meth use, cant remember its name.

[biggpri]

heavy opiod use can decrease the brain's ability to produce endorphins (the brain's natural pleasure drug.) therefore, it becomes harder to feel joy in the absence of opiods. but the effects of being self-centered and uncaring towards those around you can occur as a result of addiction from pretty much any drug, as the drug comes to dominate your life and those around you sort of fade into the background.

[Paracelsus]

Endorphins are not the only brain chemicals responsible for pleasure. There's serotonin, dopamine, phenylethylamine, oxytocin (as fnord already said), etc.

When used chronically, just about any addictive drug that activates the natural reward system makes the user focus solely on him/herself and the next high. This basically turns human beings into an egocentric, instinct-following animal which neglects everything and everyone else. Yes, I might exaggerate but it has some truth.

The reptilian brain takes over.

[tranquillike]

SWIM has always seen this oxytocin stuff, but never really bothered to research it as it seemed uninteresting as it seemed to be missing a key letter... SWIM will have to read up on this stuff in pharmacopeia

[wykydtron]

Originally Posted by snapper

SWIM feels, slowly degrades the ability to love or relate to another individual. SWIM found that over the course of months of steady use, people normally dear to SWIM became nuisances, and SWIM had a difficult time feeling any kind of empathy or love towards anyone. There was still an intellectual memory of previous bonds with people, but no emotion to back them up. This is SWIM's subjective opinion, and one of the reasons that SWIM does not like opiates a whole lot these days.

Did SWIM's emotions come back once SWIM stopped using opiates? Did SWIM's empathy come back completely, and SWIM's dear people stop being nuisances?

[snapper]

Yes - things went back to normal once SWIM got over the withdrawals and subsequent depression.

[kratom_]

Originally Posted by Henfer

one thing SWIH knows for sure is they kill the "love" you can do with your penis, as opiates prevent any orgasms very effectiverly for SWIH and all other opiate using people SWIH knows.

SWIH has a friend who has the problem that he comes off in a matter of seconds and that this is a serious threat to his sexual life. So SWIH gives him some of the tilidine he's getting the script for by the doctor, and that solved the problem for his friend.

ya they do still fun for me tho

[AcMeKaNiK]

Just thought I would drop SWIM's experiences in here FWIW. With Swim, his emotions almost became nonexistant during his last 2 months of oxycodone use. Swim's got two herniated and degenerated disks and is waiting on Workers Comp to approve his fusion surgery and is on 240mg of oxy per day....Swim was forced to withdraw a couple of weeks ago due to running thru his months supply in 2 weeks and being SOL until his next appointment. Swim noted that on the third day of WD's, he had pretty much turned the corner on the deal and was feeling alot better. He also noticed that his emotions began to come back bigtime. Movies that SWIm watched would bring about emo responses that SWIm thought he didnt have that ability to feel anymore. Needless to say, SWIm was very delighted that his brain was beginning to function normally again. SWim also noticed that by the 4-5th day, his sexual apparati was functioning normally, if not a bit more sensitively than normal which SWim's wife was VERY happy about as well.

[kratom_]

I just hope things are able to go back to normal, i know it has to mess stuff up in the brain, besides that drug addicts dont eat right, sleep right, it all effects ones mood.

i think opiates make u loose ur lover thats for sure

[beentheredonethatagain]

after getting prescription morphine sulfate for the chronic back pain, Nik naturaly became dependant upon them, and they cause him to sleep too much. There is where the lost love comes in, I wasnt much fun and really didnt get much acomplished at work or at home.

My new bride saw a ex-druggie husband going down the tubes and decided to end the union before it took us both down.

I dont think much of her lack of devotion to me, but okay .

I no longer take the morphine but am still in pain, hydrocodone is a big help.

I don't live in the past but I do wish things would have worked out differently with this woman.

Think about the things that one could loose by the medicines that are put inside.

I mainly regret ever thinking that maybe I would be cool with opiates in my med cabinet. wrong