However, in general, it can take up to two weeks for brain chemistry to return to normal after experiencing prolonged periods of alcoholic blackout. Many medical professionals suggest ninety days as a general estimate for dopamine recovery. However, drug damage may last longer, requiring a year or more for dopamine levels and brain cells to recover. Some medications can permanently damage the receptors that reabsorb dopamine, preventing the brain from fully recovering.
First, the brain needs to be detoxified, which can take several days or weeks depending on the substances used. While certain parts of the brain recover in a matter of weeks, others take several months or even years to recover. The structure of the brain and brain cells will generally regenerate with ongoing health and wellness practices, such as regular exercise and healthy hydration and diet. Agonists and antagonists may help in the treatment of drug and alcohol addiction.
Research has found that it is not easy to adjust dopamine levels after extensive use of drugs with high dopamine content. So how long will it take for dopamine receptors to heal? On average, it may take about 14 months to reach normal levels in the brain with proper treatment and rehabilitation. What if someone is already taking antidepressant or stimulant medications? We can reduce and probably eliminate medications altogether, but not immediately. First, we need to start replacing neurotransmitter deficiencies.
We can't change a level without causing a domino effect on all other neurotransmitters. We can start with serotonin, but we need to add support for all other neurotransmitters whose levels are not optimal. E, G Serotonin deficiency leads to rampant levels of epinephrine and norepinephrine leading to depression, anxiety, panic attacks, carbohydrate cravings, irritability, aggressiveness, and phobias. How long does it take to correct neurotransmitter levels? A minimum of 3 to 6 months is required to restore neurotransmitter levels to normal.
However, it takes longer to restore the body's total reserve of neurotransmitters. If a patient stops neurotransmitter therapy too quickly, he may experience a reappearance of his original symptoms. We need to accumulate a certain concentration of neurotransmitters within the synaptic cleft before the synapses are actually reactivated and the receptors are upregulated. In this way, while brain scans can show us the damage caused by addiction, they can also point us to potential proactive solutions to help people recover and find effective treatments for ongoing addictive behaviors.
Researchers have studied several different ways in which the brain has adjusted to a “baseline level” during and after addiction treatment. Although addiction can manifest itself in many different ways, from physical changes to behavioral responses, brain imaging and scans can also find signs of addiction in the brain itself. Researchers studying how addiction changes the brain have found clear markers of addiction within brain chemistry and structure.