– Nicotine is a tropane alkaloid, it has the ability to release dopamine in the reward pathways of the brain, why does it not produce consistent euphoria like cocaine; alkaloid or speed: amphetamine?

Question

EDIT – Something I forgot to mention which may add context is that after a period of abstinence I feel a sharp euphoric wave of dopamine which goes away within less than a few minutes and results in dysphoria, even with redosing.

Unlike cocaine, which I’m comparing since both are alkaloids, it seems to build a very unusually fast tolerance and any positive effects dissipate, unlike the latter.

In: 3379

Answer 1

Amphetamines like methamphetamine shut down Vesicular Monoamine Transporter type 2 (VMAT2) which shuttles monoamines like dopamine from the synaptic cleft back into storage vesicles in the neuron, essentially leaving the monoamines to build up and continuously activate receptors until the drug is metabolized out of the body.