I have asked this question several times over the years but have never gotten an answer. It is not a hard question and should be easily answered, but for some reason it is not. Since there are some new minds here now, I will ask it again.

We are told that adrenaline is made from noradrenaline which, in turn, is made from dopamine. Enzymes and co-factors are required to enable the reactions.

My question is - If one has a borderline deficit in the supply of any of these chemicals and one encounters a situation that requires the production of adrenaline beyond the normal reserve, what happens? Do we deplete dopamine to create the more essential adrenaline? And what if this is a chronic problem?

Most importantly, why is it so difficult to find the answer to such a basic question?