5-HTP

Does anyone out there take 5-HTP?  If so, how much are you taking and is it helping you?  I am thinking of taking a low dose, 10 mg a night to help with sleeping.  I cannot do the regular amount of 50 or 100 mg.  I get this 10 mg dose made up by my compounding pharmacist.

i have never taken it - i will do a search on it.

 

i have taken adrenal support and found it to be good - however - my liver is stressed so i have discontinued many supplements.

 

adrenal support addresses the large doses of cortisal in your body that is released during times of stress.

ok i googled it - and every site had side effects and they are not good - ok up set stomach nausea, flatulence, heartburn, rumblings sensations to name some.

 

it sounds like it may be more effective to bang your head against the wall.

 

even companies marketing this had lots of warnings - so i don't know as this would be a good choice.

 

if you try it = just try a small about so you are not out of a lot of money.

Hello,

 

On the advise of a doctor I started taking 5-htp to help with the wd symptoms.  Currently I'm in process of cut of Valium  3mg to 2.75 mg.  For me wd's last 5 days and I only take the 5-htp during those days.  It does seem to help me a lot.  Don't think I sleep too much better, but I can stay in bed and rest and will fall asleep for an hour hear and there.  Without it I'm jumpy and can't stay in the bed, then my stomach gets upset.  Last night I took one 50mg at midnight and a 2nd at 4am.  During the day I sip on catnip tea or take a catnip capsule, when I get wd symptoms.  This helps me a great deal too. 

 

I'm going to email my current Dr and ask her opinion, as I just remembered on Fri about the 5-htp.  It had been a long time since I'd done a cut (over 5 months).  I try to go as low dose as I can with the supplements,  without them I'd have had to go slower on the taper.    I had asked her about the catnip and she didn't have objection. 

I have taken 5-HTP in the past for sleep, before my withdrawal, and I found that after a week or two it gave me anxiety, and it made me kind of manic.

 

Romel

Do be sure to research 5-htp thoroughly. I've read conflicting reports about its safety.

Hi Everyone,

 

Years ago, a bad batch of Trytophan (a cousin of 5-HTP) arrived in the US, I believe, from either Japan or China, and some people died because of it. I never heard anything bad about 5-HTP. I use it occasionally at night, and so far, I have not had any unwanted side effects from it. But, the best thing you can do before you try anything is to research it because it could conflict with something else you are taking.

 

Love,

Genie

Hi Everyone,

 

Sorry about the typo -- I meant to type "Tryptophan".

 

Genie

It has been years since I read about 5htp, but there was some concern about it being a serotonin mimic, and serotonin outside of the brain is known to cause heart disease. I do not know the veracity of the reports I read, but it would be wise to check it out.

Here is a link that describes the issue with the heart and serotonin.

 

http://www.curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1126622

 

With that being offered, through my research online I have found differing opinions as well. S