My doctor prescribed me 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan), 50 to 100 mg.
I would like to know if anyone has any experience with that, if it's safe and if there are major side-effects.
Thanks in advance,
Julie
Posted by ninjaphire (Member # 18234) on :
I use 5-HTP for sleep, and it works quite well.
It should be pretty safe.
Don't use it with SSRIs, as that might cause excess serotonin which is bad for you. (ex: Paxil, Zoloft, Prozac, etc)
Posted by sixgoofykids (Member # 11141) on :
I thought it helped me sleep when I first started using it, but stopped using it because I don't think it really did anything for me for sleep. I needed much, much stronger sleep aides.
Had no side-effects.
Posted by Marnie (Member # 773) on :
It converts directly to serotonin.
The highest allowed doses of Prozac (which keeps serotonin levels high) looks to have protected my sister from neuro lyme.
It has to do with serotonin impacting the GABA receptors.
PM me if you want the "details".
This did NOT protect her "body" from lyme destructive symptoms however.
Would I use it?
In a heartbeat...along with OmegaBrite (a very high level of EPA - an Omega 3) to counter
"Many of the anti-mania medications used to treat bipolar disorder work by targeting the *arachidonic acid* cascade in the brain."
Glutamate excess isn't healthy...related to ADHD...
Glutamate = accelerator GABA = brakes
GABA comes FROM glutamate...first we "accelerate" and then we "brake".
Acetylcholine is released simultaneously with glutamate....
From what I've read, acetylcholine opens Na channels.
Guess which pathogen absolutely needs Na...yup...Bb.
When you have bladder muscle spasms (urgency/frequency)...you will be given a topical drug to prevent the release of acetylcholine...though MgSO4 can do the same.
Keep that in mind as you figure out everything else that prevents acetylcholine release.
This is incredibly complex!
Bb is a "parasite" that is depleting/causing the depletion of so many nutients that impacts so much.
We have to have nutrients to make our proteins,our enyzmes, our antibodies, our neurotransmitters...
Posted by seibertneurolyme (Member # 6416) on :
If you have brain inflammation then you need to take Resveratrol with 5-HTP. Otherwise the serotonin can take an alternate pathway and convert to the neurotoxin -- quinolinic acid. Buhner discusses this in the Healing Lyme book.
50 or 100 mg is a very low dose. I would start with 50 mg and increase from there though.
Hubby is currently taking 200 mg -- but it is an extended release formula.
Hubby used to take a compounded prescription combo of 5-HTP and l-tryptophan. The capsules were 250 mg 5-HTP and 75 mg l-tryptophan. He used to take 2 or 3 nightly.
Had been off this for several years, but recently some med changes brought back the insomnia.
Hubby still takes valerian if needed with the 5-HTP and sometimes other herbal sleep aids such as catnip or melatonin.
This is not medical advice, just my opinion based on hubby's experiences.
Bea Seibert
Posted by mazou (Member # 15319) on :
I love it, love it, LOVE IT. It noticeably and definitely improves my mood on the days that I take it.
Posted by Marnie (Member # 773) on :
Quinolinic acid a METABOLITE of serotonin...look at the impact on lutenizing hormone -> androgens (DHEA and DHEAS!) as well as the impact on D3 (dopamine) receptors and calbindin (calcium binding)...as well as the ultimate impact on GABA and substance P...and how it impacts NAD kinase.
Keep in mind...it is only AFTER serotonin locks onto its receptor and then a signal is sent forward
is serotonin broken down (metabolized) to be "reused" again.
By blocking the receptor, are we not preventing it from locking on and then (subsequently) being broken down?
Posted by ahmet ozbek (Member # 14358) on :
hi Mazuo , your problem is depression and 5 HTP can solve this problem in a short time. how much mg did you take.? thank you. Ahmet
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
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Most people do great with this. If you don't, you might consider some of the stuff below.
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I should say that I have the opposite reactions, not just to most drugs, but also to many supplements.
I had major problems with 5-HTP - for me - it just increased depression, fatigue and brain fog, feeling hung over and it also seemed to lower the seizure threshold for sound startles. I tried it many times.
However, I also have two kinds of porphyria. While researching my reaction, I found that my problems may be linked to an inability in metabolizing tryptophan, which could raise toxic load from porphyria (in my case).
I also do very poorly with GABA. Some research notes from my file:
5-HTP (5-Hydroxytryptophan) vs. Prozac (SSRIs) - By Ward Dean, MD, James South, MA, Jim English
=======================
When I posted my reaction to 5-HTP somewhere, I received a note from a very respected person at the Cpn Help site, saying that tryptophan feeds Cpn (Chlamydia Pneumonia). I do have Cpn, too. And Cpn patients also have to be very careful to keep porphyria at bay.
Science 2 December 1983:_Vol. 222. no. 4627, pp. 1031-1033 DOI: 10.1126/science.6648517
Science, Vol 222, Issue 4627, 1031-1033 Copyright � 1983 by American Association for the Advancement of Science
L-tryptophan: a common denominator of biochemical and neurological events of acute hepatic porphyria?
DA Litman and MA Correia
Excerpt:
These findings suggest that increased tryptophan and 5-hydroxytryptamine in the nervous system may be responsible for the neurologic dysfunctions observed in humans with acute attacks of hepatic porphyria.
Biochem Pharmacol. 2008 Feb 1;75(3):704-12. Epub 2007 Oct 2.
Hepatic alteration of tryptophan metabolism in an acute porphyria model Its relation with gluconeogenic blockage.
Lelli SM, Mazzetti MB, San Mart�n de Viale LC.
Laboratorio de Disturbios Metab�licos por Xenobi�ticos, Salud Humana y Medio Ambiente (DIMXSA), Departamento de Qu�mica Biol�gica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Aut�noma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Excerpt:
This study focuses on the alterations suffered by the serotoninergic and kinurenergic routes of tryptophan (TRP) metabolism in liver, and their relation with gluconeogenic phosphoenolpyruvate-carboxykinase (PEPCK) blockage in experimental acute porphyria.
==================================
J Assoc Physicians India. 2002 Mar;50:443-5.
Respiratory failure in acute intermittent porphyria.
Tyagi A, Chawla R, Sethi AK, Bhattacharya A. Department of Anaesthesiology, UCMS and GTB Hospital, Shahdara, Delhi.
We report two patients of acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) who presented with acute respiratory failure. Only one such previous report could be found. Occasionally, neuropathy may be the presenting feature in AIP which may progress to respiratory embarrassment.
The cause of this neuropathy has been hypothesized to be direct neurotoxicity of delta-ALA by interaction with GABA receptor, altered tryptophan metabolism and may be heme depletion in nerve cells.
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Posted by Marnie (Member # 773) on :
Keebler, can you NOT go out in the sun...at ALL?
I knew a gal years ago that had that problem. Their house had to be darkened and she could only go out at night.
Her heritage was Am. Indian...very much so...directly.