LymeNet Home LymeNet Home Page LymeNet Flash Discussion LymeNet Support Group Database LymeNet Literature Library LymeNet Legal Resources LymeNet Medical & Scientific Abstract Database LymeNet Newsletter Home Page LymeNet Recommended Books LymeNet Tick Pictures Search The LymeNet Site LymeNet Links LymeNet Frequently Asked Questions About The Lyme Disease Network LymeNet Menu

LymeNet on Facebook

LymeNet on Twitter




The Lyme Disease Network receives a commission from Amazon.com for each purchase originating from this site.

When purchasing from Amazon.com, please
click here first.

Thank you.

LymeNet Flash Discussion
Dedicated to the Bachmann Family

LymeNet needs your help:
LymeNet 2020 fund drive


The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations.

LymeNet Flash Post New Topic  New Poll  Post A Reply
my profile | directory login | register | search | faq | forum home

  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» LymeNet Flash » Questions and Discussion » Medical Questions » Any 5-HTP users?

 - UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!    
Author Topic: Any 5-HTP users?
Bobidor
LymeNet Contributor
Member # 14453

Icon 1 posted      Profile for Bobidor     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
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

Posts: 209 | From Montreal, QC, CAN | Registered: Jan 2008  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
ninjaphire
LymeNet Contributor
Member # 18234

Icon 1 posted      Profile for ninjaphire     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
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)

Posts: 330 | From Colorado, USA | Registered: Nov 2008  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
sixgoofykids
Moderator
Member # 11141

Icon 1 posted      Profile for sixgoofykids   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
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.

--------------------
sixgoofykids.blogspot.com

Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Marnie
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 773

Icon 1 posted      Profile for Marnie     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
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...

Posts: 9424 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
seibertneurolyme
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 6416

Icon 1 posted      Profile for seibertneurolyme     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
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

Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
mazou
LymeNet Contributor
Member # 15319

Icon 1 posted      Profile for mazou     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
I love it, love it, LOVE IT. It noticeably and definitely improves my mood on the days that I take it.
Posts: 636 | From Saratoga County, NY | Registered: Apr 2008  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Marnie
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 773

Icon 1 posted      Profile for Marnie     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
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?

Posts: 9424 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
ahmet ozbek
LymeNet Contributor
Member # 14358

Icon 1 posted      Profile for ahmet ozbek     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
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
Posts: 182 | From turkey | Registered: Jan 2008  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673

Icon 1 posted      Profile for Keebler     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
-

Most people do great with this. If you don't, you might consider some of the stuff below.

---

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:

======================

About 5-HTP, in general:

www.vrp.com/articles.aspx?ProdID=art800&zTYPE=2

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.

More about Cpn: www.cpnhelp.org

More about porphyria:

http://flash.lymenet.org/scripts/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=071168

Topic: PORPHYRIA LINKS - Re: Cytochrome P-450 liver detox pathway

=================================

Risky? Tryptophan w/ porphyria -

=====================================


www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/222/4627/1031

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.


=======================================


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez

PubMed Search: tryptophan, porphyria- 59 abstracts

Among those:

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.

--

Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Marnie
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 773

Icon 1 posted      Profile for Marnie     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
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.

Sure you never had accidental lead poisoning?

http://www.clinchem.org/cgi/content/full/47/9/1710

Have you ever been tested for heavy metals? (Only lead is covered by insurance last I read.)

http://www.doctorsdata.com/home.asp (Now Available: Porphyrins; Urine Test)

They did some of my son's testing.

Posts: 9424 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
j_liz
LymeNet Contributor
Member # 20496

Icon 1 posted      Profile for j_liz     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
5-HTP definitely helped with my mild depression and another thing I noticed is that this winter I didn't have SAD.

I have tested low on serotonin, though, so maybe that is why it helps me so much.

liz

Posts: 471 | From NJ | Registered: May 2009  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
   

Quick Reply
Message:

HTML is not enabled.
UBB Code� is enabled.

Instant Graemlins
   


Post New Topic  New Poll  Post A Reply Close Topic   Feature Topic   Move Topic   Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
 - Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:


Contact Us | LymeNet home page | Privacy Statement

Powered by UBB.classic™ 6.7.3


The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:

The Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey
907 Pebble Creek Court, Pennington, NJ 08534 USA


| Flash Discussion | Support Groups | On-Line Library
Legal Resources | Medical Abstracts | Newsletter | Books
Pictures | Site Search | Links | Help/Questions
About LymeNet | Contact Us

© 1993-2020 The Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Use of the LymeNet Site is subject to Terms and Conditions.