5-HTP what do you know?
 

Hey all!

Since my recent bout with anxiety, I've been on a non stop mission to educate myself about natural ways of healing. I truly don't believe the doctors have the best awnsers when it comes to prescription/synthetic chemicals. That's just my opinion though.

Anyways, I ran across a natural supplement called 5-htp. I've been educating myself on it all day. I'm coming here to ask if any of you have ever used this for depression/anxiety.

5 htp can be picked up at as an OTC natural supplement. I've read some pretty powerful testimonies talking nothing but good things. How ts changed their life etc. I've also read it should not be taken with SSRIs due to the possibility of serotonin syndrome. That's what 5-HTP is. It's a trptophan that is converted into serotonin. What SSRIs do is allow serotonin to latch onto the brain receptors long, and increase mood. Ultimately fooling the brain into thinking it has more serotonin than it really does. 5-HTP actually creates more. I won't go into much more detail than that, but you can look into it yourself.

I'm really just wondering if any of you have experience with this. Maybe you could share your likes or dislikes about it. I'm just trying to educated myself to the best of my ability, and peer review is always helpful.

-Ryan

Ryan,

I've tried the 5 HtP, it didn't seem to do much for me. I didn't sleep better or feel more calm. I was taking it as recommended 300 mgs at bedtime. maybe a practitioner might be able to adjust the dosage.

for sleep, I had better results with L tryptophan. you can get it from a compound chemist. I'm not sure if a prescription is needed. my doctor recommended up to one gram at bedtime. seems I did sleep a bit more and better quality.

Love from Lenina

I used it for awhile last year.
It did seem to calm my nerves and help me sleep (placebo effect maybe.)
I mixed one 50mg capsule of 5-htp into 8oz. flavored water or sleep-time tea and sipped on that for an hour or so before bedtime.

So, you pay more money buying 5-HTP from a health food store, or get a prescription from your DR for a generic anti-depressant for $4 a month. That's what it would cost me anyway. Stop fretting about taking a real anti-depressant, they feel quite natural.

I think you have to be careful using it with St John's Wort as well.

I tried it before going onto an SSRI but it didn't really do anything for me.

Picked some up today. Took 100mg his afternoon. Will keep ya updated if it works for me. Too early to tell :)

I've taken it for a little while. What I've found is some brands do absolutely nothing. I also found sometimes it would make laugh spontaneously which is not always good.