Topic Title: 5 htp..not for me
| |  "5 htp..not for me"
, Mon 21 Apr 21:14
Well, back in march I tried 5HTP with some reasonble expectations of effectiveness. Everything I read about it made sense, I even bought the book. But I'm sorry, it made me feel ill !! So now I am trying SAM-E which has the added benefit of helping a bad back( compressed disk and spasms) I dont know if this really works either. As I bought a bunch I shall finish it then decide what to do.
Sometimes I will think to myself I'm doing fine and then something stupid will make me so angry.. that horrid feeling of a rush of temper tells me that I am not doing as well as I could be.. Also I dont seem to enjoy anything and I'm down on myself all the time. I must admit I am seriously thinking about going back on an SSRI...but I'm gonna give it a bit more time.
Good Luck to you all out there on the search too......
Posts: 8 | | Registered: Wed 12 Mar 2003 10:18 |
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| |  "Re(1):5 htp..not for me"
, Wed 23 Apr 11:10
diana, you feel like i feel. i'm getting a grip on things so i'm sure you will too! i feel like a million bucks right now. not because i found the miracle but because i'm on to something good!!
i too would loose my temper. it would just build up and pow! i'm 99 days mellow but that 1 day. then i started up on some ssri but wow ... what fluctuations ... after meals i felt real lathargic ... then a sudden burst of energy for a little while ... then confusion and paranoia ... then larthargy ... then hunger ... then eat then confusion then somethimes larthargy, sometimes engery, sometime lots of energy, lots and lots of energy. boy i was on a roller coaster!
wait i don't mean was ... i still am ... but i've kinda have the whole picture now ... after 3 years of this s***.
after ssri i tried st john's wort and all the other junk like alpha-lipoic acid, lecithin, fish oil, vitamins, b-complex, yada yada. still a roller coaster. :( then tried all the timing issues ... take this then that then the other before bedtime yada yada. BOY! what a struggle to find balance.
once upon a time i used to be well balanced. except for aggression ... when i used to get very hungry -- i mean very very hungry ... oh better watch out ... i was a quite, silient bear.
coming back to today ... wow ... it's so simple ... confusion & depression from excess serotonin (ssri/sjw and food) and i'd restrict certain stuff like milk etc so deficient on protein (ephneprine & norepheprine)! then i'd get hugh cravings for burgers and i'd feel great after one ... for a while until the ssri/sjw would take over again. then sometimes i'd lower the sjw/ssri dose and take in large amounts of protein and bham ... mania and even aggitaion.
MY GOD! what a roller coaster ... daily/weekly.
so what have i figured out? you ask. i need a slow drip combination of serotonin AND PROTEIN ... protein was my missing piece! of all the people i spoke to about ssri/sjw causing confusion/lathargy (depression) and told them that coffee made me feel better ... no one said i lacked protein.
so this lead me to trial and error with 5-htp and l-tyrosine quantity and timing.
what a difference!
now i gotta find the slow drip method of getting this becuase too much (300mg capsule) of sjw causes conf/lath. then too much l-tyrosine and watch out anxiety/mania/nervousness.
so forget the capsule ... i opened them up and now i'm experiementing with taking them incrementally throughout the day.
there's got to be some better way. so if anyone knows please advise. perhaps carbohydrates can slowly drip the protein's alertness effects.
phew ... getting back to you diana ... there's hope and keep trying stuff. maybe something in my rant will give you guidance. :)
Posts: 0 | | Registered: Wed 23 Apr 2003 9:43 |
| | | "Re(2):5 htp..not for me" , Thu 24 Apr 10:40
Sajosh,
I've read a few of your posts, and I think there are a couple of books that you would benefit from reading. I highly recommend "Depression Free, naturally, 7 weeks to eliminating, anxiety, despair, fatigue and anger from your life" by Joan Mathews Larson, PH.D. Any of the Low-carbohydrate Diet books out there, maybe Potatos Not Prozac would be a good choice, although I perfer Atkins. Anyother book that was recently recommended to me is the Diet Cure, I haven't read it yet but it sounds interesting.
Just from what you have posted I think you might benefit from a low-carb diet.
anywho, Good Luck,
MJ
MJ DuPont
Posts: 519 | | Registered: Wed 20 Jun 2001 6:19 |
| | |  "Re(3):5 htp..not for me"
, Wed 30 Apr 08:22
i'll look up those books right away. thanks.
i think you're right about the carbs, low but not zero, right? i ask this becuase i'm trying to get a slow drip of norephinrine which the brain is supposed to do automatically. but it doesn't seem to. sometimes when i take l-tyrosine, it just goes straight to my head. :) pun intended. i get jittery and anxious. sometimes if i take 500-1000mg of it then i feel good.
then there are some times when just everything (serotonin, nor-ephinrine) is absolutely perfect and i'm clear, focused, talkative, ceribral and action oriented. that's how i want to be all day. i just don't get it.
your thoughts are in line with what i'm thinking about proper diet. i just gotta figure out what's proper for me. i'm physically fit ... about 155 lbs ... because i've always watched what i eat. but i think i'm still not doing something right.
i don't eat sugars, or much carbs, do have starch like rice and potatoes, i did lack protiens (by restricting milk, eggs, cheese, etc becuase of their fat and cholestrol) for a while but now i take that in moderation. moderation is the key. i've always like things in moderation.
i'll read the books and hopefully will eventually figure all this out.
thanks again dupont and let me know what you think of this babble. :)
Posts: 7 | | Registered: Wed 23 Apr 2003 9:43 |
| | | "Re(4):5 htp..not for me" , Sat 3 May 05:35
There are plenty of low-carb books out there to read. Another good sourece is the website http://forum.lowcarber.org /. In my opinion you may just need to increase the fat you eat, or take some Omega vitamins. Fat is a very important building block for the brain. Skip the bread, rice and potatoes and eat the eggs, Milk and cheese. Since you don't need to lose weight the maintenance part of Atkins might be good, or the Zone Diet, or even Suzanne Somers Diet. I know Atkins explains how our diets effect our brian chemistry, that book is a good place to start anyways.
MJ DuPont
Posts: 528 | | Registered: Wed 20 Jun 2001 6:19 |
| | |  "Re(5):5 htp..not for me"
, Sat 3 May 10:39
great advice ... i think you're on to something ...
i've weaned off sjw about 2 weeks ago. i'm on 5htp at night with some cereal, regular milk, and a bananna at night. i'd wake up and take l-tyrosine before anything else to 'kick start my brain' (or so i think). the first few days off sjw, the l-tyrosine would go straight to my head (pun intended). but now it doesn't seem have quite the same effect. then over the past week, i still didn't feel right during the day.
here's how my energy flowwed ...i was getting more lathrgic. on sjw i was lathargic, then sjw and l-tyrosine i got my energy back. but then no sjw, 50mg of 5htp and 50mg of l-tyro over the past week still made me lathargic. i increased my protein intake by drinking more low-fat milk during the day and it would make my head feel funny ... like slightly agitated, a little anxiety, filling up, etc. so i though i was low on calcium, magnisium (you know - for the neurons to spark :) ) still not much better.
just for reference, i've been regularly taking a multi-vitamin and a b-complex daily for the past 1.5 years. i do excerise somewhat regularly ... always have ... in high and college did it every day. now it's tapered down to few time a week, when i feel good.
getting back to the previous paragraph and to show you that you and i may be on the same wavelength ... just last night i took 50mg 5htp, glass of regular milk, a bananna, AND a 400mg lecithin and 450mg omega3 fish oil. WOW. i slept very well. workup without feeling groggy and slugish. and went straight to the tennis court! i'm feeling great.
so i think your advice of getting a little more fat and less carbs is on the money. i'm a fit guy and have always watched my fat and junk intake. i never get a sugar craving (never have except over the past few years while on ssri and sjw). but maybe i've been overdoing no-fat over the past 5 years. i do love rice and potatoes! but maybe that's not good for me either, huh?
lately i've been eating eggs in the morning (sometimes the yolkless liquid on frenchtoast), 1% milk, then rice and lentils for lunch then more starchy stuff, vegies and less protien for dinner.
i'm going to check out the sites you mentioned and see how to improve this diet.
it's great to get your feedback dupont. thanks very much.
Posts: 10 | | Registered: Wed 23 Apr 2003 9:43 |
| | | "Re(6):5 htp..not for me" , Thu 8 May 14:32
i just left the brainplace.com website dupont recommended where Dr Amen doesn't recommend a low carb diet for certain kinds of depression because it restricts ltryptophan production. i notice personally that when i eat very low carb, i am cranky. what exactly is the range of carbs you are speaking of? 100g a day? less? more? and is it more important the kind rather than quantity of carbs? say an orange as opposed to a piece of white bread. just looking for some insight as i seem to decide on a course of action and then read something to the contrary. rollercoaster is right!!
Posts: 12 | | Registered: Sun 6 Apr 2003 13:29 |
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