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Screw "theory". Is 5-HTP truly benefitial?

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Doktah

Bluelighter
Joined
May 21, 2010
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87
I have a feeling I'm going to get flamed for this one...

Why do so many bluelighters jump on the 5-HTP bandwagon? I've been doing my own research on this supp, and the more I read, the more it sounds like shit to be honest. Every year theres a new "wonder supplement" being pushed like mad for it's apparent benefits (ie. pomegranate extract, TEH SUPERFROOT GET RIPD IN 4 WEEKS NO WAI!). I've heard that this precursor to serotonin is converted in the bloodstream, before it even reaches the brain, and that the level of serotonin that actually makes it to the brain is rediculously low, to the point where you wouldn't even notice a difference. Also, the higher levels of serotonin in your bloodstream can also lead to wonderful things like heart valve disease.

I read this on numerous pages. No, unfortunatly I cannot cite my resources right now, I don't tend to write this stuff down while I'm casually surfing the web :\ Can someone shed light on this? I'm wondering why in the flying fuck is L-Tryptophan so hard to obtain as it sounds like it could be better... just because of the stupid Japanese company that contaminated it or w.e?

Thoughts? Comments? Personally I have tried 5-HTP at all kinds of doses and noticed NO significant effect, other then I am attributing it to increasing the severity of the brain zaps I was getting post MDMA abuse TENFOLD. Everytime I took either a serotonin supp or melotonin supp the zaps got a million times worse.
 
Thats interesting, any idea why that is? I don't want to write off 5-HTP as useless just yet, I just haven't had any luck with it.
 
araisbec said:
I've heard that this precursor to serotonin is converted in the bloodstream, before it even reaches the brain, and that the level of serotonin that actually makes it to the brain is rediculously low, to the point where you wouldn't even notice a difference.
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the placebo effect is very powerful and now you just ruined it for everyone!

lol, I think this statement is probably truer than some would like to admit, but if they get some comfort out of taking 5htp more power to them. I've tried both ways and never felt any differences but a true experiment would be pretty difficult as there are so many variables...
 
Ok, I'll give it my best(I'll try not to be too "science-ee")

Administration of 5-htp will result in the immediate, non specific formation of 5-ht at all sites containing the enzyme AADC(aromatic amino acid decorboxylase). And since 5-ht does not cross the BBB(blood-brain barrier), very little if any will make it to the brain. The brain's individual cells have to synthesize 5-ht themselves, requiring adequate uptake of the primary substrate, tryptophan. Uptake of tryptophan competes with many other amino acids, and since daily plasma concentrations are rthymic, rate and synthesis of brain 5-ht is in constant flux.

Because transmitter synthesis, distrubution, release, and response are all very dynamic, any acute imbalance produced by a drug should be counteracted by the feedback nature of the synthesis regulation.

We can thus conclude that any significant increase of in vivo 5-ht formation can only really be done by introduction of 5-htp while bypassing the rate-limiting tryptophan hydroxylase step.
 
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Delta 9, wow, you know your stuff. So in laymans terms, simply taking 5-HTP may only work by producing the placebo effect?
 
araisbec said:
Delta 9, wow, you know your stuff. So in laymans terms, simply taking 5-HTP may only work by producing the placebo effect?
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Not entirely. As I said in my previous post, there are effective ways of increasing 5-ht in vivo. Introducing 5-htp via IV injection bypasses the rate limiting step in the synthesis of 5-ht, and thus does indeed increase synthesis in the CNS. Oral 5-htp with AADC inhibitors should also work.

But these are just the facts. My personal feelings on this matter are that 5-htp is wholly unecessary for ALL of the people I've personally seen take it(and from reading many posts here in ED, a lot of members here as well).

...Edit - BTW someone please correct me if any of my science is wrong here, but as far as I'm aware, this is pretty much THE BULK of what there is to know with regards to 5-htp discussion at any technical level here in ED.
 
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Enteric coating FTW!

Still can't compare though

The only time I took ecstasy I took 5HTP also
 
I agree with the OP.

There appears little evidence that 5htp is the great saviour that many suggest it is.

There is however not a lot of evidence to the contrary.

I think the jury is still out on this one.
 
Yeah maybe it's not that great, BUT if it's inducing a placebo effect, milk it for all it's worth!
 
meh, well if it doesn't work, just eat proteins. Protein is what makes serotonin naturally.....
I dont know why you're getting so mad about 5ht though, like you seem really mad lol. What's the big deal if people use it. I think it probably does something, I've never actually used it.
 
When I was rolling heavily I used it and found it helped with the mid week crash. I also use milk thistle, vitamin and other suppliments etc depending on how I feel.

I believe that they work for me and that is all I need to know.
 
5HTP is the mother fucking bomb!
Seriously, when I was starting out rolling I would always be a straight up etard after a weekend of rolling for pretty much the entire next week
I would be really happy and empty headed literally all the time, and could get barely any shit done
Eventually I found out about 5htp, and I saw the results right away (i only use it for post loading)
While it did not put me back to 100%, it definitely restored my ability to think and stabalized mood substantially for me to function pretty well (I take about 200mg a night for 2-3 days after a weekend of rolling starting Sunday night usually)
The only problem with it for me is that it takes away the afterglow you get. Since you recover more quickly, you don't get to enjoy the really good mood you get which lasts for a couple of days (and sometimes way longer) after a roll
 
If the roll I took was pure MDMA, ketamine right after, and 5-htp a while after, always eliminated any noticeable comedown for me.

delta_9 pretty much nailed it. It's a serotonin precursor that can make it into the brain, and gets taken up by cells to make new serotonin.

5-htp is truly a drug in its own right. It's not without its own side effects, including nausea, and a subtle mental effect that's mixed bag of enjoyable and unenjoyable feelings. It's not great for your heart or the inner lining of your blood vessels. But then again if serotonin is something you're deficient in or depleted of, that's certainly something to look into fixing. Unless you're deficient in serotonin, or have just rolled, it's not something anyone really needs to be taking, I don't think.
 
I tried te green tea thing ....

Had a cup of green tea that was brewed for 15mins , a mango and 200mg of 5-htp .

All of this I had just before bed.

I don't usually get dreams cause I smoke maddd weed which usually takes away your dreams .


Apart from this night I ha the most intenssse dreams !!

This means that something must going to my brain or doing something with my brain right ???
 
jamesmartin said:
I tried te green tea thing ....

Had a cup of green tea that was brewed for 15mins , a mango and 200mg of 5-htp .

All of this I had just before bed.

I don't usually get dreams cause I smoke maddd weed which usually takes away your dreams .


Apart from this night I ha the most intenssse dreams !!

This means that something must going to my brain or doing something with my brain right ???
Click to expand...

Many 5-HTP supplements also contain vitamin B6 (because it's a cofactor in 5-HTP's decarboxylation by AADC to 5-HT). B6 has been known to give people vivid dreams on its own.

Seconding (thirding?) everyone here who's said that the reason one takes 5-HTP is because it bypasses the rate-limiting step in the metabolism of tryptophan to serotonin. Tryptophan requires tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) to be converted into 5-HTP; since there's a limited amount of TPH (at least in comparison to AADC, the enzyme required to convert 5-HTP to 5-HT, aka serotonin), you end up saturating the enzyme with its substrate and thus slowing the reaction rate down to as long as it takes for limited amounts of TPH to perform the metabolism.

Another (likely insignificant) thing to keep in mind is that TPH has two forms, one of which is expressed both in the gut and the brain. This leads me to believe that even tryptophan is somewhat metabolized systemically, so heroic doses of it should be avoided if you're concerned about serotonin in you bloodstream. :\

As an aside, I'd love to see some sources on how much 5-HTP actually does make it to the brain with or without the use of a peripheral decarboxylase inhibitor. I suspect that a significant amount does, since so many people find it therapeutic -- it seems unlikely to me that it's all completely placebo, heh.
 
It works for me, even if it's just a placebo effect. But I do notice a change in my mood when I take 5-htp and that's all I really need it for. Things irritate me less and I have a more positive outlook, two things I've noticed effect me greatly a few days after taking MDMA and not 5-htp. I also notice the effect it has on my appetite.

I've used 5-htp on it's own (as in, not to help easy the MDMA comedown) as a sleep aid, a mood enhancer and an appetite suppressor and it has helped me with all these things. Maybe it's placebo, maybe my molecules are just arranged in a way that makes it work for me, whatever. All I know is that it works for me and that's all I really need to know.
 
it works for me also, although sometimes in the morning i feel more tired than usual
 
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