5-htp rocks!

[trixie08]

i take one 100mg capsule of 5-htp every day, and i feel great, i feel better during the week than before i started taking pills. i seriously can't stop smiling sometimes

i know this could be a placebo effect, but i think this an unlikely explanation since i am a very sceptical person, and really did not expect that 5-htp would do anything. anyway, even if it is a placebo effect,who cares, the result is the same!

i also find that i now only ever need one pill, even though i've been dropping every week for about the past 5 months

i kind of have my own theory that you need to take 5-htp every day to maintain a constant level of serotonin in your brain, cos i think the metabolic process of converting 5-htp into serotonin probably takes some time.

plus, the scientific research i've read all involved subjects taking 5-htp daily

please give it a try, you won't be sorry!

 

[ms jnky]

Yeha i have heard it does wonders BUT where did you get it from?
Did you order it over the net??

what are the details etc!!!

PM me and let me know!!

Thanks in advance!

 

[apollo]

^^ Have a look at this thread - Summary of sources for 5-HTP and Reagent Testers.

i kind of have my own theory that you need to take 5-htp every day to maintain a constant level of serotonin in your brain, cos i think the metabolic process of converting 5-htp into serotonin probably takes some time.

There is no way that the natural human metabolism would need 5-HTP supplements to keep a constant supply of serotonin. Serotonin is vital for day to day functioning! If our brains needed 5-HTP to maintain serotonin levels, anyone who didn't take it would be one supremely dysfunctional being (if not dead).

Also - is it wise to self medicate with 5-HTP? All due respect for using it as a harm minimisation measure, but do you need to take it daily?

 

[SkiNLaB]

i found it did practically nothing for me preload, but postload it helped alot. i think my body is fairly good at restoring the serotonin, so 5htp wouldnt do squat for me unless it was lacking.. (ie post-roll)

 

[trixie08]

i ordered 5-htp over the internet from www.clubnatural.com

you get 4 bottles of 120 capsules (100mg) for around A$140. you need a credit card and it takes about 5 weeks for delivery

i know your body makes serontonin naturally, but it can take up to 2 weeks to restore normal levels after taking ecstacy. 5-htp is claimed to speed up this process as it is the 'building block' of serotonin.

nothing has been proven scientifically of course, but it seems to work for me!

 

[apollo]

i know your body makes serontonin naturally, but it can take up to 2 weeks to restore normal levels after taking ecstacy. 5-htp is claimed to speed up this process as it is the 'building block' of serotonin.

That's absolutely correct - that's the fundamental theory behind 5-HTP use as a harm minimisation measure. My point was that you don't need to use 5-HTP after ecstasy, or at all (unless you're prescribed it).

 

[BigTrancer]

5 weeks for delivery?! Usually in my experience ClubNatural will have an order on my doorstep in 9 days...

AFAIK it's not harmful to take 100mg of 5-HTP per day. In fact when using it to help dieting, some people take 50mg a little while (say 30-60mins) before each meal to quell carbohydrate cravings. I would say that if you find you're having stomach upsets from 5-HTP though, or experiencing diarrhea on a daily basis then reduce the dose.

I can hunt up some references for 'usual' daily doses of 5-HTP for the non-postload purposes later if people are curious... however searching for 5-HTP on Google should turn up hundreds of sites on the subject.

BigTrancer

 

[Fry-d-]

I take 100mg capsule everyday after breakfast, I swear by it. I'm prone to anxiety and sometimes have a short fuse. I find the 5htp helps to level me out and keeps me perky throughout the day. I initially dosed before bed after dinner but found the intense dreams caused my sleep to be disrupted somewhat. This could however be blamed from cutting myself off from a serious weed habit at the same time.

I don't take pills more than a couple every few months but I'm going to stick to my daily dose. I've found no negatives at this dose although I don't completely know what I could be doing to myself.

 

[RobertRollie]

There is no way that the natural human metabolism would need 5-HTP supplements to keep a constant supply of serotonin. Serotonin is vital for day to day functioning! If our brains needed 5-HTP to maintain serotonin levels, anyone who didn't take it would be one supremely dysfunctional being (if not dead).

Also - is it wise to self medicate with 5-HTP? All due respect for using it as a harm minimisation measure, but do you need to take it daily?

This is not quite true. Your body naturally tries to maintain a balanced level of serotonin in your brain, but it cannot do this without the necessary precursors...

Personally, I have a very poorly balanced diet. I hardly eat vegetables at all simply because i dont like the taste. This means my body is quite lacking in many important vitamins and other compounds necessary for my body to function normally. To counter act this, i take vitamin supplements (or i should, im quite lazy about it really).

I had been taking pills for a year or so when it occured to me that my almost constant foul mood, depression, and mood swings were probably largely in part to low levels of serotonin. I have always had a slow recovery from taking pills but it seemed to me that it was taking longer each time and i was getting less out of them. I theorised that because of my poor diet i was lacking in the necessary precursors to make enuff serotonin to return to a normal levels, and that was assuming i wasnt continually screwing up the balance by taking more pills. The constant flushing of serotonin was leaving me with less and less each time because i simply didnt have the building blocks necesary to replace it.

SO i started taking 100mg of 5htp as a daily dietary supplement, and within 2 weeks i was feeling much better and my moods leveled out. I was generally a much more stable person.

Generally speaking i think if as long as youre not taking pills often and you eat a balanced diet you wont have much need for supplements but since the majority of us here probably eat poorly and drop regularly, i think there is merit in taking 5htp regularly too.

 

[dimmo]

I initially dosed before bed after dinner but found the intense dreams caused my sleep to be disrupted somewhat. This could however be blamed from cutting myself off from a serious weed habit at the same time.

This also happened to me when dosing at night, and I also had some issues with vomiting when using 5HTP which were probably related to having it with little food in stomach at times.

 

[Scatteredasfuck]

5-htp has actually been been compared to prozac in effectiveness against depression in a few double blind studies...& it is thought that l-tyrosine may also increase 5-HTP effectiveness as an antidepressant. 5-HTP does appear beneficial especially in those with a chemical imbalance from genetic, psychological or drug related reasons.

Fry-d- : The 5-HTP does increase sleep activity...including dreams as I'd say you already know, these dreams are usually more positive & general sleep is more effective though. However cutting yourself off from a serious weed habit I feel definitely would have contributed a great deal to the intensity you speak of, IMHO.

 

[apollo]

This is not quite true. Your body naturally tries to maintain a balanced level of serotonin in your brain, but it cannot do this without the necessary precursors...

Personally, I have a very poorly balanced diet. I hardly eat vegetables at all simply because i dont like the taste. This means my body is quite lacking in many important vitamins and other compounds necessary for my body to function normally. To counter act this, i take vitamin supplements (or i should, im quite lazy about it really).

I had been taking pills for a year or so when it occured to me that my almost constant foul mood, depression, and mood swings were probably largely in part to low levels of serotonin. I have always had a slow recovery from taking pills but it seemed to me that it was taking longer each time and i was getting less out of them. I theorised that because of my poor diet i was lacking in the necessary precursors to make enuff serotonin to return to a normal levels, and that was assuming i wasnt continually screwing up the balance by taking more pills. The constant flushing of serotonin was leaving me with less and less each time because i simply didnt have the building blocks necesary to replace it.

SO i started taking 100mg of 5htp as a daily dietary supplement, and within 2 weeks i was feeling much better and my moods leveled out. I was generally a much more stable person.

Generally speaking i think if as long as youre not taking pills often and you eat a balanced diet you wont have much need for supplements but since the majority of us here probably eat poorly and drop regularly, i think there is merit in taking 5htp regularly too.

I included the "supremely dysfunctional being" just for you RR

On a more serious note, you've taken what I've said out of context.

i kind of have my own theory that you need to take 5-htp every day to maintain a constant level of serotonin in your brain

has nothing to do with drugs... It's a dubious justification for daily 5-HTP self medication. I agree with you entirely that people who are not eating a decent diet may need supplements to keep up their serotonin levels, especially after pills. But my statement that the human body can do it just fine has nothing to do with inadequate diets, nor pills. Also, I'd like to highlight something... "I theorised that..." That's all it is - theory. You might have been experiencing your "foul mood, depression, and mood swings" for a variety of reasons. A lack of dopamine perhaps?

Or, how do you know that the depression, etc wasn't caused by serotonin receptor "down-regulation" (retreating into the dendrite membrane), not a lack of serotonin?

 

[Dr. Beat]

Taking 5htp everyday

Taking 5htp everyday is self medicating for depression. It is no different from taking prozac everyday, but with less side effects.

If you need to take 5htp everyday, you obviously have low seratonin, and therefore depression. Instead of the western 'a pill to fix every cure' mentality, why don't you fix the cause of the problem? As a guess you could improve you diet, stop taking drugs and alcohol, go a psychologist to figure out why you are not happy inside, and start changing your innerself so you become happy without drugs (including 5htp).

A small amount of Tryptophan in the diet is converted to 5htp, and high amounts of tryptophan are in all dairy products, eggs, yeast (vegemite), soy, meat, spirilina. It is also in good amounts in nuts and seeds.

Normallly your body controlls the amount of tryptophan converted to 5htp, but because you are eating 5htp directly, you are flooding your brain with seratoin, and your body cannot control the amount in your brain. And i think in the long run, like a year or two, you will pay the price, with either down graded seratonin receptors, or seratonin syndrome or something like that.

Another thing someone said was they are narky and not in a good mood. Stop eating gluten, or if you cannot do that, stop eating wheat. Wheat protein (gluten) when broken down by your body resemble endorphins, and the main effect endorphins have on your brain is increasing dopamine. The more dopamine goes up in your brain, the more seratonin levels drop, and vice versa. Many friends and people I know feel 10 times better not eating wheat. The best way to figure out if wheat gets you high is try to eat no gluten products for 1 week (wheat, oats, rye, barley) and see how you feel. If you get cravings for them, then they get you high, and it is best to minimise them in your diet. Another clue is what if your favorite food? Toast, pizza, pasta? Yes? Then wheat gets you high. Nobody I know gets cravings for brussle sprouts.

I just read an book by a psychartrist that said people who take pills every weekend are self medicating for depression. I cannot agree more. People who smoke pot every night are self medicating for depression. People who drink every night are self medicating for depression. And so on.

Take care.

 

[shal]

I agree. Thank GOD for 5-HTP

Shal...

 

[BigTrancer]

The more dopamine goes up in your brain, the more seratonin levels drop, and vice versa.

It's my opinion that this quote is a gross oversimplification of the neurochemistry of the human brain... do you have any references you could pass on to us?

BigTrancer

 

[Dr. Beat]

not only from personal experience, but i just read it in a book I think is called 'ecstacy : the complete guide" by Dr. Julie Holland, a psychatrist who specializes in street drugs. In one of the chapters it says that seratonin is a inhibiting neuro receptor, and seratonin inhibits dopamine.

I and all my friends who have tried 5htp all find that our dopamine goes down after taking 5htp so that is the main reason we do not take it anymore, unless i am comming off hard drugs (coke, or speed or pills). I also do not eat wheat anymore, so my dopamine is much less nowadays so my seratonin is up much more naturally.

Another example, take cocaine or speed (which give you lots of dopamine), and I guarantee your seratonin will be much less the next day. (assuming you take no other drugs like pot that put your seratonin up).

Another example, when you are hungry, your dopamine and nor-adrenaline go up and up, and your seratonin goes down and down the more hungry you get. When you eat lots of food, your seratonin goes up and your dopamine and nor-adrenaline go down. (feeling sedated after a large meal).

Also seratonin and dopamine and nor-adrenaline are broken down by the SAME chemical MAO, (mono amise oxidizer), so if dopamine and nor-adrenaline is very high (speed for example) then your liver makes heaps of MAO to break down the dopamine and nor-adrenaline, but in the process lots of seratonin gets broken down even if it was below average to start with. There are very few times in life you get high seratonin and high dopamine together naturally. Falling in love is the main one for non drug people. No wonder every second song and film is about love.

 

[entropy1.0]

so if as a broke uni student......how should i go about getting it....which foods are the best to eat...i've heard banannas????is this true???

 

[BigTrancer]

Yes, please try searching the forums using the Search link at the top of the page, as many issues such as this have been covered in great depth previously.

BigTrancer

 

[gOOgster]

BT (or anyone else out there),

Im interested in your response to Dr Beat's post. I must admit these discussions are something i generally glance over usually (not being a chemistry freak), but this one has me somewhat intrigued...

 

[BigTrancer]

I'd love to help out, but unfortunately I don't have time at the moment to write a full response - I'm under really serious pressure with work of my own (remind me about this in a month or so and I'll have a go). If I get time I'll attempt it, but at the moment I'll have to let this issue rest. Anyone else is more than welcome to comment.

At this stage, I think the issue of neurotransmitter response and function has been simplified far too much, to the point where the argument is vague and unconvincing, and in my opinion it's not as simple as 'take a pill, serotonin does down... take 5-HTP, serotonin goes up... take speed, dopamine goes down...' etc.

The first thing I'd want to do is clarify a LOT of Dr Beat's statements, such as: "take cocaine or speed (which give you lots of dopamine)"... I think we need to be much more definite if this issue is gong to be taken seriously. There needs to be a clear definition between precursors and production of neurotransmitters, and drugs which cause the release or inhibit the reuptake of neurotransmitters to or from the synaptic cleft. I'm not dismissing Dr Beat's posts out of hand, just trying to figure out precisely what he means, and how his conclusions were arrived at.

BigTrancer

PS: This originally started as a reply to g00gster's post about why I had no time to reply, but since I've elaborated it kinda feels like I'm talking about Dr Beat in front of him. That's not the intention.