Tryptophan and stomach problems

[captainjames]

Hi, new here and looking for some help. Before someone mentions Doctor, forget it. Been there. All she had to offer after I spent 2 hours typing up everything I do, eat, etc... she looks at it for 3 seconds and puts me on zoloft. Been there done that. Been on all of them years ago. I took the zoloft 2 days and the dread in my stomach and mind that I had went from a 7 to a 10.

I don't want to hear "that's impossible on the 2nd day" because I know me. Zoloft, although I took it in the past, this time made me actually contemplate suicide. However I have 2 daughters I would not do that to them.

Anyhow, I started on the plan from a site called thewayup dot com.

Pretty simple, tyrosine in the AM, vitamins, B complex, tyrosine in the afternoon and tryptophan 1000-6000mg at night.

Now this stuff seemed to be working wonders for weeks and all of a sudden it seems these pills are giving me massive gas. Like up in the chest type gas that feels like chest pains / heart attack. Now I know it's not a heart attack as my stomach feels like a washing machine. Now this could be as simple as taking food with the suppliments, but it recommends an empty stomach.

Anybody else ever experience this from supplements?

Any help is appreciated. Most don't know about this type of therapy and supplementation and there's a reason for that. Any help with the stomach thing is appreciated. Please, I don't want to hear the word doctor. I'm done with them.

Kevin

[joey9]

Are you taking tryptophan or 5-Hydroxytryptophan? 6000mg sounds like a pretty huge dose. I don't know about tryptophan but 5-HTP is pretty potent.

[captainjames]

That's what the book recommends. I have 500mg Tryptophan caps. I can only do like 3-4 at the most or else I get brain zaps. Sort of like reality stops for a second at 30 second intervals.

I have 5htp as well, 100mg, just got those, haven't tried them. Usually the 50mg 5htp do nothing for me.

Kevin

[Robbed]

Just curious. Have you tried to simply increase your tryptophan consumption via your diet? I would think that just a couple of glasses of milk a day or some turkey would provide you with ample tryptophan, and without any possible side effects that might result from consumption of the free amino acid.

[captainjames]

Yes, I've done that. My body does not process tryptophan properly. Also the protein in the foods competes with tryptophan reuptake, so only a small %age gets to the brain.

I think some individuals like myself just don't process enough of it.

5htp seems the better alternative as it is not affected by protein, and crosses the blood brain barrier with ease. Took 100mg before bed. I was floating but too wired to sleep good. I'll take less tonight, earlier.

Kevin