5-Hydroxytryptophan or 5-HTP

[elgrande]

Has any tried this is supplement form? Been reading good things about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5-HTP

http://www.5-htp.org.uk/5-htp-anxiety.php

[northstar]

hmmmm it looks ok, but why take a supplement for serotonin when you can create it naturally through exercise, diet and meditation/relaxation? take a look at this article: http://www.ei-resource.org/articles/men ... in-levels/ (http://www.ei-resource.org/articles/mental-and-emotional-problem-articles/easy-and-natural-ways-to-raise-low-serotonin-levels/)

i believe that to change anxiety we need to change how we live our lives. we all know the desire for a magic pill that will take it away, but the reality is that getting over anxiety means hard work and effort for positive change. a therapist once said to me "if you alway do what you've always done, then you'll always get what you've always got", it really made me think, change won't happen if we don't make it happen :)

[joey9]

I have taken it and found it was pretty effective. I was warned off it by my friend who is a psychiatrist though - she said I was effectively self-medicating as it can be as effective as SSRIs and apparantly that is a bad thing. I actually think hearing that made it work even better! The only bad thing I noticed about it was the effect it has on your dreams - I had read about it previously but didn't think it would happen, but it makes your dreams REALLY vivid and sometimes quite scarey.

[Robbed]

When my anxiety problem first started, I tried taking it. But I did not like the way it made me feel - kind of weird, lightheaded, and spaced-out (maybe like SSRIs, but since I have never taken SSRIs, I really can't compare the two). So I stopped taking it.

[Carla]

Weird, lightheaded and spaced out, sounds like me even when I dont take medication! :roll: I have read some things about this. Where is it able to be purchased from? Is it available in the UK? I dont like taking and wont take any medication but if it is a natural medication then I dont panic as much in taking it. :) I just found out Holland and Barrett health food shop in UK stock it. Yayyyy....Ok I now just have to overcome my anxiety and get out into the nearest town to me to buy it :unsure: I feel really 'odd' today but that is I think because I am not sleeping well and not really eating but I ate a packet of white chocolate cookies earlier :? and I think that the sugar is affecting adrenaline or whatever it does and I am now suffering a bit, not to mention sick! :roll:

[Murakawa]

Carla, you can get this from Holland and Barrett!

Stephen

[Carla]

Thanks Murakawa for informing me where I can get them from! :) I am getting ready to go there as we speak! I just have to overcome the anxiety bit first about getting there to get them! Dont you just love anxiety! lol

[joey9]

Hi Carla,

You should seriously cut out the cookies - I did a one month detox where I cut out all sugar and refined carbs, and ate 5 small meals a day which all included a portion of protein, tons of fruit and nuts and vegetables etc. I wasn't actually doing it for anxiety but at the end of the month I realised my anxiety for that month had been zero. Sugar is truly evil. I have fallen again though and am back in the biscuit tin.

Also, 5-HTP is very expensive from Holland and Barrett. You can buy it a lot cheaper from online health food shops.

[elgrande]

I think with any suppliment, quality should be the most important factor. With some cheaper products you have to take twice as much to get the same dose as the better quality ones. Personally I was looking at this one:

http://www.highernature.co.uk/ShowProdu ... milyID=224 (http://www.highernature.co.uk/ShowProductFamily.aspx?ProductFamilyID=224)

[Carla]

Hi
Thank you both for your replies and advice. It really helps knowing that there are others out there who I can relate to. I normally dont eat much sugar - in fact I dont eat much of anything as I always feel sick and nauseaus, not as much as I used to, but it is still there. :mrgreen: I will try cutting out the sugars though. I agree that a healthy diet is really important in helping anxiety. What type of food are refined carbs? I dont eat white bread. I find that really affects my anxiety. :cry:

[joey9]

Refined carbs are any processed carbs like white bread, white pasta, white rice etc. The reason they are bad are that they have a high GI - i.e. glycemic index, meaning that the sugars in them are released very quickly, causing you to have a huge burst of sugar and then a sugar crash. You get an insulin spike which the body responds to with the release of adrenalin, which of course we all know is bad in terms of anxiety. To stabilise your bood sugar you need to eat foods with a low GI. You can get your carbs from small amounts of brown bread etc. and plenty of fruit, as fructose has the lowest GI of all the sugars. If you are not eating much of anything at the moment it probably isn't helping your anxiety. Try carrying a bag of nuts around with you so you can keep your blood sugar up throughout the day without feeling nauseous at the thought of a big meal.

[Carla]

Hi :)
Thanks for the advice. I dont eat much as I already mentioned but will cut out when I do eat refined carbs. I notice that if I have white bread it does affect my anxiety. I bought some 5-HTP I mentioned in earlier posts and I start taking that as of tomorrow. Hopefully it will all help. :)

[joey9]

Hi, you also need to try to eat more altogether - I know it's hard if you have no appetite but if you don't have enough calories your body goes into starvation mode and starts pumping adrenalin around to kick start all the physiological mechanisms it has to deal with a period without enough food. Try little and often.

[elgrande]

So anyone else give this a go? Thinking about it myself.

[elgrande]

Well I took the plunge and started the 5 HTP but although its early days I don't think its helped. I actually feel a bit weird on it, kind of slightly spaced and sometimes a bit tingley. Decided today is my last day on it so its back to the drawing board. Good luck to anyone else who trying it.

[Murakawa]

I'm taking this at the moment. Haven't really noticed much. At first I thought it was working but not I'm not too sure...