Hey all,
So today, after LOTS of research I finally bought some 5-HTP.
I want to keep this opening post short and straight to the point so here goes...
As I've mentioned on various other threads on ioplist I take the following, every day:
Anxiety / Sleep:
-10mg D1az3pam (5mg in the morning and 5mg in the early afternoon)
--This seems to keep my anxiety at bay
-50mg Doxylamine Succinate + 2.5mg Melatonin each night, just before bed.
--This has helped me beat insomnia
General wellbeing:
-100mg Magnesium Glysinate
--Most people are deficient in magnesium and this provides 25% of the RDA. I'm pretty sure I got the rest through my diet
-15mg to 20mg Zinc (100% - 133% RDA) each day
--Usually 7.5mg - 10mg in the morning and the same at night
-HALF of a Multi Vitamin & Iron tablet each morning (providing 50% of all other vitamins)
I think I might stop this and replace it with just Iron
Now, why 5-HTP?
Well, I have read 5-HTP can help a lot of things, like insomnia, anxiety etc along with lifting your mood (I'm not depressed but hey) so I have decided to try it.
I'm hoping it will replace my Melatonin and Doxylamine intake and help reduce my D1az3pam intake.
Today is day 1, I have no idea if it will help or not but I'll be sure to keep this thread updated as much as possible.
Over and out
It seems it will be a very interesting experiment. We will be here and wait, at least me , so keep us informed about the results in your mood and good luck Insomnia S I hope it will work fine for you and so for many of us .
Hey folks,
Ok so day 3 complete (for sake of number) - 7th, 8th and now 9th March 'complete'
It's away to turn 10th March with me (almost midnight) so, yeah.... anyway
2 x 100mg 5-HTP each day.
I slept a little worse night 1 but normal night 2.
Dreams are have been VERY vivid! That I'm sure of! But, R.E.M. is a good thing...right? :-)
I've cut down the Melatonin intake to about 1.5mg - 2mg.
How do I feel?
Well it's supposed to take circa 2 weeks to feel any benefit but I'd say that there is a chance I have ...
10% more energy?
10% less anxiety?
10% more enthusiasm?
50% thinking it's placebo....
Yeah.
Too early to tell, just checking in.
Over and out
Hey folks, checking in again. Day 4 complete.
I'm now almost positive my anxiety levels have dropped.
I don't think it is placebo anymore.
I'm suprised it's working so fast...
I am by no means an anxiety free man, but I feel like I have been less anxious is situations that I'd normally be a little sheepish.
Let me put it this way...
I'm an more of an extrovert than an introvert, but sometimes I need to be an introvert due to anxiety holding me back.
However, today, I have not felt held back, I didn't feel the need to ... not speak my mind, or 'fight or flight'
Albeit I only tested myself (or found myself) in fairly low anxiety situations (I wasn't doing a speech, for example)
I'm not talking about a total miracle here, I'm just talking a small change which has allowed me to be me in more situations.
I'm not writing off placebo yet, but I hope I can soon....
This is not a conclusion by any means, just....hmmm....well let's see.
Peace.
Hello everyone,
So, that's me completed 8 days of 5-HTP.
I'm writing off placebo completely, 5-HTP has definitely had a moderately positive effect on me.
What it has done:
I feel more positive.
In situations I'd usually feel a bit down (for example, when hungover, when receiving bad news, when having a 'tiff' with my partner, etc etc etc) I definitely feel less down / more positive.
It's like more of a positive, rational thought process instead of a negative, erratic thought process.
Like I have stated above, I have never been depressed but I welcome this new positivity and rationality with open arms!
I guess another example is my attitude on a Monday morning, it was noticeably lifted yesterday morning (I didn't dread work as much)
I'm sleeping deeper:
I have been sleeping VERY well on it, the dreams are vivid! but I wake up when the alarm goes off BURSTING for a pee, I usually pee at least once during the night, so waking up bursting is proof of undisturbed sleep.
I decided to cut out the multi vitamins, 5-HTP tends to come with B vitamins so I bought some some Iron & Vitamin C tabs instead.
Anyway, that's all for now. I would recommend trying it. It seems about 20% of people feel nothing, I feel something, albeit fairly mild, but I'm not searching for a buzz.
Ill report back once I've completed 12 or 13 days.
Oh, yeah, I read something about 5-HTP before I started taking it and I fully agree with it!
Imagine your mind was a table tennis board, without the net.
Imagine seretonin was table tennis balls.
Someone wrote that SSRI's act like a wall round the edges of the table tennis board, so the seretonin (balls) your brain naturally produces cannot escape very easily, they cannot roll of the edge.
5-HTP simply puts more balls on the table.
A table tennis board is not designed to cope with having a wall built round it's edges, but it certainly is designed to cope with table tennis balls.
Wow I am sure you start gaining with good results already . And I fully support your effort. Have in mind I read about 5-HTP you will need extra two weeks to potentiate the biochemical boost to serotonin receptors so there is some road left but be positive and you will see the change. It is not working for all but if it works it is a continuous linear gain state until it reaches a plateau. So have a little patience we will be here positive waiting for your new posts.
Thanks
I'll be sure to update once I have passed the 2 week mark.
Thanks Fire!
Yes, Serotonin.
It never really crossed my mind (no pun intended) before because I thought that serotonin was responsible for your level of happiness and nothing else, but when I started reading all the things serotonin can help I just had to try it.
Firstly I never knew it was in the bowels and blood, I thought it was only in the brain.
Then finding out that on top of having a positive affect on mood it can also help sleep, anxiety, behaviour, appetite, digestion, memory, learning, labido, wound healing, bone health etc etc. I was surprised.
I am trailing it for the anxiety and sleep aid functions. Maybe my levels were low enough to cause my anxiety and sleep issues?...I have always been a worrier.
Ah, yes. That would run the risk of serotonin syndrome..
How is Cymbalta working out for you?
Trialing*
Meh,
I always post a status, re-read it, fix all the typos and re-post it.
But when I re-re-read (yes) my posts, there is always one typo or mistake that I missed.
Hah, I guess 5-HTP doesn't help OCD
Jokes, I don't have OCD.
Right, time for bed. Well I just have to sort the contents of my kitchen drawers into alphanumerical order first.
Hi, I_S
hope things are going okay.