Question;
For the past 10 days or so, I have been taking 5-HTP (100mg) and Rhodiola (250mg) I also take 10mg adderall r
I am probably just looking for an excuse, but can anyone make a connection between these and a large increase in ADD symptoms, mostly scatteredness and total lack of control when responding to distractions.
I have managed to build up quite a bit of chaos, and have fallen totally behind, but I must say I am feeling pretty mellow!!
My first thought is my levels were not low to begin with and this is a response to too much serotonin or dopamine??

I tried 5-HTP a couple of years ago after seeing a piece on television that claimed it was a miracle for weight loss. It didn't really help with weight loss and I was tired and unmotivated the entire time that I was taking it. It was only after I stopped taking 5-HTP that I realized that the 5-HTP had been responsible for my lethargy. Subsequently I have read that when you increase serotonin, your dopamine production can down regulate, and dopamine is what gives you drive and focus.

I had a somewhat similar experience a couple of months ago when I tried a macrobiotic diet. I felt mellow and relaxed on the diet, but totally unmotivated and I couldn't get all the work done that I needed to do for my very demanding job. I think all the carbs on the macrobiotic diet must have kicked up my serotonin production.

By the way, I recently tried Rhodiola after reading it that it was good for energy, but it didn't do a thing for my ADD symptoms.

Whoa! 250 mg that's alot...are you sure you don't need a lower dose???

DO NOT TAKE 5HTP and ADDERALL!! GOOGLE IT, 5HTP, SJW, AND RHODIOLA ALL INCREASE SEROTONIN LEVELS, AS WELL AS ADDERALL. WHAT YOU ARE EXPERIENCING IS AN OD OF SEROTONIN IN YOURT BODY

that must have been an intoxicated reply..

An overdosing of serotonin is called "serotonin syndrome"... and it can be deadly.

But I think I felt lethargic when I took some 5 htp as well, and then again when I took zoloft and some other SSRIs. I'm not sure why, but possible causes are chemicals regulating in your brain, causing sleepiness.

I think tinkering around with dopamine and serotonin should be done with care, but you never know if that's just what you need to improve your sleep cycles, alertness, or whatever

I will highly recommend to first consult your physician before taking 5 htp (http://www.herbmark.com/5-htp.html) and rhodiola side wise.

Serotonin is converted in the pineal gland to melatonin, which induces sleep. Strong light, particularly of short wavelengths, then breaks down the melatonin during the day, but weak artificial lighting can allow it to build up, causing drowsiness. Serotonin also inhibits the dopamine system, further imparing concentration, although it's been proposed as a treatment for schizophrenics, who have an overactive dopamine system.

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/153/4/466

An increase in serotonin via SSRIs often result in an increase of ADHD symptoms. Some folks have found that their symptoms are helped by an SSRI, but studies shows that it usually it makes ADHD worse.

Heh, I just noticed that this thread is super old!

As a note: for people who want to try 5-HTP, start at a lower dose. The bottles I've seen say to take 100mg 3x a day right off the bat; I think that'd be a horrible idea. It might just be me, but I'm a big guy (350 lbs, a lot of muscle) and 100mg makes me quite sleepy and that feeling lasts for a long time. I can't imagine staying awake while taking 300mg/day! I imagine that the body gets used to this and the sedation goes away after a while, but by that time you are probably dependent on it. More importantly, if you are taking 5-HTP with other serotogenic substances (Adderall, Rhodiola, SSRIs, etc) you should be trying a much lower dose, especially at first.

No, this person was not suffering from a serotonin "OD." Taking 5-HTP with various meds is a horrible idea, with a very real of risk of serotonin syndrome. This is especially the case with SSRIs. Amphetamines are listed some places as a contraindicated med, but I question this as a general rule. Some amphetamines are strong on the serotonin release, like methamphetamine/Desoxyn or MDMA, some not at all, with others in between like L- and D-amphetamine.

I'm not saying people should take 5-HTP with L- or D-amphetamine per se, but I don't know of any studies specifically looking at this kind of combination. However, people do take SSRIs with L- and D-amphetamine safely, so it is unlikely that D- and L-amphetamine affect the serotonin system strongly enough to cause serotonin syndrome when 5-HTP it taken at safe doses. That is the key; 5-HTP, by itself, can induce serotonin syndrome if dose taken is too high.

If one chooses to try taking 5-HTP with an L- and/or D-amphetamine start at a much lower dose. There's no reason you shouldn't start extremely low, maybe 10mg, and then work up. All of the 5-HTP I've seen comes in capsules. For a smaller you can empty the cap into a cup of water or juice, say 100 mL, shake, and then drink the desired dose- e.g. for a 50mg cap in 100 mL of juice, drink 20 mL of juice for 10mg. 5-HTP doesn't really taste like anything, it isn't bitter, and the more noticable taste in the 5-HTP caps I've had was the rice flour they used for filler.

5-HTP can cause dependency, which is pretty similar to the SSRIs. If you are on it for any length of time don't stop it abruptly but taper down to avoid rebound depression or other side effects.

vickis, you should be much much more careful with drugs! take MINIMUM dose possible. Try to use one kind only when possible. talk with ur doc/psych if need more advice. Take minimum (that barely help) and add few more than that. Too much medicine is poison. That old saying always true.

vickis, you should be much much more careful with drugs! take MINIMUM dose possible. Try to use one kind only when possible. talk with ur doc/psych if need more advice. Take minimum (that barely help) and add few more than that. Too much medicine is poison. That old saying always true.

I appreciate the feedback. Frankly I have yet to meet a Doc who can answer (or is interested) in most of my questions.
10 mg of Adderall is not in my opinion a large dose. All I can do is my own research and listen to what my body is telling me. As a result I have written off the 5 HTP. The Rhodiola I find works great if I take about 250mg spread out during the day.

I take 5HTP in addition to Adderall, an idea I came across in one of Daniel Amen's books. I find it helps tremendously, but Amen only recommends it for the overfocused sub-type. I also take 500 mg. of tyrosine at night, and I've never slept better in my life.