5-HTP!

Jesus, I don't know why I took so long to act on the things I was reading about it months ago.

My history, I've been depressed for over 10 years, and only when I had an in-patient episode this past September have I been getting anything to try to combat it.

I've been on the SSRI Escitalopram (Cipralex/Lexapro) for about a month and a half, all it did was kill my sex drive and ability to do anything sexual.
I've been on Wellbutrin another month and a half, all it did was exacerbate my anxiety and elevate my blood pressure.
I've been on Imipramine for one day, all it did was confuse me and put me into a severe hypertensive episode (woke up in the morning with blood pressure 190/90 and a pulse of 130 a minute, THIS WAS WAKING UP!)
I've been on Mirtazapine a week, all it did was put me to sleep all day, make me eat all day, and worst of all electric shock sensations whenever I tried to relax or sleep. One night I couldn't sleep for 2 hours due to an electric shock every single time I was about to doze off. Extremely scary.

None of these things helped my anxiety, OCD, PTSD, or depression.

In comes 5-HTP. The first night I bought it I took one 100mg tablet. After an hour and a half, not only was my anxiety gone, but my mood was so elevated that I started dancing and singing out loud to music and feeling exhilarated. It wasn't mania, cause I've had that before. It also gave me a nice sleep, a little groggy, but not as bad as Mirtazapine (which I was still getting out of my system then as well) and the electric shocks only happened twice and very soft ones and gone forever now...

Today is my fourth day on it and my anxiety is gone. I don't worry about stupid **** anymore, so I think my negative OCD is gone, as I don't linger on thoughts that bother me, my mood is too good, I want to enjoy things. It's motivated me to do the things with OCD that make me happy, like organising stuff and having things neat, as well as washing my hands frequently again...etc. It's reduced the somatic effects of Ritalin, especially the heart rate has slowed down all day. (I usually get 10 minutes or so about 45 minutes into a dose where my heart rate goes up, stroke volume increases, before going down again; on wellbutrin, this would continue the entire time of the dose! By evenings I was a nervous wreck!) It is somewhat calming and sedating, which is why I take my 100mg dose around midnight, it calms me down in the early morning hours and motivates me to sleep a little earlier than usual.

I am hesitant to say it's either all the 5-HTP or all placebo. Placebo has never taken away my anxiety, only made it worse. Now I feel like I'm ready to try to find a job and get started on things. I've felt this way for a long time but my anxiety has stopped me. I'm finding I'm way more social now, as anyone may tell from my recent postings, I'm posting on forums a lot more.

Important stuff to remember. Do not take this if you are on an MAOI, Tricyclic, SSRI, antihistamines, cough syrup, etc, anything that effects seratonin. You may get seratonin syndrome. Also, you shouldn't take more than 100mg a day. The bottles will sometimes say 100mg three times a day but this is crap. Anyone taking more than 200mg a day is sure to get either nausea, headache, dry mouth, or other elevated seratonin symptoms.

There's a lot to look up on the internet to know what will be best for you. You can usually tell by what it does for you. For some people it will make them more sleepy (me) and decrease appetite (me) and increase sex drive (me ;)). Some people says it does the opposite of these things in all three categories to them. This may effect what you take it for or if it will be effective for you. You may not have a seratonin deficiency. Also, if you have done something that has temporarily lowered your seratonin levels, like pulled an all nighter, done LSD, etc this may bring it up to a good level but then continuing to use it might be too much and give you side effects, so it's pretty cool to know what it is effecting you. For instance, I took too many yesterday and got a headache from it, and was extremely focused, it double whammied my Ritalin. Not going to do that again. However, I felt no anxiety which really surprised me, I'm very sensitive in changes of perception and it usually freaks me out, but with the lowered anxiety and calmness and lower somatic reaction, I was OK with it.

So I don't know, if you are trying to get off an SSRI, like Prozac, I've read in low doses (25-50mg daily) it might help with the withdrawal effects very effectively. If you are looking for a new anti-depressant, give it a try! what do you have to lose? Just start off low and see how it goes!

I will come back here to let people know if my ravings were all for naught. I doubt this is placebo though simply because its so reinforceing. Maybe it has a "poop-out" after awhile, but everything I've read says it tends to differ from anti-depressants in this feature. Some people only take 50mg 4-5 times a week and feel great! I'm suspecting 100mg at a time might be too much for me, I can definitely feel it!

(To emphasis (not to endorse) the power of this stuff, I did check the erowyn vault for experiences using this in a recreational/synergistic fashion with other drugs and alone, and have found that people said it makes cannabis highs feel like the first time, with more euphoria/less anxiety AT LOW DOSES! People that roll LSD (never tried it here) said the same thing, it makes it seem like your first trip, and will build up depleted seratonin reserves afterwards. Some idiots tried taking huge doses of it alone (500mg+ at once) and become very spaced out and have mild audio and visual hallucinations (less than cannabis) but generally do not feel good on the come down.)

Another note, this suppliment raises seratonin levels in the entire body, I've learned that seratonin is primarily stored in blood platlets and that it may not all go to your brain, this is why too much is not good, because too much seratonin in the body is not good. SSRIs, etc, block re-uptake, leaving more synaptic seratonin available in the brain, completely different mode of action, perhaps why there are less and different side effects from using this. AKA appetite suppression rather than stimulation, good sleep rather than insomnia, lower anxiety rather than more. Jesus, why wouldn't someone use this first? You can get 60 100mg tablets for like 8 bucks here.

Okay, I'm done my hyperfocusing rant!

On the word of caution (besides congrats for the wonderful effect 5HTP has on you) is to work with any amino acid supplement most effectively for each individual is safest to do under a physicians direction. Most individuals do not already know what their chemistry is, and taking an amino acid supplement that further pushes either a deficit or an abundance of neurotrasmitter chemistries can have disasterous effects.

I remember one of our moderators had tried it and was kind enough to write about the adverse effect it had on her, and she was not even really aware of it until her partner pointed it out to her.

So, proceed with direction, caution, and discernment.

well technically this isn't an amino acid though, it's the mebolite of tryptophan, but I know what you're saying, and I did think about that when learning about suppliments, it was like taking each amino acid by itself could potentially benefit someone. So I thought? Where does it end? Do I take all 20 essential amino acids? That's stupid because as we know amino acids compete with one another for access to the good stuff...lol.

Yes though, I know when I take too much because I get side effects, but get none if lowered.

It's been recommended, and I'll recommend it again. Take this under a physician's DIRECT supervision. There is potential for serious cardiac side-effects, such as fibrosis of the heart, valve failure, and pulmonary hypertension.

Remember, you can't trust the safety claims on any non-FDA approved drug, and make no mistake; supplements and homeopathic herbals are still drugs. At best the claims on the bottles of these things are anecdotal.

cardiac side effects are about the only ones that scare me.

so hears my beef: I tell my psychiatrist at the end of the month. Hey doc, I've stopped taking yet another anti-depressant you prescribed me because I couldn't hack the side effects, I switched 5-HTP which seems to be helping me quite a lot.

What is he going to say? Stop taking it?

To you I ask what sort of things should I watch for as far as cardiac effects go? All I can tell is that it's lowered my pressure and pulse rate with the Ritalin, which is good as far as I can tell, but perhaps that too is placebo. I was under the impression seratonin is what regulates blood pressure, and having more of it would tend to lower your blood pressure.... is this true?

Is it the 5-HTP that causes this? or an additive based on what mish mash company you are buying it from?

I haven't noticed any palpatations, etc.

and she was not even really aware of it until her partner pointed it out to her.

May I ask what adverse effect this was? And why did it need to be pointed out by her partner?

EDIT: Wow, thinking about all this just put me into a really non-anxious depressed state. That's rare for me. I'm just purely sad. I'm thinking maybe everything has been placebo, and that this drug is harming me too. I'm so sick of medicines hurting me and not working for me. I'm about to give up on everything.

My stupid theories: The Ritalin is depressing me
Maybe I'm not taking enough 5-HTP anymore, I started off at 3 x a day 300mg now I just take at bedtime 100mg. In the morning im very groggy. This could be the 5-HTP or the Mirtazapine still in my system.
The Mirtazapine is really what removed my anxiety, and I know it did but I cant stand those electric shocks! I cant live with that.
My psychiatrist will be so ****ed off I stopped after a week, but I cant stand the anxiety of going on new meds.
He's going to suggest staying on benzos my whole life. I refuse that too.
I was just starting to want to work again, now I don't feel like it. I just wanna die.

Edit Edit: Heh, borderline behaviour, this ****es my support worker and psychiatrist off.

cardiac side effects are about the only ones that scare me.

so hears my beef: I tell my psychiatrist at the end of the month. Hey doc, I've stopped taking yet another anti-depressant you prescribed me because I couldn't hack the side effects, I switched 5-HTP which seems to be helping me quite a lot.

What is he going to say? Stop taking it?


It's your body, and you are in charge of your treatment. Tell him that you want to try this. He should work with you. But he is in the best position to make sure you don't get hurt while you do.


To you I ask what sort of things should I watch for as far as cardiac effects go? All I can tell is that it's lowered my pressure and pulse rate with the Ritalin, which is good as far as I can tell, but perhaps that too is placebo. I was under the impression seratonin is what regulates blood pressure, and having more of it would tend to lower your blood pressure.... is this true?

Is it the 5-HTP that causes this? or an additive based on what mish mash company you are buying it from?

I haven't noticed any palpatations, etc.


Blood pressure and flow is primarily regulated by your kidneys through a number of mechanisms. Not least among these methods are forms of vasoconstriction and regulation of the mineral and water content in blood plasma. 5-HTP and Serotonin probably have an effect on the operation of the kidney.


May I ask what adverse effect this was? And why did it need to be pointed out by her partner?

EDIT: Wow, thinking about all this just put me into a really non-anxious depressed state. That's rare for me. I'm just purely sad. I'm thinking maybe everything has been placebo, and that this drug is harming me too. I'm so sick of medicines hurting me and not working for me. I'm about to give up on everything.

My stupid theories: The Ritalin is depressing me
Maybe I'm not taking enough 5-HTP anymore, I started off at 3 x a day 300mg now I just take at bedtime 100mg. In the morning im very groggy. This could be the 5-HTP or the Mirtazapine still in my system.
The Mirtazapine is really what removed my anxiety, and I know it did but I cant stand those electric shocks! I cant live with that.
My psychiatrist will be so ****ed off I stopped after a week, but I cant stand the anxiety of going on new meds.
He's going to suggest staying on benzos my whole life. I refuse that too.
I was just starting to want to work again, now I don't feel like it. I just wanna die.

Edit Edit: Heh, borderline behaviour, this ****es my support worker and psychiatrist off.

Can't help you with this. A doctor is required. :)

re: #5

Another (objective) sign to watch for is elevated temperature. (Normal is 98.6)

Elevated temps can happen with serotonin overload ('serotonin syndrome').

Funny you should mention this because I tried 5HTP a couple of years ago and didn't notice a thing. Then on a whim bought it last week under a different brand name and I felt like I noticed a difference right away!

Within just a couple hours I felt more energy, yet more relaxed.

It's like I said, I think if low seratonin isn't one's issue this stuff is moot.

And I don't think mine is chronically lowered, except maybe by my staying up so late, the occasional times I use cannabis, or when I worry excessively about crap from OCD. It may help OCD, so ...

Some sources say Ritalin lowers seratonin, is this true? Or when you have no appetite and eat less than you should, that too will lower seratonin, I'm thinking I might take it 1 or 2 times a week...

It's been recommended, and I'll recommend it again. Take this under a physician's DIRECT supervision. There is potential for serious cardiac side-effects, such as fibrosis of the heart, valve failure, and pulmonary hypertension.

Remember, you can't trust the safety claims on any non-FDA approved drug, and make no mistake; supplements and homeopathic herbals are still drugs. At best the claims on the bottles of these things are anecdotal.

Yes, not with L-trypthophan though. L-trypthophan will convert to 5htp -> serotonin in the BRAIN where you need it. You dont need serotonine in your heart or other organs :confused:


Some sources say Ritalin lowers seratonin, is this true? Or when you have no appetite and eat less than you should, that too will lower seratonin, I'm thinking I might take it 1 or 2 times a week...

Yes that is true actually, by artificially raising of dopamine the brain responds by lowering serotonine UNLESS it is artificially raised to.

I noticed this while using ritalin, more prone to irritation and stuff

Yes and I'm noticing that nothing bothers me on this stuff. My OCD is massively reduced. Hell usually Im nervous when the Ritalin kicks in about 30-45 minutes into a dose when it's kicking in. Now I just ride it and don't worry about my heart rate, etc...