5-HTP

[mhamilt4]

Well, we tried, but failed. Jeff had a series of petit-mals today, and the only thing different he did in his routine was take some 5-HTP last night before bed. DRAT! It didn't take long for Jeff's body to tell him it didn't like that stuff!!

[OnQSiberians]

Yes, I have encouraged people to take 5-HTP as well. There are large amounts of ths chemical in cheese, fish(especially shark) and turkey, but largely drived from Griffonia simplicifolia. This supplement should usually be taken in combination with or obtained through fish oil.
If a person is taking anti depressant, it can have side effects, so always bring that to your doctors attention. People taking this supplement should try it in combination with a myelin sheeth supplement. This keeps the conductivity of your bodies neurologist system top rate.
Angel

[RobinN]

I have been doing some research on this substance. Learning that 80-90% of seratonin is in the intestinal tract, it seems logical that those with issues in that area, might not be getting enough of either of these.
Now I am wondering if pill form is actually being absorbed. I know I do better with migraines when I take an ionic variety. Those deficient in B12 see far greater results with the intramuscular or nasal dose of mB12. Other sublingual forms of meds work more efficiently as well.
Hmmmm
Oh BTW what is a myelin sheath supplement?

[POSITIVEPERSON]

I am one of those who can't take 5 htp,but I can take St John's Wort without problem?
How odd???? I thought it was my thyroid giving me the problems when I got sick from
it, now I see it has to do with my stomach and what I can digest. I love learning new things about myself and how I function.

Riva

[Eternal_Howl]

I've only been taking this formula that has 5-htp in it for 2 days and the last two days I have noticed that my dreams are more vivid as well. I'm still waking up but I feel good again today. A little shakey, which isn't typical, but it might be the coffee and evil cigarettes that have just hit my system - I know I know - I shouldn't smoke or drink coffee....
But I'm amazed at these results. I was lousy for 3 weeks and now....it's like I'm back to normal, if not a little bit better.

[RobinN]

I also started Rebecca on this this past week as well. She seems a bit brighter, but I don't want to speculate until I hear it from her. I also added Vit D. I know I should have waited a week between the two, but she is cranking up the dose of the trileptal so I want to counter balance with more good.

[John-Forrest]

I'm looking into the 5-HTP thing myself, to improve quality of REM sleep. Apparently it doesn't work for all people consistently from what I'm reading here. Interesting it's connected to anti-depressants. I've been taking Celexa past couple of years, recently had to cut down after weaning off Tegretol.

It was with a bit of hesitation that I got into Celexa, becaue of all those warnings not to take anti-depressants if you have seizures. But I was dreadfully depressed so my MD and I decided to try it. I'll tell you it made me feel great! People didn't even know it was me anymore, my personality shifted so much! Now I will confess I'm hooked on the stuff; wonder how this is even legal, it's such a rush!

Now I get some message 5-HTP could mix poorly with anti-depressant. I guess you need to be careful with what chemical cocktail you mix.

[RobinN]

Yes I would have to agree with that.
Yet I recently added it to Rebecca's natural arsenal and what I am seeing is...
a few weeks ago she was very gloomy, even had some is this all worth it attitude/thoughts. Now after a week or two on 5HTP (and others) she is her cheery self again. Looking at all of the positives .. well almost. I mean she is a teen.

My son was prescribed Celexa for a while, for impulse control and I dont' remember why it was changed to Paxil. But he was doing fine except for a bout with suicidal thoughts. Great fun to learn that these drugs can bring those thoughts on board.

Many many sites that I have read say diet and vitamins play a much bigger part in depression control than any prescribed med. Perhaps boost up that area of your treatment before you even consider getting unhooked.

[Eternal_Howl]

I took some tablets with 5-htp, passionflower and skullcap for 7 days. By the 7th day I was losing my mind. I was in such a stupor, had trouble focusing, wanted to scream etc - and the first few days I felt AWESOME. So am unsure if it was the skullcap or the 5-htp. All I do know is obviously, my serotonin levels are fine and I shouldn't mess with them.

[RobinN]

Personally I am very careful to only add one new supplement at a time, so I can watch for side effects. Oh.. and I also check them out with the drug interaction website.

Some doctors will tell you that grapefruit is a no-no with certain anti-epileptic drug's but not all doctors remember that small bit of info.

[pieriniwoman]

Hi, i take 5htp for sleep and it has worked wonders on me too. I do not get up 50 times through the night to use the bathroom and the vivid dreams have been pretty spectacular as well. However i am starting a new drug called Topomax and i am wondering if you can take it with 5htp. Does anyone know if they are compatible or is currently take the two together?
Also wondering what the dosage of 5htp people are taking. I take 3 capules before bed.

[RobinN]

Interactions between your selected drugs

No results found - however, this does not necessarily mean no interactions exist. ALWAYS consult with your doctor or pharmacist.
Other drugs that your selected drugs interact with

• There are 137 other drugs known to interact with 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan)

• There are 818 other drugs known to interact with Topamax (topiramate)

http://www.drugs.com/drug_interactions.php

[1096]

im looking at going back on antidepressants. im really down. 5htp still got the thumbs up?

gonna try see my gp. hey guys whats the bets thing to do if u dont have money and need to see a doctor that will still take u seriously, dont think i can talk to mum about this.

[Bernard]

You can try calling the office for a phone consult. It really depends upon the doctor - some are willing to help out folks over the phone (and/or financially strapped).

You can always try 5-HTP for for yourself as an experiement (keep a journal/log to track the experiment). It's the only way to know for sure.

You can ask your pharmacist if 5-HTP might be contraindicated for any medications you are currently taking.

[Nancy]

hmmmmmm..... I was confident I took 5-HTP so I was sorting through stuff to find the brand. It's not there. I don't take it.
CoQ-10, Magnesium, B12, Fish Oil, Calcium, E, multi-vitamin but no 5-HTP.

[Abynorml]

I took 5-htp 100mg once a day for less than a week and was unaware that it could aggravate my myoclonus, unfortunetly I had some form of seizure probably my first grand mal, havent touched the stuff since but its been weeks and now everything seems a bit worse than it was before I ever took the 5-htp, I possibly had 2 partial seizure's except for the mild myoclonus Im new to the world seizure's I highly recommend that people dont experiment on themselves with 5-htp I dont have total proof that its at fault for my problems but the evidence is stacking up. Several sites have all said that 5-htp may help myoclonus or aggravate it. I really wish I had studied it more before I tried it.

[Andrew]

dream more vividly - wake up with tons of energy (that's a new one for me!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serotonin

The following image was taken from the above URL and shows the roll that Pyridoxal Phosphate (PLP, vitamin B6) pays in the synthesis of Serotonin from 5-HTP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Se...osynthesis.svg

"PLP is necessary for many processes in the body including protein metabolism and the production of chemicals that transmit signals in the brain (neurotransmitters)."

Taken from the following URL:

http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition=pyr...endentepilepsy

"...This is the active form of vitamin B 6 serving as a coenzyme for synthesis of amino acids, neurotransmitters (serotonin, norepinephrine),...

Taken from the following URL:

http://www.nextbio.com/b/home/home.n...#39;-phosphate


**DO NOT ALTER ANY MEDICATION WITHOUT YOUR DOCTOR'S CONSENT**

Vitamins can interfere with some Antiepileptic Drugs/medication.

A high dose of vitamin B6 may cause Peripheral Neuropathy.

Regards

Andrew

P.S. I have very vivid dreams and I only use B vitamins (vitamin B6 mainly) to control my seizures.

[googly389]

Well, it's been about 5 years since I've had a complex partial or a grand mal (which that one was a generalized isolated event according to my neurologist). I still get auras occasionally but the point I'm trying to make is that I want off of this Depakote!

So, the first step I took was to seek out a naturopath/acupuncturist which I have been seeing for about 6 months now with mixed results. About a month ago he gave me a take home test (urine/saliva) which reported that I was low in GABA, Dopamine, Serotonin and that I was high in Glutamate.

So my naturopath told me to call the company and order some supplements that contain a wide variety of things ranging from GABA to 5-HTP. I have to admit I'm a little nervous about the 5-HTP, so does anyone know how it reacts to someone with temporal lobe epilepsy?

[Endless]

Googly,

Here are a couple of articles that should clear it up. The second one is very heavy reading, but well worth it:

http://www.ionchannels.org/showabstr...p?pmid=2160756
http://www.landesbioscience.com/curie/chapter/1202


And this is the scientific reason why we shouldn't drink alcohol (because it affects GABA receptors):
http://www.science20.com/news_releas...ed_in_epilepsy