Posted by JGalt on October 23, 2001, at 18:20:56
In reply to Re: Herbal and Natural remedies for depression? » Gracie2, posted by adamie on October 21, 2001, at 16:27:43
Depending upon whether you have the "normal" or the atypical form of depression, various amino acids can help to some degree. For the normal type, insomnia, anxiety, hard to get to sleep, irritability I think, tryphotan is often recommended. L-Tryphotan is very similiar to 5-HTP, though L-T. is no longer available in the US because of a bad batch having been made. I suspect 5-HTP will do the same, provided it is on a completely empty stomach (2-4 hrs after last meal depending largely on size. sugary drink is okay, just no other protein).
DL-Phenylalnine is helpful to mild-moderate atypicals (wonderful if combined w/ selegiline), if once again, it is on a completely empty stomach. Also note that most DLPA products you find are 50/50 D/L phenylalnine. Personally I will get headaches and blood pressure spikes if I have much over 500mg's D-Ph. a day, but 5g's of L is quite nice, so I a small dose of DLPA and then some LPA L-Tyrosine is often also recommended to Atypicals, though I have seen benefit from it, possibly from its slow absorbtion and the fact I'm too impatient to wait much longer after I take it for a meal (I just had to wait 3-4hrs to get a clear stomach!). N-Acetyl-Tyrosine on the other hand is pretty nice on an empty stomach (.5g dose usually for me).
All of these must be taken with adequate B6, Vitamin C, folic acid, and likely B5+B3 in the blood to notice any real benefit. How much extra? No one seems to know but since you can err on the side of too much (since I believe all of these are water soluable), I take several times the RDA.
These are things that are either going to work, or they won't. If you don't notice anything after the 1st few times, it isn't going to work for you. From my own studies, I have yet to find anyone that DLPA or N-Acetyl-Tyrosine plus the cofactors does not function as a pretty nice stimulant (provided that they have a completely empty stomach) free of much tolerance but with some of the drug combo's you might be using they might not work for you. The biggest annoyance is needing to have an empty stomach at the time when you take it, and then keep it empty for another half hour or so. This obviously isn't an effective solution for people that have to or do eat often. It is just some help to perhaps augment other drugs you are using (except nonselective MAOi's) or if your depression is mild, to be used alone.
Good Luck,
JGalt
poster:JGalt
thread:81868
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011015/msgs/82095.html