Posted by NoMotic on November 25, 2003, at 21:36:38
This is something that has boggled my mind for at least a year since the first time I tried 5-HTP. If I'm feeling stressed out, say because I had too much caffeine + too little sleep, I will take 200mg or 300mg of 5-HTP and literally feel EXTREMELY GOOD, EXTREMELY HAPPY, not stressed out AT ALL, etc. Does this make any sense??? Isn't depression supposed to be like a disease or something??? You know what I mean - like how do I feel so incredible better in such a short period of time rather than over a course of weeks? I always thought that it made sense that when I messed with my body too much, it would simply take a few days of good sleep and less caffeine to feel better. Instead, I artificially raise serotonin and feel better immediately. This directly contradicts evidence that says antidepressants take weeks to work. The increased serotonin instantly makes me feel better.
Also, as a note, there is no chance that this is a placebo effect. I cannot get myself to feel this way with any other supplement. I get such a strong feeling a well being, its incredible every time I use the supplement. It's like wamr relaxed feeling deep inside me. It increases my desire to socialize. Let me tell you, it's been a lifesaver sometimes (no, not literally!). There have been times when I got in arguements with my girlfriend and 5-HTP helped me make logical choices about what do - I went from feeling totally not good at all to totally good!
I also note that 5-HTP has a very strong motivating effect. It helps me "want" to do things that I don't normally want to do. Again, this happens with acute doses of 5-HTP. Sometimes I get sort of anti-social and don't want to be around people. 5-HTP reverses this within a half hour to hour.
If anyone has any idea of why acutely raising my serotonin makes me feel so good, let me know. As far as I understood, acute increases DA and NE (cocaine, ritalin) would make one feel good, but not acute 5-HT. I always thought serotonin would have to be raised for weeks to have any effect. Once again, for me, its instant. The only thing I can think of, is that I don't really have any depressive like illness, but rather I just have low serotonin at times, and my symptoms occur when my serotonin is too low. Once again, though, this contradicts studies that show that acute tryptophan depletion does not cause depressive symptoms. I've heard those studies were flawed, so who knows. Regardless, my point is that acutely raising serotonin is key for my mental health. My other idea is that it has to do with serotonin depletion specifically in the prefrontal cortex, rather than other brain regions. I suspect that the increased serotonin in the PFC may serve to buffer input from the Amygdala, thus allowing me to approach life more logically than emotionally, and with significantly less stress. Maybe the serotonin imbalance in truly "depressed" people is a global serotonin loss, and only by globally increasing serotonin for weeks does a truly depressed person experience effects. Once again, though, I can't be sure. This doesn't make sense!!!! I always find ways to confuse myself after I think I've figured something important out.
Whoever has an idea, fill me in.
poster:NoMotic
thread:283829
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20031122/msgs/283829.html