Posted by JLx on December 2, 2003, at 17:02:35
In reply to Re: L-tryptophan/ niacinamide for anxiety! help » JLx, posted by clairey on December 2, 2003, at 11:13:10
> All this stuff about the brain chemicals confuses the hell out of me to be honest!
It does me too. I've done a lot of reading here and there and mostly it convinces me of how little I know. :)
> So if i try the tryptophan and it makes me more anxious do you think that i shouldnt carry on taking it?
I don't know. Everyone's different.
It's possible that anxiety may be a short term effect. You'll just have to experiment and decide which way to go.
> As too much serotnin makes you anxious as well as too little doesnt it??
Well, that seems to be the way it is for me. You may be different. My understanding is that when serotonin rises, dopamine lowers (in broad, crude terms). So perhaps it isn't the serotonin rising so much as the dopamine lowering.
> I took prozac once! only 1 pill (as i decided i couldnt go on these horrid drugs) and it didnt make me more anxious, or is one pill not enough to raise the levels of serotonin to be able to notice?
I don't know that much about how the drugs work...I only know I hated how I felt on them, if not right away, then several months later.
> If it isnt a serotonin problem then im confused at what it could be!
There are other neurotransmitters as well as other factors that can contribute to mental/emotional symptoms, such as diet. Neurotransmitters come from food. For many years I ate too much sugar, tons of calcium rich foods, plenty of processed foods with who knows what additives in them, and drank colas with aspartame. Now I think, no wonder I was depressed, anxious and couldn't sleep!
From Dr. Priscilla Slagle, http://www.thewayup.com/newsletters/011500.htm
"WHAT DOES NUTRITION HAVE TO DO WITH ANXIETY?
It is known that deficiencies of certain nutrients can cause anxiety, so begin by improving your diet. Those nutrients are: Vitamins B1, B3, B6, B12, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, omega-3-fatty acids, such as fish or flax seed oil, & certain amino acids, such as L-tryptophan, taurine, GABA. Too much calcium can also cause anxiety.
First, clean up your diet. With your diet improvement you may want to add a good multivitamin mineral, an extra B complex, & an omega-3-fatty acid to basically cover most of the above listed nutrients.
You would then only add extra items if all of the above failed to make a difference after 2 weeks. My first choice would be extra magnesium & the next choice would be taurine."
I found this checklist helpful also. (Despite not having had a diagnosis of ADD.) If you take it, when you get to the end, it will tell you probable categories that you fall into and then under "more info" there will be suggestions/discussion of what might help.http://www.brainplace.com/bp/checklist/
> I get anxious on and off, no panics (touch wood).
> So if its not the serotonin then what else should i need to fix?? and what can i take to fix it?It may not be that simple, that you have one symptom due to one condition that you can correct with one "fix".
> Sorry for all the questions im just lost here!
> I mean is it anxiety that causes the inbalence or the inbalence that causes anxiety?? thats one thing we will never know!
> But it is true that when you are anxious alot an inbalence occurs doesnt it????I think it's complicated. I used to have panic attacks when I was younger. After having therapy for a year, I never had another attack. So what got righted biologically and how? I don't know.
poster:JLx
thread:285493
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20031122/msgs/286012.html