Posted by Chairman_MAO on January 11, 2005, at 16:41:32
In reply to Re: Is 5-HTP or Picamilon OK for bipolars? » catmint, posted by Larry Hoover on December 18, 2004, at 9:52:37
5-HTP is, IMHO, at best unreliable and at worst useless and harmful as a medication without a peripheral dopa decarboxylase inhibitor (such as carbidopa). If peripheral dopa decarboxylase is not inhibited, most of the 5-HTP is converted to serotonin before it even reaches the brain, causing a potentially toxic amount of serotonin to enter into systemic circulation. Used long enough and/or at high enough dosages, this very well might cause heart valve problems due to vasoconstriction (remember why fenfluramine was taken off the market ... ?)
poster:Chairman_MAO
thread:431002
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20050101/msgs/440745.html