Posted by circusboy on July 2, 2007, at 16:11:39
In reply to Re: 5-htp frustration?, posted by qqqsimmons on July 1, 2007, at 18:40:55
Though I've responded okay-ish to SSRIs in the past, 5-HTP was not my friend.
From my small experience, you should blame the spacey/tiredness on the supplement, not on yourself. If it really is doing you some good otherwise, lemme think what might work to counteract the side-effects (don't know if you've tried these; I haven't been lurking on babble much lately)...
Maybe l-tyrosine, to help bring your dopamine/norepinephrine levels up as well to compensate. I've got a few other good energizing supplements on my shelf, but I'm not sure any of them would be powerful enough to cut through 5-HTP fog. SAM-e might help (seriously, SAM-e feels a lot like desipramine to me), but it's still pretty expensive... The herbs are always flaky, though you might try one of the usual suspects like Rhodiola. (I'm giving that stuff another shot now).
I've found both vinpocetine and acetyl-l-carnitine to be really great at re-energizing the brain... unfortunately, they both bring me down over time. The vinpo just makes me depressed, and I suspect the acetyl-l-carnitine of precipitating obsessive thoughts. (No, I have no idea what the mechanism might be. Something to do with its acetylcholmimetic properties?).
At any rate, if your brain's anything like mine, caffeine won't do much to cut through the sleepy/fogginess. So ... I guess I wasn't that helpful after all. :)
-cb
poster:circusboy
thread:766778
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20070601/msgs/767204.html