Posted by janejane on July 16, 2010, at 10:01:23
In reply to Re: tryptophan » janejane, posted by ihatedrugs on July 16, 2010, at 0:45:27
I'm sorry you're going through a tough time. I do hope you're better today.
It's interesting that you had a weepy reaction to tryptophan because I had a similar reaction to DL-phenylalanine and my theory was that the increased dopmamine ended up making my serotonin plummet even more, when I needed it to be raised. I'm wondering if you had the opposite thing happen to you.
Have you considered the possibility that you're low on catecholamines, endorphins, and/or GABA rather than serotonin? That might explain the low motivation, weepiness, and feeling overwhelmed as well as the partial response to nuvigil. Does the lexapro help you with mood at all? Have you ever tried PEA or DPA? Do you ever self-medicate with chocolate? Do you ever have depression not associated with PMDD?
Have you ever taken one of those quizzes that help you try to assess what neurotransmitter deficiencies you have? If so, what did you find? I have to admit that I find it difficult to distinguish between some low serotonin and low dopamine/endorphin symptoms. Weepiness is why I thought DLPA might help me, but it clearly was the wrong thing to do on my worst PMS day. (I actually think I might be low in a number of NTs, but trying to do a balancing act with aminos was difficult. I got a partial response to tryptophan, but it was short-lived and I was unable to find a workable dosing schedule. That's why I started to look at other things.)
Hmm. It also occurs to me that you might be right about simply taking too much tryptophan. Julia Ross says that the time to stop taking 5-HTP (which as you know is related to tryptophan) is when your symptoms start cropping up again after you've felt well for a while. I could see a similar thing happening with taking too much at once since there is this idea of topping off too much, if you know what I mean. (I wish I had remembered that paragraph in her book when I tried 5-HTP because I got myself into a horrible state by increasing my dose in an effort to relieve worsening symptoms.) It's also possible that you indeed need more serotonin, but it's just not going to the right places in your brain to make you feel better, and may be going to some of the wrong places, especially with a too-high dose. (I think that was also part of my problem, which I think is the phenomenon Patricia Slagle alludes to when she lists paradoxical agitation as a side effect.)
I wonder if we should start a new thread since this is getting off the topic of estrogen. Speaking of which, are you going to do some testing?
poster:janejane
thread:953868
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20100703/msgs/954657.html