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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Kath on December 22, 2007, at 20:24:41
I've started taking it - 50 mg in morning & early evening.
When I tried 50 mg before at bedtime, I had pretty weird dreams.
I think it is helping me to not be as anxious.
Lazy me doesn't feel like looking in the Archives - I don't even know how.
Just wondering if anyone currently reading here has experience with it.
Kath
Posted by bleauberry on December 23, 2007, at 9:19:40
In reply to 5HTP for anxiety Anyone?, posted by Kath on December 22, 2007, at 20:24:41
I don't think my experience with 5htp is very meaningful but I can pitch in.
I'm real sensitive. So even though common doses are between 50mg and 200mg per day, I started with 10mg, worked up to 50mg, then backed off to 25mg. 4pm was my best dosing time. Any earlier made me very tired in the day. Any later just felt too depressing the following morning. We're all different.
The first 3 days or so I did feel an increase of anxiety and irritation about an hour after dosing and it would last about an hour and then it would turn into a serene calm. It felt similar to how SSRIs can increase anxiety in the early going but then calm it down later after the receptors adjust.
At forums where people rate their treatments, 5htp has a wide variety of responses. They range from miraculous, to worsening depression, to worsening anxiety, to curing anxiety, to doing nothing. I guess it all depends on what each person's unique biochemical fault is whether extra serotonin will be good or not.
Posted by Kath on December 23, 2007, at 20:24:42
In reply to Re: 5HTP for anxiety Anyone? » Kath, posted by bleauberry on December 23, 2007, at 9:19:40
Thanks. How long did the 'serene calm' part last? Sounds good to me.
I really seem to notice feeling less anxious. Sort of 'heavier' or more 'grounded' or something.
:-) Kath
Posted by bleauberry on December 26, 2007, at 18:07:19
In reply to Re: 5HTP for anxiety Anyone? » bleauberry, posted by Kath on December 23, 2007, at 20:24:42
> Thanks. How long did the 'serene calm' part last? Sounds good to me.
>
> I really seem to notice feeling less anxious. Sort of 'heavier' or more 'grounded' or something.
>
> :-) KathThe serene calm part began about an hour or two after dosing and lasted until bedtime. I was calm most of the next day, but around 3pm would start getting antsy like I needed more. That is also the time of day when my cortisol starts to shoot way up, when it shouldn't, so it is hard to say if it was a 5htp dosing thing or a cortisol thing.
You might want to visit a site called sjwinfo.org. It is primarily a st johns wort forum, but there are also a couple additions to it that include a rhodiola forum and a 5htp forum. You could read what others have experienced with 5htp. I thought more people would have responded here at babble. But since they haven't, try going to sjwinfo.org and check out the 5htp forum there.
Posted by Kath on December 26, 2007, at 19:36:16
In reply to Re: 5HTP for anxiety Anyone? » Kath, posted by bleauberry on December 26, 2007, at 18:07:19
Thanks very much!!
:-) Kath
Posted by elanor roosevelt on January 11, 2008, at 19:21:36
In reply to Re: 5HTP for anxiety Anyone? » Kath, posted by bleauberry on December 26, 2007, at 18:07:19
> > .
>
> You might want to visit a site called sjwinfo.org. tp forum there.thanks for this site bleauberry
and kath, please keep posting i am interested in the same info
>
>
Posted by Kath on January 12, 2008, at 14:57:14
In reply to Re: 5HTP for anxiety Anyone?, posted by elanor roosevelt on January 11, 2008, at 19:21:36
IT'S WORKING IT'S WORKING - no longer wake up with an impending sense of doom & almost unable to face another day!!!!!! I also have stopped feeling as if "I REALLY do NOT want to continue doing this thing called "life"
Well, It's been several days now that I have NOT been depressed....and given that my son had a cocaine slip after almost half a year & ended up hearing BIG 'the ultimate self-harm' voices - if THAT isn't a challenge for my depression what would be?
I am taking 50 mg of 5HTP (my particular brand is Natural Factors enteric-coated....I suggest to buy a kind that says "No Peak X" on it...I don't know the details, but I read about it somewhere & it's a good idea to get that kind if they have it...if they don't, I guess don't worry about it.)
I also am taking St. John's Wort 300mg (Webber Naturals. it says Hypericum perforatum flower extract 300mg Standardized to contain 0.3% hypericin - 900 mcg per capsule)
Here's my method:
Each morning when I get up:
1 5HTP & 1 St. John's WortSometime during the day (usually mid-afternoon or supper):
1 5HTP & 1 St. John's WortBefore bed:
1 5HTPAND I put 1 St. John's Wort on my bedside table with water - I take that in the early morning hours when I wake up to pee or turn over - say 4 or 5 a.m.
It did take a while to kick in. During that time, I took about 20 drops on St. John's Wort extract in water, during the day, if I was feeling a 'peak' in awfulness.
I am almost afraid to talk about it in case I jinx the good effects.
For me SAD - lack of sun is a factor, I think. So I might decide to up my dosage as the winter goes on, but I suspect I won't have to. I also use an Seasonal Affective Disorder High-Lux lamp, but I have been somewhat sporadic about using it & even after NOT using it for 3 days, I was feeling increasingly better.
I hope this info might help others to try it & see if it works for them.
I have been off Celexa for more than 2 years, but then the anxiety/depression came back, probably due to ongoing escalationg situational stresses mainly with my son.
Kath
PS - I do take various other supplements/vitamins, including Rhodiola, but the only thing that I've changed or added are the 2 mentioned above.
Posted by Kath on January 17, 2008, at 16:40:18
In reply to YAY 5HTP + St. John's Wort It's WORKING!!!!, posted by Kath on January 12, 2008, at 14:57:14
If I start to feel that old feeling, I take either one, or both & it helps.
I only ever seem to have to take 1 extra per day.
Kath
This is the end of the thread.
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