Posted by med_empowered on September 22, 2005, at 17:09:09 [reposted on September 23, 2005, at 19:34:58 | original URL]
In reply to Re: 5 htp vs. sam-e, posted by Declan on September 22, 2005, at 0:21:51
You can get 5-HTP and SAMe at most health food stores (GNC and locally owned places), a lot of drugstores (especially the chains like CVS/Eckerds), over the net, etc. Puritan's Pride has low-cost supplements, including 5-HTP (and I think SAMe)...I avoided them for a while b/c I was afraid their products might be inferior, but some independent tests I've seen (where they tste the supplements for contaminants and quality of the contents) seem to indicate that they're just as good as the more expensive places. 5-HTP was good for me, but it is *much* better for anxiety, insomnia, and relatively mild depression than it is for people with more severe problems with depression. I think the standard starting dose for 5-HTP is one 50mgs caplet 3X daily; taking it before a meal can help reduce appetite, and taking it with a meal might reduce nausea and upset stomach. My advice would be to start w/ 50mgs at night, work up to 100mgs (or more) at night, and then start taking it during the day; that way, you'll be a little more adjusted to the sedating properties of it, and you'll also see whether or not the upset stomach issue is going to be a big problem for you or not (its usually not, but some people do avoid it b/c of that issue). SAMe I believe requires at least 400mgs/day, but you might want to take more for a more pronounced effect...I think 800mgs , divided up into a couple dosings, is pretty standard. Its *very* good for depression and overall health (SAMe is apparently involved in lots and lots of really important processes in your body), but there is a bit of problem with inducing mania in those with bipolar disorder, so please keep that mind. Also, you can mix the two if you feel so inclined; just keep in mind that its kind of like mixing antidepressants, so the risk of mania would (theoretically) be higher, so you'll want to watch out for that. Although saint John's wort has fallen out of favor, I find it effective. The problems, I think, are dosing (900mgs is supposed to be *everyone's* dose--there needs to be more flexibility) and standardized extracts...most extracts have .3% hypercin. Although hypercin was once thought to be *the* antidepressant component of saint john's wort, the plant is really complicated chemically, so lots of components could be playing a part in its effectiveness. I take 1,200mgs (600AM/300afternoon/300PM) standardized extract, plus a capsule of just plain saint john's wort, not standardized. If you go that way, watch out for increased sensitivity to light; if you don't already wear a sunscreen of SPF 15 , it'd be a good idea to start doing so. B-Vitamins also help me a lot, and they're super-cheap...they seem to help both lift my mood in combo w/ st. john's wort and help me deal with anxiety (the panic is reduced, and the remaining anxiety isn't nearly as emotionally or physically exhausting as it was before). Anyway, whatever you choose, do keep in mind that it might be a little while (3-6 weeks) before you see major improvement. 5-HTP starts to calm you down or sedate you (depending on dose) pretty much immediately though. Now and then I take some Valerian for daytime anxiety and/or sleep...it works pretty quickly, doesn't cloud my thinking, and also doesn't require long-term use like antidepressant drugs or supplements do, so its a good add-on (the pills smell awful though). Gotu Kola helps a lot of people, too...if I'm stressed out, I take a bit before I meditate to help me keep my focus..it seems to work. There's lots of other inexpensive, safe stuff you could try...antioxidant combo vitamins, for instance. Since you seem to be having a really rough time right now with anxiety, it might be good to focus in on that...maybe 5-HTP, some B-vitamins, and Valerian now and then. One more thing...some 5-HTP supplements come in combo with a lot of other stuff, like vitamins and what not. These brands might be worth trying, but you'll probably get similar results using supplements that just have 5-HTP without anything else in them (the combo-supplements are usually a bit more expensive, too). Please keep me posted on how you're doing, and I wish you the best of luck.
poster:med_empowered
thread:558676
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20050812/msgs/558682.html