# Anyone successfully switched from Paxil to 5-HTP?



## university girl (Aug 11, 2004)

5-HTP is a precursor for serotonin. Has anyone tried 5-HTP? If so, how did it go? I am interested in getting off Paxil if there is a sufficient natural supplement. Don't get me wrong, Paxil has done wonders for me. It's just that there is a certain side effect I would like to get rid of. :wink:

-university girl


----------



## university girl (Aug 11, 2004)

5-HTP is a precursor for serotonin. Has anyone tried 5-HTP? If so, how did it go? I am interested in getting off Paxil if there is a sufficient natural supplement. Don't get me wrong, Paxil has done wonders for me. It's just that there is a certain side effect I would like to get rid of. :wink:

-university girl


----------



## JasonFar (Aug 13, 2004)

The only thing I ever took with 5-HTP was Becalmed, which combined a little 5-HTP and some other ingredients. There was never a huge effect with that one.

One "herbal" supplement you might wanna try Uni Girl is St John's Wort. This was the only real herbal supp that did anything for me. I guess it, well, gave me a seretonin boost. I didn't feel more "rounded" by any means, but my head felt "better". Hard to explain, but there was certainly a beneficial effect.

Oh, and it really matters what brand you take with St John's. I took "Perika", so you might wanna try that out.

~Jason


----------



## JasonFar (Aug 13, 2004)

The only thing I ever took with 5-HTP was Becalmed, which combined a little 5-HTP and some other ingredients. There was never a huge effect with that one.

One "herbal" supplement you might wanna try Uni Girl is St John's Wort. This was the only real herbal supp that did anything for me. I guess it, well, gave me a seretonin boost. I didn't feel more "rounded" by any means, but my head felt "better". Hard to explain, but there was certainly a beneficial effect.

Oh, and it really matters what brand you take with St John's. I took "Perika", so you might wanna try that out.

~Jason


----------



## g-funk (Aug 20, 2004)

St John's wort is really effective, I definitely felt the benefit of it. But, don't take it at the same time as anti deps, get it out of your system before you start. Not sure why, just know that there has been a huge amount of stuff in the media about it.


----------



## g-funk (Aug 20, 2004)

St John's wort is really effective, I definitely felt the benefit of it. But, don't take it at the same time as anti deps, get it out of your system before you start. Not sure why, just know that there has been a huge amount of stuff in the media about it.


----------



## DutchMark (Aug 10, 2004)

Never take two types of drgus that affect serotonin levels. When you take St johns worth and paxil together you have an increased change of getting the serotonin syndrome, wich can be lethal. Same with 
- 2 AD's 
- ecstacy + AD/St johns worth 
- 5-HTP + AD 
enz.


----------



## DutchMark (Aug 10, 2004)

Never take two types of drgus that affect serotonin levels. When you take St johns worth and paxil together you have an increased change of getting the serotonin syndrome, wich can be lethal. Same with 
- 2 AD's 
- ecstacy + AD/St johns worth 
- 5-HTP + AD 
enz.


----------



## university girl (Aug 11, 2004)

Thanks guys. I am aware of serotonin sydrome (was actually gonna make a post on this to warn others of it) and I recall I tried St. Johns years ago, when this all started- it did nothing for me. I need something stronger.  I am interested in 5-HTP alone. Anyone taken it?

Thanks!
uni-g


----------



## university girl (Aug 11, 2004)

Thanks guys. I am aware of serotonin sydrome (was actually gonna make a post on this to warn others of it) and I recall I tried St. Johns years ago, when this all started- it did nothing for me. I need something stronger.  I am interested in 5-HTP alone. Anyone taken it?

Thanks!
uni-g


----------



## university girl (Aug 11, 2004)

The following info about 5-HTP is taken from http://www.neuroreplete.com:

5-HTP alone is not optimal :!:

5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) has gained much attention in recent years. The fact is 5-HTP does not produce uniform results in all patients. NeuroResearch has found that treating a group of 100 patients for a given disease with 5-HTP, only about 10% to 15% will get good relief of symptoms. Another 10% to 15% of patients will get some relief of symptoms and the majority (65% to 70%) will get no relief of symptoms. NeuroResearch has found the answer to this problem patients not getting relief of symptoms from the amino acid 5-HTP.

Theory of Mixed Neurotransmitter Dysfunction

The following is from the NeuroResearch booklet, "Neurotransmitter Testing and Amino Acid Therapy" pages 14 through 19, and discusses the need for both the catecholamine system and serotonin system to be functioning properly for the system as a whole to be healthy and function properly.

MIXED NEUROTRANSMITTER DYSFUNCTION THEORY

Based on clinical observations NeuroResearch has formulated the following theory known as the ?mixed neurotransmitter dysfunction theory?. 5% of patients with a given neurotransmitter dysfunction disease are purely a serotonin dysfunction, 5% of patients with a given neurotransmitter dysfunction disease are purely a catecholamine dysfunction, and the remaining 90% of patients are a mixture of both serotonin/catecholamine dysfunction and lie along a spectrum between the two extremes.

BOTH SYSTEMS MUST FUNCTION PROPERLY

The serotonin system and the catecholamine system (dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine) must both be functioning properly for the entire system to be healthy and free of neurotransmitter disease. This appears to be reflected in neurotransmitter testing by the fact that patients with dysfunction of the catecholamine system tend to need higher serotonin levels to compensate and obtain a clinical response.

Prior to his retirement, the head of the clinical science department at the local medical school on many occasions said, ?The serotonin and catecholamine systems must both be functioning properly for the system as a whole to function properly and be healthy.? Coming from the head of the clinical science department we took it as gospel truth. It was only after working with patients extensively in weight loss for several years did I fully appreciate what he meant.

There was one final truth to the equation and that is, ?5% of patients with neurotransmitter disease relating to the serotonin and catecholamine system are purely a serotonin dysfunction, 5% are purely a catecholamine dysfunction, and the remaining 90% are a mix of serotonin and catecholamine dysfunction lying somewhere along the spectrum between the two ends.

uni-g


----------



## university girl (Aug 11, 2004)

The following info about 5-HTP is taken from http://www.neuroreplete.com:

5-HTP alone is not optimal :!:

5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) has gained much attention in recent years. The fact is 5-HTP does not produce uniform results in all patients. NeuroResearch has found that treating a group of 100 patients for a given disease with 5-HTP, only about 10% to 15% will get good relief of symptoms. Another 10% to 15% of patients will get some relief of symptoms and the majority (65% to 70%) will get no relief of symptoms. NeuroResearch has found the answer to this problem patients not getting relief of symptoms from the amino acid 5-HTP.

Theory of Mixed Neurotransmitter Dysfunction

The following is from the NeuroResearch booklet, "Neurotransmitter Testing and Amino Acid Therapy" pages 14 through 19, and discusses the need for both the catecholamine system and serotonin system to be functioning properly for the system as a whole to be healthy and function properly.

MIXED NEUROTRANSMITTER DYSFUNCTION THEORY

Based on clinical observations NeuroResearch has formulated the following theory known as the ?mixed neurotransmitter dysfunction theory?. 5% of patients with a given neurotransmitter dysfunction disease are purely a serotonin dysfunction, 5% of patients with a given neurotransmitter dysfunction disease are purely a catecholamine dysfunction, and the remaining 90% of patients are a mixture of both serotonin/catecholamine dysfunction and lie along a spectrum between the two extremes.

BOTH SYSTEMS MUST FUNCTION PROPERLY

The serotonin system and the catecholamine system (dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine) must both be functioning properly for the entire system to be healthy and free of neurotransmitter disease. This appears to be reflected in neurotransmitter testing by the fact that patients with dysfunction of the catecholamine system tend to need higher serotonin levels to compensate and obtain a clinical response.

Prior to his retirement, the head of the clinical science department at the local medical school on many occasions said, ?The serotonin and catecholamine systems must both be functioning properly for the system as a whole to function properly and be healthy.? Coming from the head of the clinical science department we took it as gospel truth. It was only after working with patients extensively in weight loss for several years did I fully appreciate what he meant.

There was one final truth to the equation and that is, ?5% of patients with neurotransmitter disease relating to the serotonin and catecholamine system are purely a serotonin dysfunction, 5% are purely a catecholamine dysfunction, and the remaining 90% are a mix of serotonin and catecholamine dysfunction lying somewhere along the spectrum between the two ends.

uni-g


----------



## nemesis (Aug 10, 2004)

Simple, take L-Tryptophan(1) in combination with L-Tryosene and you will cover both the seretonin and norepinephrine (adrenaline) pathways. I also combine these two with St. Johns Wort and a multi-v with great results.

______________________
(1) Some people are a little freaked out by the whole contimation issue that occured in 1989 resulting in many people being affected by 'Peak-X'. You can always replace L-Tryptophan with 5-HTP (believed to be slightly less effective by some) which is one step up on the seretonin pathway.


----------



## nemesis (Aug 10, 2004)

Simple, take L-Tryptophan(1) in combination with L-Tryosene and you will cover both the seretonin and norepinephrine (adrenaline) pathways. I also combine these two with St. Johns Wort and a multi-v with great results.

______________________
(1) Some people are a little freaked out by the whole contimation issue that occured in 1989 resulting in many people being affected by 'Peak-X'. You can always replace L-Tryptophan with 5-HTP (believed to be slightly less effective by some) which is one step up on the seretonin pathway.


----------



## bat (Aug 18, 2004)

i read something in last weekends newspaper supplements (either guardian or observer in uk) giving advice about changing from ads to 5htp. i think the doc said he decreases ad dose as he increases 5htp dose. but everywhere says dont take ads with st johns wort/5htp so medical advice/supervision needed. anyway from what i can remember the column seemed positive


----------



## bat (Aug 18, 2004)

i read something in last weekends newspaper supplements (either guardian or observer in uk) giving advice about changing from ads to 5htp. i think the doc said he decreases ad dose as he increases 5htp dose. but everywhere says dont take ads with st johns wort/5htp so medical advice/supervision needed. anyway from what i can remember the column seemed positive


----------

