I have osteoporosis – within a week of starting collagen I experienced profound insomnia, was much more anxious and had tons of worrying thoughts

Nancy shares her unpleasant experience when using collagen for her osteoporosis and asks how she can use tryptophan and possibly add the collagen back:

I have osteoporosis and recently started taking a collagen peptide product (Fortibone). At the same time, I started taking a bone support formula containing calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, vitamin K2, boron, etc.

Within a week I began experiencing such PROFOUND insomnia. I felt like I was wide awake and could not drift off till 4 am each morning. Also, when I laid down at night, I was much more anxious than I normally am and had tons of worrying thoughts flitting thru my mind.

Within a couple weeks of the insomnia starting, I thankfully caught your talk about collagen and folks who are susceptible to it, at the 2023 Osteoporosis Summit. The puzzle pieces clicked together; I’m a MAO-A. I immediately stopped the collagen and the bone support supplement.

I understand supplementing with tryptophan may be the fix for being able to reintroduce the collagen.

I appreciate her for sharing her experience on one of my collagen blogs and thanked her, saying how glad I was that she heard my interview about this.

Collagen and gelatin lower serotonin in susceptible individuals

Intake of collagen (and gelatin) can lower serotonin in susceptible individuals and cause these symptoms she experienced. I first blogged about this in 2017 but it’s still not common knowledge even amongst practitioners and companies selling collagen products.

The good news is that awareness is growing. Dr. R. Keith McCormick does mention the serotonin-collagen connection in his excellent book Great Bones – Taking Control of Your Osteoporosis  (my Amazon link). He does not, however, offer tryptophan as a solution.

If this is new to you, this blog post describes why it happens (i.e. collagen does not contain any tryptophan), lists many of the tryptophan depletion studies and who may be more susceptible to this effect – Collagen and gelatin lower serotonin: does this increase your anxiety and depression?

Here is a more recent blog on the topic too: Collagen causes increased anxiety, low mood, irritability, insomnia, gut issues and an itchy skin: some questions and my answers

The causes of these symptoms can be due to the serotonin-lowering effects of collagen but also the dietary oxalate impact, a histamine reaction and/or a glutamate reaction to collagen.

Could supplementing with tryptophan be the fix for being able to reintroduce the collagen?

Nancy said “I understand supplementing with tryptophan may be the fix for being able to reintroduce the collagen.” Hearing her symptoms – profound insomnia, increased anxiety and worrying thoughts flitting through her mind – led me to the same conclusion, especially since they all started soon after starting collagen.

We know she has the MAOA (monoamine oxidase A) genetic polymorphism – this does make her more susceptible to the serotonin-lowering effects of collagen. Other factors that may make her more susceptible (explained in the 2017 blog above) are current or prior depression and/or OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) or family history of these conditions and being a smoker. In addition to a MAOA defect is having a 5-HTTLPR genetic polymorphism.

To confirm the likely low serotonin connection, it would have been helpful to know if she also experienced other low serotonin symptoms: panic attacks and phobias, lack of confidence, depression, negativity, imposter syndrome, PMS, irritability, anger issues and afternoon/evening cravings.

It would also be helpful to know if her symptoms resolved when she stopped using the collagen.

But the best way to confirm is to do a trial of tryptophan and observe if these symptoms resolve when using collagen.

How to use tryptophan in a situation like this?

She asked these specific questions about using tryptophan:

I bought the Lidtke brand which is a 500 mg. capsule. How do I dose this? I realize you said to trial dose it but:

1) what time of day is best to take it?

2) is it taken on an empty stomach or can it be taken with food?

3) should I start taking the tryptophan BEFORE restarting the collagen and be watching for the night time anxiety/insomnia symptoms to reappear?

4) if the insomnia, anxiety do reappear, how much do I titrate up and is there a max dose of tryptophan? If I’m taking more than one capsule a day, should they be taken at one time or divided throughout the day?

Tryptophan is always taken midafternoon and evening on an empty stomach/away from protein and increased until there is symptom resolution.

For clients in a similar situation who have stopped the collagen but still have insomnia, anxiety and worry symptoms, I have them start on tryptophan before adding back collagen and adjust the tryptophan dose up if needed once collagen is reintroduced.

If symptoms resolved when the collagen was stopped, tryptophan would be trialed as soon as symptoms show up when collagen is reintroduced.

With tryptophan, 500 mg is a typical starting dose but less may work in a situation like this. I’ve had clients use up to 1500 mg tryptophan 2 x day. It’s really individualized with no one-size fits all.

I did mention my book, The Antianxiety Food Solution, as an excellent resource for Nancy. There is an entire chapter on the amino acids and how to use them. I recommend everyone read it before using any of the amino acids as supplements.

Resources if you are new to using amino acids as supplements

If you are new to using amino acids as supplements, here is the Amino Acids Mood Questionnaire from The Antianxiety Food Solution (you can see all the symptoms of neurotransmitter imbalances, including low GABA, low serotonin, low dopamine, low blood sugar and low endorphins).

If you suspect low levels of any of the neurotransmitters and do not yet have my book, The Antianxiety Food Solution – How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood, and End Cravings, (as I mentioned above) I highly recommend getting it and reading it before jumping in and using amino acids on your own so you are knowledgeable. And be sure to share it with the practitioner/health team you or your loved one is working with.

There is an entire chapter on the amino acids and they are discussed throughout the book in the sections on gut health, gluten, blood sugar control, sugar cravings, anxiety and mood issues.

The book doesn’t include product names (per the publisher’s request) so this blog, The Antianxiety Food Solution Amino Acid and Pyroluria Supplements, lists the amino acids that I use with my individual clients and those in my group programs. You can find them all in my online store.

If, after reading this blog and my book, you don’t feel comfortable figuring things out on your own (i.e. doing the symptoms questionnaire and respective amino acids trials), a good place to get help is the GABA QuickStart Program (if you have low GABA symptoms too). This is a paid online/virtual group program where you get my guidance and community support.

If you are a practitioner, join us in The Balancing Neurotransmitters: the Fundamentals program. This is also a paid online/virtual program with an opportunity to interact with me and other practitioners who are also using the amino acids.

Thanks to Nancy for sharing her experience with collagen and asking this question.

Have you used collagen for bone health/osteoporosis or for other reasons? And have you experienced insomnia, and increased anxiety and worrying?

Were your symptoms due to low serotonin and did tryptophan allow you to continue with collagen or add it back if you stopped it?

Or were your symptoms caused by oxalates in collagen, a histamine reaction and/or a glutamate reaction?

Has Fortibone led to improvements in your bone health? If yes, how long have you been using it and which collagen product (a number of products contain Fortibone)?

If you have questions and feedback please share them here too.