I recently received the following series of questions/comments (all from the same person) on my blog Targeted Individual Amino Acids for Eliminating Anxiety: Practical Applications and would like to share some of what I shared, plus some additional information.
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Do you believe in the serotonin hypothesis? And that low serotonin is a factor in anxiety and/or depression? The serotonin hypothesis is a sales pitch from the pharmaceutical industry to sell psychotropic drugs. It is therefore very worrying that nutritional therapists found a market for sufferers and medicine addicts!
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There is no test you can take today that show low serotonin in the brain? So where is the evidence?
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Please read the books by Robert Whitaker, Peter Breggin and David Healy. Please read this article Things your Doctor Should tell You About Antidepressants and watch this Peter Breggin video
I’m sharing my response because these questions do come up periodically and you may hear other practitioners make similar statements. This is my response:
Yes, I do believe that low serotonin MAY be a factor in anxiety and/or depression (and research shows this to be a fact). I say MAY because anxiety and/or depression could have one of many possible causes – low serotonin, blood sugar instability, poor diet, not eating enough protein, sugar, caffeine, gluten, low dopamine (for depression), pyroluria, inflammation etc.
There is much evidence supporting low serotonin and depression/anxiety. Here are a few recent papers published in 2015:
- “These findings suggest that the anxiolytic effect of dark cycle restraint is mediated by corticosterone, serotonin or γ-aminobutyric acid-independent mechanisms”
- “Our results demonstrate that 5-HT [serotonin] deficiency leads to increased susceptibility to social defeat stress (SDS), a model of psychosocial stress”
- “These findings link the serotonin transporter gene to affective circuitry findings in anxiety and depression psychopathology”
- “Serotonin, tryptophan metabolism and the brain-gut-microbiome axis”
In response to the question about testing serotonin levels: you can actually test serotonin levels via platelet testing. It’s the test that correlates most closely with CSF levels. A lab called European Laboratory of Nutrients (ELN)/formerly Vitamin Diagnostics offers this platelet serotonin test. It’s not a test that I use as I rely on the Amino Acid Questionnaire and response to the amino acids. I do not use Urinary Neurotransmitter testing.
With regards to the great article from Mad in America – I totally support these facts (for many individuals):
“antidepressant medications appear to do more harm than good as treatments for depression” and all the “harmful effects on other processes in the body” like digestion, sexual function, cognition etc.
I also respect Dr Peter Breggin’s concerns (in the youtube video) about biochemical imbalances in your brain being caused by the antidepressant drugs you are taking (such as Prozac or Paxil) and why we want to avoid them.
We know that anxiety and depression is not only caused by life stresses and trauma. There are physical biochemical imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, gut problems, food sensitivities, heavy metals and many more causes. I discussed 60+ Nutritional & Biochemical Causes of Anxiety during season 3 of the Anxiety Summit.
Low serotonin is just one of these possible contributing factors and we can address this with dietary and lifestyle changes:
- Dietary changes include real whole food, grass-fed red meat, no sugar, no gluten, oily fish, healthy fats etc
- Lifestyle changes include light therapy and exercise
Here are a few recent studies supporting the above:
- “The effects of dietary tryptophan on affective disorders”
- “Kefir protective effects against nicotine cessation-induced anxiety and cognition impairments in rats” (kefir is rich in tryptophan)
- “Stress-Induced Depression Is Alleviated by Aerobic Exercise Through Up-Regulation of 5-Hydroxytryptamine 1A Receptors in rats”
The amino acid supplements tryptophan and 5-HTP are very powerful for providing immediate results of improved mood and reduced anxiety while the other factors are being addressed. We really need more research on the supplements. Here are two papers:
- “The effect of raising and lowering tryptophan levels on human mood and social behavior”
- “5-Hydroxytryptophan: a clinically-effective serotonin precursor”
By boosting serotonin levels in my clients, I see incredible results on a daily basis. And with all this serotonin anxiety/depression research (literally thousands and thousands of papers), it just amazes me when I hear someone say that low serotonin is not a factor. It’s not THE ONLY factor, but is often one of any contributing factors.
If you are anxious or depressed and are still unconvinced, I encourage you to do the Amino Acid Questionnaire and a trial of tryptophan or 5-HTP and see how you respond. I’ve listed some brands I like on this blog: The Antianxiety Food Solution Amino Acid and Pyroluria Supplements.
If you don’t need convincing and have seen great results by boosting your serotonin levels please do share your experiences in the comments below so we can inspire others to look into this approach so they can feel wonderful too.
Please advise the safe period (how long time) to take serotonin/5HTP without adverse effect ?
Peggy
Each person is different so there is no specific time. Typically 3-6 months, maybe 9-12 months, assuming you’re addressing why serotonin is low to start with (diet, malabsorption, food sensitivities, adrenals etc). If you have genetic polymorphisms, once you get your levels up, you may still need to take low amounts for longer/always.
The big clue is that they are still working and having you feel better. Too much will cause a reverse effect.
I think that regardless of what hypothesis that we ascribe to regarding depression and anxiety, the amino acids seem to have a place in offering symptom relief while the underlying causes are addressed. It seems that people may assume that you are suggesting that the amino’s are a stand alone cure, and missing the very important point that you make (in your books and your talks) that the diet must be changed, that the lifestyle must be changed, and that other areas of health may need to be investigated (eg. thyroid function).
My opinion is that the amino’s are a useful tool to help people feel better, in order be able to make the necessary changes while the underlying causes are investigated and remedied – and in time, those changes will take over from the amino’s in providing a resolution to the mental health issues. It’s a multifactorial approach in which the amino’s play a (very useful) role.
Kylie
Thank you for this – you could not have said this any better!
The amino acids ARE wonderful for offering immediate symptom relief while you address the other underlying causes that may take much longer to figure out and fix (like leaky gut, food sensitivities, hormonal/adrenal health, the health of your microbiome etc).
And yes, they make it easier to make the dietary changes like quitting gluten, sugar, caffeine etc.
I’d like to just add one thing to this: in this exmample, low serotonin would be one of the underlying causes so perhaps we should say: “aminos are a useful tool to help people feel better, in order be able to make the necessary changes while the OTHER underlying causes are investigated and remedied”
What about inositol for serotonin production?
Hi Tracy
Absolutely! I love inositol and find it very helpful especially if my client has OCD or obsessive thoughts or behaviors. I typically have them start with tryptophan because this can help a lot with obsessiveness/ruminating thoughts. If that isn’t enough and there is room for improvement then we add inositol. I typically start with 2g/day and go up to 18g/day.
Thank you for responding so quickly! I have a question. My son has gotten into a state of anxiety and panic attack over falling asleep at night it came on quite suddenly. He has asperger’s and is high functioning and anxiety has always been a mild issue. But starting a week ago he couldn’t sleep and became very panicky and obsessed about the fact that he couldn’t fall asleep and is afraid of that process of initial relaxation and falling asleep. The anxiety has been slowly debilitating him and he gets shaky and nervous thinking about it. The doctor prescribed a sedative it helps him relax but he still can stop the cyclical obsessive thoughts and become anxious and upset. I have been giving him about 50 mg of GABA sublingual. Not sure if its helping. also I have given him a multi B vitamin do you think that could aggravate anxiety? He has also been under a large amount of stress lately. He is 16 years old. Any help is appreciated as I can not get into the psychiatrist until next month!
Thank you 🙂
Tracy
I’m sorry to hear this. I use the amino acid questionnaire to help figure out which amino acid to trial https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/amino-acids-mood-questionnaire-from-the-antianxiety-food-solution/. If they are going to work you’ll know right away
A B vitamin could be too stimulating for some individual and should be give in the morning if tolerated.
I’d also try and help him deal with the stress – get out in nature, gentle exercise, meditate, do heartmath etc.
I’d also consider pyroluria as symptoms are made worse under stressful situations and it is common in ASD. Here is the questionnaire https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/pyroluria-questionnaire-from-the-antianxiety-food-solution/
Hello and thank you for this information i have depression and have tried to up my serotonin however that did not work for me when my serotonin was increased it increased my sadness. When I tried melatonin it did not help either. I do have nighttime low blood sugar and high cortisol levels in early morning and wake up sad and or anxious. Any recommendations for this. I thought depression was caused by low serotonin but now not sure. My doctor just had me do the urine test for serotinin by pshycocorp why do you not trust it? Would inosotol help i also have anxiety with constant thinking.
Lee
There are many possible causes of depression – low serotonin is just one. Here are others https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/60-nutritional-biochemical-causes-of-anxiety/
You’ll see low blood sugar and high cortisol are on this list and these would be my focus.
Inositol may help but I’d focus on the bigger picture first. You also say “when my serotonin was increased it increased my sadness” – what did you use and how do you know your serotonin was increased? Be aware that too much tryptophan can cause a reverse effect.
The urine test doesn’t often correlate with symptoms (https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/urinary-neurotransmitter-testing-falls-short/) and I find amino acid trials work better
In looking up tryptophan, Lidtke brand, I notice on the bottle it says for ‘sleep’ and mood. My question is then, does tryptophan make you sleepy? I don’t know if there is any link here but I started drinking kefir for the probiotics, but stopped because I felt dragged down and tired, even after a good nights’ sleep, unless it was something else new I had been doing or eating at the same time. I am still trying to figure it out
Cindy
One of the signs of low serotonin is often insomnia so yes tryptophan will often help with that. Taking it mid-afternoon and evening is typical. If it does make someone too tired we stop the mid-afternoon dose and/or have them take less.
Kefir is dairy and a dairy intolerance could be a factor if someone feels tired after drinking it
Ahhhh, thank you so much for that information on the kefir. I quit eating ice cream a couple of years ago because of how sleepy and tired I would get after eating it. I wonder about ‘cheese’, then! Hmmmm. Thank you, Trudy!
Addendum: And in reading reviews on Lidtke tryptophan, its all about sleep. Nearly all reviews are about taking it for sleep. They do state their mood has improved but ‘sleep’?? That’s the last thing I want to feel is sleepy during the day.
Please see my comment above
Hi
I bought your book (excellent) and I have tried different amino acids based on your recommendations but my anxiety just gets worse and worse each day. I have tried gaba, 5 htp, neither of them have provided any benefits for me. I tried zinc and it made my anxiety worse. I really want to take control of my anxiety and my health. I did a diet with hcg and then I spent 23 days hospitalized with heart palpitations and a lot of neurological symptoms. I have never been the same. Months ago I got my progesterone levels tested and they were 0.003 less than a man’s levels so I suspect that a hormonal imbalance may be contributing to my anxiety. I am using a natural progesterone cream. Nothing has happened yet. been using it for a month now. I just want to be healthy again. I have never suffer from anxiety before. What else I can do? I have tried everything I think!
Frances
I am sorry to hear this. I don’t know exactly how the HCG diet could contribute to “heart palpitations and a lot of neurological symptoms” (and anxiety) – I will do some research – but it does sound that it may have caused/contributed to an hormonal imbalance.
A few things to consider – the aminos/nutrients will only work if you need them; too much could make anxiety worse for “pixie dust” people; the brand/quality may be a factor; I start my clients on tryptophan as 5-HTP can make wired people more wired and anxious esp if cortisol is high; high cortisol can make you anxious, can impact progesterone levels and low calorie dieting can lead to high cortsiol http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2895000/
I’d also follow-up with your doctor on the low progesterone levels (I’m a bit confused by this “I got my progesterone levels tested and they were 0.003 less than a man’s levels”)
When I was really really sick I even had seizures, unbearable body pain and everything that I took, even an advil cause me horrible side effects. 5 HTP did not work for me and when I was really sick my cortisol was a bit high now is in the normal range. I did have many metabolic disorders after those 23 days. First I had my sodium and potassium levels out of whack now my calcium is low and also vitamin D is low plus my bun/creatinine ratio is out of whack also. My endo says that I’m losing water but have not given me any options or ideas as to what I might do to feel better. I am now on clonopin and can not feel normal without it but it’s the only thing that I can take so I can go to work. I gained 20 pounds in a month and had a period for 15 days! and still they don’t know what is happening to me. I bought your book and followed your recommendations but I’m really stuck as to what to do next since nothing seems to work. I really really want to quit the clonopin but I tried to did it and I ended up in the hospital with severe anxiety even to the point of vomiting and being totally out of control. If you can make any recommendations I would really appreciate it. Doctors here are just lost and they are not helping me at all!
Dear Trudy
I am currently looking after an Autistic lad of 13, who has huge mood issues and anxiousness. In testing him (biofeedback), he really needs serotonin which he is very depleted in. However, whenever he has serotonin or anything that promotes serotonin, ie ashwagandha or tryptophan he develops really bad ticks and becomes quite distressed??
In testing him (through biofeedback) he doesn’t seem to test well either for 5HTP.
Any suggestions or ideas would be hugely appreciated. Boy is very sensitive, on gf/cf diet, mother experienced at biomedical interventions so tried the usual things. His anxiousness and mood are really affecting his life and that of his family members.
Have suggested high doses of bifidis to try and support the gut more so he may be able to tolerate it at a later stage, not sure what else to look at. Is being supported by GABA too.
Lilias
Focusing on gut health may be the best bet and consider doing a comprehensive stool analysis test (dysbiosis, candida, parasites?) and then maybe also add fermented foods. Gut healing may need to be addressed too since we made so much serotonin in the gut. Many people go gluten-free and forget that the gut needs to be healed.
I’d also want to know what brand of tryptophan (quality can be a big factor) and how much causes an issue (some people do well on minute amounts)?
I’d also possibly try full spectrum light therapy or essential oils. And maybe use serotonin co-factors zinc and vitamin B6? If MTHFR is a factor this can also affect serotonin product.
Hi Trudy,
Have you ever touched on the topic of Smart wireless meters that are going on homes all over the U.S. and the horrible impact that they have on people neurologically with anxiety, depression, heart palpitations, joint and muscle pain?
I have Lyme disease and since a smart meter was placed on our home, I have so many new and worse symptoms that I am all the evidence I need to show what these meters are doing in terms of negatively affecting my health. It is the RF radiation coming off of them 24/7 that is such a problem. I wonder if this radiation is also impacting thyroid health and driving Hashimoto’s disease. The body is electrical and simply cannot adapt to RF radiation. There are no safe limits contrary to what the FCC has stated in their guidelines.
Lisa
I have not blogged about this yet but I know it’s an issue with many individuals and as with anything new I suspect we’re going to be learning a lot more about the detrimental effects.
Thanks for sharing that you’ve been affected. I’m sorry to hear this but it’s important that we start to share and create awareness. Would you mind sharing which new and worse symptoms you’ve experienced? I do hope you’re able to get the smart meter removed (I know this can be challenging).
I was making strides forward with Chronic Lyme disease and co-infections and then the same day two wireless smart meters were installed on my home, it all came crashing down. It was that quick and I did not even know that meters were going to be installed. We found a door tag on a front door that we rarely use telling us of the installation. I got a crushing headache on day one, heart palpitations, abdominal pain that I had never had before like a very tight belt around my waist and extreme nausea like I was going to wretch. That evening my ears were ringing so loud and I had a very bad case of anxiety. My mom stepped out on our front porch to let the cat in and found the door tag left by the utility. I looked up Smart meters and could not believe all of the bizarre symptoms I was experiencing were due to the RF radiation coming from them. I became very frightened when I could not sleep that night with a racing heart,
burning on my skin and vibration like electricity coursing through me. It felt like I was extremely nervous inside. I was getting pain in muscles and joints, had all over facial pain like those muscles were cramped and just felt like the life force was ebbing out of me. I sat up in bed since I was not going to sleep and wrote out a list of everything that I was feeling. The insomnia got really bad and I did not sleep for eight days. My family thought perhaps it was from just being upset about the Smart meters. They now know the wireless Smart meters are causing it because they have bizarre symptoms too.
I have blurred vision and eye pain, ear pain deep within like a bad earache. Because I have two dental implants in my jaw, I believe they act as antennae bringing more radiation to my head.
All of these symptoms remain and have gotten worse over time and I am now sensitive to cell phones and WiFi where I was not before the Smart meters.
My hair is falling out and I feel the hyoothyroidism is worse. I never was checked for Hashimotos but my mom was just diagnosed so it is a priority to have that investigated. It is just so upsetting first of all for a utility to force these radiation emitting devices on our homes mostly without our knowledge or consent and certainly without full disclosure of the danger and then when they are found to actually harm people in the home, the utility is not held responsible to get them removed immediately. The natural gas company would never get away with this if there was a gas leak in our home. Natural gas just kills quicker. There is such a lack of awareness of the RF radiation and now they are pushing 5G to come into our neighborhoods with small antennae attached to utility poles to make downloading anything on the internet so much faster. 5G is also what will be the driving force behind the Internet of Things. Every device and appliance in the home will be tied to the internet. Again, they are implementing this while counting on our ignorance and unawareness and it is time for people to understand the implications and long term consequences of technology that is rolled out too quickly without the necessary safety studies for humans, animals and the environment.
Devra Davis, an epidemiologist and founder of Environmental Health Trust has studied wireless radiation from cell phones and it is basically the same as that from wireless smart meters and she exposes its negative effects on health. It is carcinogenic and we would be wise to look up from our devices long enough to pay attention to what the scientific research has found. This also goes for WiFi in schools that is radiating the reproductive organs of our children not to mention exposing teachers to this carcinogen.
It is really a serious and far reaching problem. More and more individuals are becoming electrically hypersensitive and it is supposed to jump and not in 20 years but by this year.
I cannot adequately describe the level of suffering this has caused for me and my family. I now sleep in my vehicle at night in a public park to get away from my and my neighbors wireless smart meters and to get away from my neighbors WiFi. I would rather be in my home that is safe, has bathroom accommodations and is where I belong. When I do come home to get meals and clean up, I have very little power on at the breaker box and feel like a prisoner in my own home. I moved into a camp ground in a tent right after the installation becuase I could not handle the burning, the body pain, anxiety and depression. This is all very real and come from the frequencies off these meters. I do not have these symptoms as bad when I am out of the radiation field. I don’t know why they do not go away completely unless the radiation gets stored somehow. It causes lonely isolation because you don’t feel well and don’t really feel like being around anybody. It just steals your zest for life and that is not right. However, if you don’t leave your home, you are exposed to the RF radiation 24/7. You can’t shut if off like a cell phone or tablet. I hope you will interview the likes of Devra Davis and Barry Trower, the formal Royal Navy veteran who studied RF radiation while in the service. They report just the facts, not unfounded hysteria. I can’t believe this has been turned loose on mankind and made us one big lab experiment. It is time to learn this information for ourselves so that we can make informed decisions and not be backed into a corner by Industries only looking to make money no matter who they damage in the process. I look forward to you taking this topic to your readers so that they can protect both their health and welfare as well as that of their families. We can demand safer technology and devices and we must.
Lisa
Thanks for sharing your story – I am sorry to hear what you are going through!
Thanks too for sharing these resources. I’ll be looking into this in more detail but sharing some links for other readers for now (disclaimer: I have yet to fully investigate)
Devra Davis, epidemiologist and founder of Environmental Health Trust https://ehtrust.org/about/dr-devra-davis/
Barrie Trower https://stopsmartmetersirvine.com/2012/02/10/barry-trower-on-wi-fi-radiation-we-are-risking-the-future-generations-of-all-the-children-in-the-world/
Which serotonin supplement do yoin recommend?