My son has autism and OCD. I took him off fluvoxamine in May and used cbd and some other things and he was doing fine up until this past winter. He began having irrational fears and ruminating thoughts/fears that would not stop! I started 5-HTP, theanine, B12, probiotics with him for the last month and did not see any improvement. I was ready to go back to the medication when I came across your blog and information.
I assumed 5-HTP would be better for OCD, but after reading your comments you mentioned that you just switch to tryptophan if the 5-HTP is not working. I had tryptophan at home already. That night I emptied half a capsule into a little stevia flavored water and had him hold it in his mouth for a minute.
He was a different kid after that!!!! This is just the 3rd day but even his teachers are telling me he is doing really well and is less anxious at school. I am so thankful! I am now giving him 500mg in the morning and early evening.
I bought some inositol and plan to try adding that in the afternoons to see if that will help as well. I believe that he has PANDAS. He is a hand washer, and spits a lot, and has lots of other quirks that I would love to see decrease.
I have hope again! I am buying your book so that I can get a good plan going for him. If you have any other suggestions for him please let me know!!
This wonderful feedback was posted in the comments of one of the tryptophan blogs. I’m so thrilled for this mom and young man (he’s almost 20). I thanked her for sharing all this on the blog and offered to share additional generic feedback via a new blog post. I also asked for additional feedback on exactly how the tryptophan helped (more on that below).
Read on to learn how tryptophan helped with his ruminating thoughts, fears, crying and improved his sleep. And my insights about the ideal timing of tryptophan, finding the optimal dose and why it may work when 5-HTP doesn’t. I also share some insights about inositol and OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder).
Low serotonin symptoms and the questions I had about his symptoms
I do hope he continues to see these benefits. Seeing such amazing results in 3 days is always what we’re looking for and it’s not unexpected to get such profound results so quickly!
I had some additional questions so I could share some general feedback as to how I work in situations like this. I wanted to know his age and if the switch to tryptophan helped any of his OCD symptoms and if yes how many notches improvement?
And which of the classic low serotonin symptoms the tryptophan helped and by how much: anxiety? irrational fears? and ruminating thoughts/fears? anything else? (all the low serotonin symptoms here)
Knowing this helps me know if I’m on track with a client i.e. the tryptophan is helping with low serotonin symptoms. And it also helps me decide we should consider increasing the dose and possibly adjust the number of times to use tryptophan. I share more about this below.
Tryptophan helps reduce his ruminating thoughts, fear and anxiety. And he’s laughing more and sleeps better
She shared some specific examples as to how much the tryptophan helps reduce his ruminating thoughts, fear and anxiety. And he’s laughing more and it helps him sleep:
He would often call me or text me throughout the day with questions about his health, and he would come to me 10-15 times in the afternoons/evenings, for about 3 weeks or so, and ask me the same questions about a rare disease that he believed he had.
He would cry and shake with fear and anxiety at some point and I would need to reassure him over and over again that he did not have this disease, and that it was literally impossible for him to have it.
After starting the tryptophan supplements 2x500mg morning/early evening he did not come to me at all and seemed content the 1st day.
Yesterday, he didn’t get the 2nd tryptophan until 5pm so he did come to me with 1 question/concern. I reassured him and he seemed fine especially after his supplement. Then 1 more question later that night but he accepted my reassurance both times and let it go.
So that was a big difference compared to the last 4 weeks. He was also laughing at some cartoon he was watching which I had not seen him do for a month either. Anxiety is less. He is sleeping better too. So far he still seems to believe the irrational things.
Tryptophan is clearly helping so many of his symptoms but we have more opportunities for further gains with tryptophan.
Tryptophan for low serotonin: dosing and timing
As I share in my book and other blog posts, typically 500 mg tryptophan twice a day is a good starting dose, used away from protein mid-afternoon and evening. It’s used like this because serotonin starts to decline in the afternoon. We increase based on individual needs to find the ideal dose. We may also add tryptophan or 5-HTP earlier in the day.
In a situation like this, if we were working together, I’d consider the following:
- Adding a mid-afternoon dose of tryptophan
- A switch to just afternoon and evening dosing (unless the morning dose was used for a specific reason i.e. morning symptoms)
- Adding a second dose of tryptophan each time (he is using Nature Stacks Serotonin Brain Food and I’d recommend Lidtke 500 mg tryptophan for the second dose each time because it contains only tryptophan)
With changes we do one thing at a time and track symptom improvements carefully.
Tryptophan vs 5-HTP?
I commend her for figuring out the switch from 5-HTP to tryptophan.
It’s a well known fact that some folks just do better on one vs the other and if 5-HTP isn’t working I’ll have clients switch to tryptophan and vice versa. I typically start with tryptophan because it seems to be better tolerated. The biggest issue that I see with 5-HTP is that it’s often not tolerated if you have high cortisol. It can also cause nightmares for some folks.
Precaution about serotonin syndrome with tryptophan/5-HTP
There are precautions when using certain amino acids and I always review them with all my clients. If they have been prescribed an SSRI, I have them discuss the use of tryptophan/5-HTP with their prescribing doctor so they can be monitored for serotonin syndrome. With careful monitoring and doctor approval I feel comfortable having my clients use tryptophan/5-HTP 6 hours away from their one and only SSRI.
If they are using more than one SSRI and/or a combination of psychiatric medications, the use of tryptophan/5-HTP is not advised.
None of the above applied in this situation but it’s important to be aware of.
Inositol and OCD: when to consider adding it?
OCD or even mildly obsessive behaviors or thoughts can be a sign of low serotonin. I will do a trial of tryptophan as above and for some folks it’s often enough. Sometimes tryptophan at least helps to some degree and when it’s not enough, adding inositol (a B vitamin) takes it to the next level.
For many folks 500 -1000 mg capsules are typically recommended but this is a really low dose for OCD. The powdered form is really effective because you can increase as needed. You can actually go as high as 18g. I start low, with 1-2g in kids and adults, and keep going up by 2g a week until the obsessive symptoms disappear. More on inositol and OCD here.
GABA, dopamine and endorphin support too
She mentions that her son “seems to be low serotonin, low GABA (1st 1/2 of the list), low endorphins and low catecholamines” so other amino acids are likely to be of benefit too.
As always we used the neurotransmitter symptoms questionnaire and do trials of each amino acid: GABA for low GABA symptoms, DPA for low endorphins and tyrosine for low dopamine. These trials of each one are done one at a time with careful tracking to find the ideal dose before layering in the next amino acid.
Using the amino acids so it’s easy to reduce sugar and go gluten-free
I also asked what dietary changes he has already made and she responded: “We are in the process of reducing sugar and going back to gluten-free as much as possible but this will be hardest to stick to. Have done a keto-like and gluten-free-casein-free diet on and off since he was 4 years old.”
This is a great start and using the amino acids help reduce cravings and make it easy to reduce sugar and go gluten-free.
There is a sugar cravings aspect to all the neurotransmitter imbalances. The type of craving can be found on the above symptoms questionnaire. It’s not uncommon to need support in more than one area:
- Low serotonin – tryptophan or 5-HTP for afternoon/evening cravings
- Low endorphins – DPA for comfort/reward eating
- Low catecholamines – tyrosine for low energy sugar cravings
- Low GABA – GABA for stress eating
You can read more about this here: The individual amino acids glutamine, GABA, tryptophan (or 5-HTP), DPA and tyrosine are powerful for eliminating sugar cravings, often within 5 minutes
I’m glad she is getting a copy of my book The Antianxiety Food Solution. It has all the foundational dietary information, sections on cravings and a chapter on the amino acids.
It also has a chapter on pyroluria, which is very common in autism and something I help most of my clients address. Here is the pyroluria questionnaire.
Tryptophan and inositol product options
Products I recommend include Lidtke 500 mg Tryptophan and Designs for Health Inositol Powder. You can purchase these from my online store (Fullscript – only available to US customers – use this link to set up an account).
If you’re not in the US, Doctor’s Best L-Tryptophan 500mg and Now Inositol Powder are products I recommend on iherb (use this link to save 5%).
Additional resources when you are new to using tryptophan and other amino acids as supplements
We use the symptoms questionnaire to figure out if low serotonin or other neurotransmitter imbalances may be an issue for you.
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, 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 (this is covered in an entire chapter too), sugar cravings, anxiety and mood issues. The importance of quality animal protein and healthy fats is also covered.
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.
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.
Have you had success with tryptophan for anxiety, fears, crying and ruminations? And has it also helped with sleep, how happy you feel and reduced cravings? Has it also helped with OCD?
Did you first trial 5-HTP and then found tryptophan worked better or vice versa?
If yes, what dose and when do you use it?
What about using inositol to further reduce OCD? And what dose helped?
If you’re a practitioner do you use tryptophan and/or inositol with clients/patients with these low serotonin symptoms?
And please let me know if it’s helpful that I’m now including product recommendations and where to get them?
Feel free to share and ask your questions below.
Do u recommend taking the full capsule or breaking it open? Is there a difference? In your book I did not see anything about breaking the capsules but seems to be mentioned a lot in the blogs.
Julia
This mom’s son swallowed the capsule and many folks do fine with swallowing tryptophan. However some folks do better opening the capsule so it’s case by case.
And yes I do mention this more now when speaking, presenting and on the blogs/Facebook
Thank you. If starting at 500 mg at night and 500 mg mid afternoon. How do u reccomend to increase. Do u increase to 1000 mg twice a day or only increase one dose at a time?
Julia
It could be 1000mg twice a day or just the afternoon or just the evening dose depending on when symptoms are worse and if sleep hasn’t improved.
can u take tryptophan if you are on zoloft
Maria
I address this under the heading: Precaution about serotonin syndrome with tryptophan/5-HTP
Would a 10 year old girl that is 60 pounds take 1g per day?
Mel
I have had a boy this age and weight use inositol for severe OCD. He was on 500mg when they started working with me and we increased to 1g and then went up from there – and had much success. We used tryptophan first – it helped reduce many of his low serotonin worry-type anxiety but wasn’t enough for the OCD. We also worked on having him quit gluten.
I don’t understand if 5HTP is closer in the chain to serotonin why tryptophan would work better. I have a friend encouraging me to switch and I’m nervous to do it. I feel like I need to ask my nd about it.
Can I just stop 5HTP and start tryptophan?
What dosage?
What about serotonin syndrome
switching from one to the other ?
What brand is safe? I’ve read there have been problems with it.
My main question though is why would it work better than 5HTP ??
Thank you
Shelley
I’ve had clients just stop 5-HTP if it’s not helping and do the initial trial of tryptophan and continue from there if they get results.
I share some brands in the blog – Lidtke is the one I use the most.
Why would tryptophan work better than 5-HTP? One reason is the high cortisol I mention. Other reasons could be gut health, genetics, enzymes, nutrient status etc.
Can you share what low serotonin symptoms you have and if 5-HTP is helping? How much do you use?
I have been struggling with depression and very low mood for a long time. Tears every morning and often throughout the day as well. Little things upset me a lot. Ruminating thoughts and trouble controlling my thoughts around certain things. Lots of fear and anxiety around the future.
I was on 200 mg of 5HTP for a few months and it didn’t seem to be helping. Going on 2 weeks on 400 mg and not noticing any difference. Maybe worse? But I wonder if that’s all in my head? I don’t know any more. We have some very major stressors in our life that have been ongoing for a number of years now.
Shelley
I have clients switch after a week of no results when they have low serotonin symptoms like you describe
And of course start to make all the dietary changes as outlined in my book “The Antianxiety Food Solution” https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/the-antianxiety-food-solution-by-trudy-scott/
I’m sorry to hear about the major stressors
Trudy, I should have said and want to add thank you.
I appreciate being able to talk to you about this. My mind never stops. There’s never any peace or quiet and I’m exhausted and worn out. There’s very little enjoyment in anything for me anymore.
Shelley
You are welcome – with no enjoyment and exhaustion we look at low endorphins and low dopamine too
Hang in there – it will get better
Hi Trudy
It’s me again, Shelley
Trudy, I’m very discouraged. I want to try Tryptophan but I have some concerns. Well first of all I can’t find anything that’s over 220 mg per tablet. That’s a lot of tablets to take, isn’t it? A bottle won’t last me anytime at all. I can’t find any of the brand you suggest in stock anywhere.
And then some of the reading I have done discouraged me. I don’t understand all the medical language so maybe you have some insight into this. There are articles that talk about tryptophan and diabetes and high blood sugar and cataracts. These are both already issues for me so it scares/concerns me to take tryptophan. Can you address these concerns for me?
Shelley
I believe Canada only offers it as 220mg capules so using mail order is often the best option. The brands I mention here are only available mail order.
Please share a link so I can comment properly
It was an article from the Mayo clinic.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/tryptophan-oral-route/before-using/drg-20064453
dopo quanto tempo dall’assunzione di triptofano si percepisce un miglioramento?
Maria
“How long after taking tryptophan do you notice an improvement?”
During the initial one-off trial my clients notice a few notches improvement in one or two of the symptoms we pick to test if it will work, for example feeling fearful about something or ruminating about something.
And we decide to do do this one-off trial based on looking for low serotonin symptoms on the neurotransmitter questionnaire i.e worry-type anxiety, fears, ruminations, OCD/obsessions, insomnia, PMS, anger, irritability, afternoon/evening cravings etc.
The results of the initial one-off trial helps us decide if we’ll continue the full trial with mid-afternoon and evening dosing, adjusting up (or down as needed) and tracking results.
I don’t know if this mom did the initial one-off trial
Love your smarts on all this type of stuff. I cannot tolerate trypto, much as I need it, due to the fact it’s grown on aspergillus. Any alternative sources? 5HTP makes me groggy. Glutamine sounds great too, but I react to it. I react to most all supplements so it’s hard to get help for the many neurotransmitter issues! Or gut issues, or thyroid issues, or cortisol issues…sigh!! In a real bind.
Aria
When this happens to a client we explore what brand they used and trial tiny tiny tiny doses. If they still have issues we work on dietary changes and gut health (all covered in my book “The Antianxiety Food Solution” https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/the-antianxiety-food-solution-by-trudy-scott/
And other ways to support serotonin, GABA and other neurotrasmitters: yoga, exercise, nature/forest bathing, swinging, full spectrum light therapy etc.
And slowly start to address why they are so reactive – mold, Lyme, heavy metals, MCAS, the effects of medication tapering, fluoroquinolone toxicity etc
Thank you so VERY much for the reply. Swinging! OMG, I used to do that and wondered why I was so drawn. Interesting! Wonder where you heard that info–it’s definitely not in all the functional medicine lit–you know things no one knows!
And right–diet. But it being not controllable is the issue to begin with here, so can’t use that route yet. As far as the lyme/mold, can’t be killed off due to reactions to supplements and any detox. I react also badly to light therapy. Wonder if there might be a proven sound or music therapy? Maybe homeopathy, maybe finding the right energy therapy may help?? Yoga is great though. Definitely feel with such sensitivity I am a MCAS person probably. But all the anti-histamines seem to cause weight gain, don’t they? Already I have gained 80 pounds from the thyroid, cortisol, and binge issues, so I am loathe to take those drugs! Thanks for being such a helpful person to so many out here.
Aria
Here is my blog on swinging – Swings are fun for teens, college students and adults! And they reduce stress/anxiety, and improve mood, memory and PMS symptoms https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/swings-are-fun-for-teens-college-students-and-adults-and-they-reduce-stress-anxiety-and-improve-mood-memory-and-pms-symptoms/
Many benefits from sound/music and many do well with tapping https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/tapping-or-eft-for-reducing-anxiety-depression-pain-and-cravings-plus-physiological-changes-in-cortisol-heart-rate-blood-pressure-and-siga/. And yes some folks do better with homeopathy.
Hello – I was taking 5HTP 100mg . It does help often it makes me wired isn’t good sleep for me seems to be opposite.
After reading the fab outcome this boy had I seen Natropath I bought L Tryptophan took 1000mg small amount of inositol around 7pm
I didn’t sleep much at all . I wonder why supplements often have opp effect for me . It’s only day 1 but I’m not sure how to proceed fwd .
I do have high cortisol- take magnesium glycinate x2 a day .
If someone had a leaky brain barrier would these supplements not be as effective ♂️
Geri
Unfortunately there is no one-size fits all and posts like this are to inspire, give hope and motivate but not copy exactly. Also I have clients start at the lowest dose (50mg for 5-HTP or 500mg for tryptophan and much less for sensitive folks) and add one new supplement at a time so they know what is working and what is causing an issue. The other thing with amino acids is to do a one-off initial trial in the day to see how you respond.
With high cortisol I have clients use Seriphos https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/seriphos-lowers-high-cortisol-prevent-waking-in-the-night-and-nighttime-anxiety/
Hi Trudy,
Thank you so much for the in-depth response. I feel like I am giving him so many things right now, I want to go slowly and carefully. I do give him tryptophan in the morning because he seemed to need it during the day at his school program. There were days that he would text and call me from school, with his phobias even when he had taken the 5 htp. So, I just replaced that with the tryptophan.
He is doing so much better I feel a little apprehensive to stop the morning dose and just go with an afternoon and evening dose. Right now I give him 400mg Tryp in morning and afternoon about 4pm. That seems to be good for the afternoon. I also started the inositol 2 gr morn and 2 gr afternoon so far. Things seem to be working alright for him. He did drink a cup of coffee at church yesterday, wow. That really messed him up, so I wont allow that again!! It really is amazing how 1 cup of coffee can really make him regress.
Laura
You are most welcome – thank you again for sharing his wonderful success with tryptophan!
I added some clarity to the blog – A switch to just afternoon and evening dosing (unless the morning dose was used for a specific reason i.e. morning symptoms)
Slow and steady is good – keep us posted on any further progress, and yes coffee is a no-no for so many of my clients!
Hi Trudy,
Do you talk about supplements that support neurotransmitters in your book also or only the kinds of food that cause/not cause anxiety? I have a daughter with autism, she is 19. She became very aggressive starting around the time she started to have periods. For the last 9 years I was trying to get her under control, with not much success. She was on Pristiq and the generic form of Yaz. Those two kept her at bay temporarily for a little while, but about six months ago things started to unravel again.
As the last resort, I decided to give the liquid fasting a shot, so the last 12 days, I had her on a strict protocol of only liquids (home made broth, Gerolsteiner, filtered water with lemon, teas, etc). The first 5 days were brutal. Whenever I gave her the pristiq in the morning she would get more upset and combative, so I decided I am going cold turkey, and no more conventional medicine, so I stopped giving it to her one week into this diet. That’s when I started to read again on 5htp and gaba, and your blog popped up. I have received your emails for years now, and read some of it, and even signed up for the conferences to do online, but never a actually was able to take the time to listen to any of it or attend. I do appreciate your work very much so.
On Wednesday it will be 2 weeks that we started. I saw your article here about the autistic boy who’s mom switched over to Tryptophan from 5htp. So I ran to the store and got the brand you recommend. I’ve read the different symptoms list, and she is definitely low on both GABA and Serotonin. Her OCD comes out in washing her hand/arms yesterday soaped up her head/face/hair, several times a day, and the new thing is the shower. She wants to take a shower several times during the day. The pristiq was able to help with this OCD a little, until it wasn’t anymore, so no regrets at all taking her off all medicine. When we try to correct her and tell her not to wash so much or don’t wash arms etc, she gets very agitated and becomes aggressive. She is starting back on parasite medication prescribed by dr Yu from Prevention and Healing, this will be her 2nd cycle on it, starting today. This morning I gave her the Tryptophan 500mg instead of 5htp 50mg, and I also gave the GABA 500mg.
My question is, should I not supplement with these right now while I am detoxing her with the liquid fasting, is it going to interfere with her body resetting itself or should I supplement with Gaba and Tryptophan it isn’t going to interfere? I started 4 days ago with 100mg of 5HTP, there wasn’t much changes that day. Then I read your article about supplementing GABA and 5htp together, so I gave 50mg 5htp, and 500mg GABA the second night. Lo and behold, she slept through the night without waking up once. She was having major anxiety during the night, and it was gone with supplementing those two at night. So the next day in the AM I gave 50mg 5htp and opened up the 500mg Gaba and gave only half of that, so about 250mg. She was fine with that. Then I made the mistake that night and gave her some glutamine, after reading how much it would help to heal her gut, and that’s when all hell broke loose, she totally freaked out and went into fight or flight, and I remembered her reacting to glutamine the same way 7 years ago. So I tried to counter that with extra GABA (50mg 5htp and 1000mg GABA instead of 500mg) after reading it may help the anxiety, and it worked, she stopped after a while and went to sleep, slept through the night again. So glutamine is out for good.
After reading that I should supplement on the afternoon, instead of morning, yesterday I tried to hold out till I could (till she started to get agitated and very OCD), till about noonish, when I gave her 50mg 5htp and 500 mg gaba. She was mellow and more manageable for the rest of the day, but wanted to take a shower about every hour. I think it has to do with sensory also. Last night again 50mg 5htp and 500mg gaba, again slept through the night, at least 8-9 hours. She woke up this morning early, and took a shower on her own. Again, I tried to hold out to give her the supplements, but about 10am she freaked out on her dad telling her not to wash her arms, so it was time to give her the supplements. So this morning I gave the 500mg Tryptophan and 500mg of GABA.
After reading all these above, what is your thought? Thank you so much for your input, I really appreciate you. Any chance I can email you in private also?
Kristina
It’s wonderful that the amino acids are already helping her sleep, anxiety and OCD.
I’m afraid I can’t provide specific feedback via the blog but can share that anxiety, insomnia, aggression and OCD are common in autism and often tied to low serotonin. And I would consider either tryptophan or 5-HTP in a client with similar symptoms. And when symptoms are earlier in the day I have clients use the amino acids earlier.
Keep in mind the effects of birth control pill – Oral contraceptives cause low vitamin B6 and zinc, reduce serotonin levels and increase anxiety https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/oral-contraceptives-cause-low-vitamin-b6-zinc-reduce-serotonin-levels-increase-anxiety/
The amino acids help so much with hormone issues but working with a functional medicine practitioner and getting hormone saliva or urine tests is very often helpful too.
I’m sure you’re aware that stopping a psychiatric medication cold-turkey is not advised and there can be rebound symptoms that may be challenging to differentiate from other symptoms.
My book includes diet and supplement information – you can see the table of contents here https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/the-antianxiety-food-solution-by-trudy-scott/
Thank you so much for your response. She was on the lowest dose of the psychiatric meds, so the psychiatrist said there isn’t really much I can do other than just stop giving the pill. Thank you for the information about the birth control pills. Interestingly it fits the picture of her test results, she has very low zinc and very low B6. Besides that she has a high Sodium/Potassium ratio which I found out can cause aggressive behaviors, and high mercury, tin, lead, antimony and bismuth. I just can’t figure out where are this being absorbed from. Interestingly my husband’s test results for heavy metals were almost identical to my daughter’s. The only common denominator is the water they drink and take a shower in. We are on a well, but our drinking water is treated by reverse osmosis. Any thoughts on that? Thank you so much for responding to my post.
Kristina
Having the prescribing psychiatrist monitoring is always a good plan.
With heavy metals we consider water, wood burning in the home, forest fires, air pollution from traffic/factories, amalgams, paint, kitchen items and also maternal sources (via the placenta)
What I forgot to mention above, is that she has a leaky gut, hence the liquid fasting, so her gut would heal. I am anticipating to be on the diet for about 4 weeks and slowly introduce foods back. Sorry for my rambling above, I am a desperate mama.
So interesting and helpful, the swing and EFT info. Thank you!
Hi, Trudy…have you ever heard of Seropure, a supplement endorsed by Dr. Greenblatt for OCD? If so, have you had any experience with it? Have any of your clients taken it with SSRIs? I am on your waiting list but am trying to do some research on my own about OCD.
Stephanie
I’m familiar with Pure Encapsulations Seroplus which I believe Dr. Greenblatt helped formulated. It appears to be a good product but I have yet to use it with clients as I prefer individual amino acids such as tryptophan and using inositol like I describe in this blog. This product also only has 500mg inositol which often isn’t enough for OCD. It also contains 5-HTP so would not work for someone who does better with tryptophan.
Since it doesn’t contain 5-HTP this means the serotonin syndrome precautions do apply.
Very interesting! I do not tolerate 5-htp at all and was taking tryptophan just 500 mg in the am . I’ve recently stopped and have been taking bacopa supplement and that is having the same effect in taking away depression and anxiety . NAC is a huge help in taking away repetitive intrusive thoughts for me . Especially the nonstop brain chatter
Jean
Thanks for sharing and glad you’ve found what works for you. Interestingly bacopa works on supporting both serotonin and dopamine https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3746283/ It also offers neuroprotection, increased cerebral blood flow and more. I am curious why you switched to bacopa and if it’s also helping with memory.
Great to hear NAC helps in this regard. It has also been shown to help with repetitive/obsessive behaviors too like Trichotillomania /hair pulling https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/trichotillomania-nac-gaba-tryptophan-inositol-zinc/
Thank you for all your work! I saw your talk in the Super Trauma conference and immediately went and read your book. I suspect I am low in all 3 neurotransmitters, and have noticed the biggest difference in supplementing with DPA. I started taking all 3 supplements by swallowing and switched to taking them sublingually after I got used to the idea.
My question is about tryptophan in particular. I struggle with nightmares already so am a bit wary of trying 5-HTP. I tried taking mid afternoon and before bed but it made me way too tired in the afternoon. Is it okay to just double the dose right before bed? How safe are these amino acids in higher doses? I was also wanting to add an evening dose of DPA to help with cravings. Thanks again!
Amanda
Great to hear DPA is helping – please do share how it’s helping you and how much you use. Adding an evening dose can help with endorphin-related cravings too.
Many of my clients just use tryptophan at bed time and don’t even need a higher dose. And it’s only a few folks who get nightmares from 5-HTP. Be sure to read the pyroluria chapter in my book and about low B6 and nightmares.
I share the top of the range for dosing in the aminos chapter but have had some clients need higher doses. The clue is symptom relief.