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Glutamine for hypoglycemia/low blood sugar: “500mg mixed in water works in 15 minutes and keeps me going for 2 – 3 hours”

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glutamine and hypoglycemia

Cat shared this feedback about how effective just 500mg of glutamine is for her low blood sugar and how quickly it helps:

I recently followed one of your posts on GABA down the rabbit hole to a linked blog post and then to another post where I found a mention of using glutamine for hypoglycemia. This is the only reference that I have read on this in 35 years of research on the subject. I follow a low carb, higher protein, healthy fat diet, but still suffer low blood sugar issues consistently at one particular time of the day. After so many years of eating a second breakfast to prevent the lows, I was ready to give any other healthy option a try.

It works!!! I found a powder that I mix approximately 500 mg of with water. It works within about 15 minutes and keeps me going for about 2 – 3 hours — long enough to reach a reasonable time for lunch.

I’m thrilled to have this option as anytime that I travel, low blood sugar becomes a huge issue as I suffer from ketotic hypoglycemia and end up with massive headaches and vomiting for 6-8 hours.

You have freed me from a huge weight! Thank you and hugs!

(And thank you for researching and sharing the tremendously helpful information in your books, webinar presentations and blogs.)

Thank you Cat for sharing your success and you are most welcome! I’m sharing this as a blog post because you may also be new to this.

Glutamine dosing, using powder vs capsules and using it on the tongue

Cat finds 500 mg glutamine works well for her unique needs. This is a good starting dose. I see many folks start too high, like 5000 mg / 5 g and up multiple times a day, and it’s not necessary. However, we increase based on individual needs and you may find you do need to use 500 mg -1000 mg two to three times a day.

Using a glutamine powder is a great way to use it especially if you find you do need more than 500 mg each time.

One thing I mentioned to Cat is when you use glutamine powder directly on to the tongue (rather than mixed in water), the benefits are seen more quickly i.e. right away rather than having to wait 15 minutes.

If you do start with glutamine capsules, be sure to open the capsule on the tongue too, But watch for fillers which can be irritating to some folks. Powders are typically glutamine-only and don’t taste bad at all. But when traveling, capsules may be a better option (at least when on a plane).

Ketotic hypoglycemia, adrenal dysfunction and breakfast

Ketotic Hypoglycemia International defines ketotic hypoglycemia as “a condition characterized by low blood sugar (glucose) and elevated ketones, typically occurring after fasting, like sleeping overnight. Ketotic hypoglycemia (KH) is not a disease itself but rather a symptom or a clinical presentation that can occur as a result of various underlying conditions.” I’ve asked Cat if she is aware as to what is causing her ketotic hypoglycemia and I’ll report back.

I have also asked if she has had salivary cortisol testing done as adrenal dysfunction plays a role in all types of low blood sugar and will need to be addressed. This can take awhile to test and figure out nutritional support. Until then, glutamine is wonderful for preventing low blood sugar episodes.

I’m also curious what her breakfasts look like and will update the blog when I find out. Cat does mention that she follows “a low carb, higher protein, healthy fat diet” so I assume her first breakfast is a good one. But it’s always something to confirm.  As you can see on this blog, Anxiety and Hypoglycemia Symptoms Improve with Diet Modification, a healthy breakfast is key for blood sugar stability and preventing anxiety.

Low blood sugar symptoms and all the ways glutamine may help

This is the blog she commented on: Glutamine for calming, intense sugar cravings, gut healing and low blood sugar

I share all the symptoms we see with low blood sugar:

  • Crave sugar, starch or alcohol any time during the day
  • Irritable, shaky, headachey – especially if going too long between meals
  • Intense cravings for sweets
  • Lightheaded if meals are missed
  • Eating relieves fatigue
  • Agitated, easily upset
  • Nervous, anxious, panic attacks

As you can see, in addition to helping with low blood sugar symptoms, glutamine has calming properties (low blood sugar can also cause anxiety and panic attacks), helps reduce intense sugar cravings (sometimes described as a demonic urge to eat all things sweet and also helps with healing a leaky gut. Be sure to read these two blogs I’ve linked to above.

Glutamine has also been researched to help with addiction recovery. In this blog, An amino acid supplement with DLPA, glutamine and 5-HTP eases alcohol withdrawal symptoms at an inpatient detoxification program, glutamine is paired with two other amino acids.

Resources if you are new to using glutamine and other amino acids as supplements

We use the symptoms questionnaire to figure out if low blood sugar may be an issue for you.

If you suspect blood sugar or 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 topic has an entire chapter), 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.

I really appreciate Cat for sharing her story and giving me permission to share as a blog.

Has glutamine helped you with low blood sugar/hypoglycemia? If yes, in what way has it helped – reduced anxiety, less sugar cravings (or other addictions), and not as irritable and cranky/angry?

And how much helps and how quickly? Are you using it on the tongue?

Has glutamine  also helped with leaky gut?

If you’re a practitioner are you using glutamine this way with your clients/patients?

Feel free to share and ask your questions below.

Beware! Too much licorice tea can cause hypertension even if you have low or normal blood pressure

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licorice tea and hypertension

A 45-year-old woman presented to her general practitioner with a 4-month history of hot flushes, sweating and headaches. On examination, she was found to be hypertensive, and blood tests revealed mild hypokalaemia [low potassium].

While awaiting the results of further investigation into the cause of her elevated blood pressure, the patient conducted her own research and identified liquorice tea [licorice tea] as the potential cause of her symptoms. The patient had been drinking up to six cups of liquorice tea per day as a substitute for caffeinated tea and fruit-based infusions.

The patient immediately stopped consuming the drink and within 2 weeks her symptoms, hypertension and hypokalaemia, had entirely resolved.

This case report, Hypertension induced by liquorice tea, is eye-opening because this woman had always had low blood pressure and so she ignored the small print on the box that states “not advised for people with hypertension.”

I often see this caution about avoiding licorice if you have high blood pressure (hypertension). But I have yet to see a warning on a box of tea about the fact that licorice can actually cause high blood pressure with high consumption – even when your blood pressure is low or normal. I feel the latter aspect is not as well known, which is the reason for this blog.

I’m also sharing this case report and additional information because something similar has just happened to me (more on my story below).

Here are a few more facts about this patient’s case:

  • She went to her doctor “with a history of hot flushes, night sweats and headaches. These symptoms had started over the preceding 4 months. The patient suspected that her symptoms were due to the onset of menopause.”
  • Initially her blood pressure was 162/82 and “Repeat blood pressure measurement confirmed ongoing hypertension of 150/80 mm Hg”
  • “Blood tests demonstrated mild hypokalaemia” (i.e. low potassium of 3.3 mmol/L).
  • Two weeks after she stopped drinking the licorice tea, “repeat blood pressure measurement was 128/84 mm Hg and her hypokalaemia (and other symptoms) had resolved.”

I encourage you to read the entire published case report to get an understanding of the mechanisms of licorice mediating “its effect on blood pressure via the action of glycyrrhizin on the kidney.” And the impacts on sodium, potassium, aldosterone, cortisol/cortisone and blood pressure. I will add that this is one of many such case reports in the published research.

My story with elevated blood pressure after drinking Yogi Throat Comfort tea

As I mentioned above, I’m sharing this case report because something similar has just happened to me! I had been drinking Yogi Throat Comfort tea for just over a week to soothe my throat and help after my voice loss. It contains licorice root as well as slippery elm and other herbs.

My blood pressure is typically low at 110/80 or less (sometimes as low as 102/80) and last Friday it was 130/80 which is the highest it had ever been.

I didn’t make the connection to licorice right away because I had just flown internationally from Hawaii to Australia and we were sprayed with insecticide on the plane when we landed in Australia. We all had to sit there in the toxic soup for 10 minutes. (I’ll be sharing more about all this in a future blog).

I suffered severe vertigo the next day and it was at the doctor’s office that I found out my blood pressure was 130/80. I was very surprised but he felt it could be due to the travel or vertigo or voice issues. I also know that bereavement can have major physiological impacts and increased blood pressure is one of them (I was in Hawaii for my darling mom’s memorial).

I finally made the connection when my blood pressure measured 137/84 a few days later and stopped drinking the tea immediately. Over the next few days it came down to 127/93 and then 121/90 and then 118/84.  I expect it to continue to come back down to my normal low blood pressure and will update this blog when it does.

As far as symptoms, I was just not feeling myself and had a strange feeling of apprehension, spaciness and breathlessness when talking too much. These are much improved having stopped the tea. My naturopath also recommended eating a banana each day to increase my potassium levels and to have epsom salt baths to help regulate the electrolytes in my body.

I will admit there are the above confounding/contributing factors – grief, voice loss, travel, vertigo, insecticide exposure – so I can’t be sure it’s only the licorice in the tea, and I’m not willing to test it out right now.

(Update Oct 13, 2023:  A week later and it’s now pretty much back to my usual low blood pressure. Over the course of this last week it measured 125/82, 118/91, 127/84, 118/85 and today it’s 112/85. I will continue to track.)

How much licorice tea is too much?

The authors of the above case report mention this about the dose of glycyrrhizin:

  • Experimental studies have shown that the rise in blood pressure caused by liquorice follows a linear dose–response relationship. Doses of as little as 75 mg of glycyrrhizin (equivalent to 50 g of standard liquorice confectionery) given daily for a 2-week period have been shown to cause a significant increase in systolic blood pressure (the first number).
  • In a survey of 33 brands of liquorice tea, the mean glycyrrhizin content was found to be 126 mg/L (range 2–450 mg/L). A cup of liquorice tea with a volume of 250 mL could therefore be expected to contain, on average, approximately 31.5 mg of glycyrrhizin.”
  • The European Scientific Committee on Food advises that regular glycyrrhizin doses of 100 mg/day present a risk to health, and advocate a safe average daily intake of no more than 10 mg/person/day. This is an amount equivalent to less than half a cup of liquorice tea or just 6 g of liquorice confectionery daily.

In the above published case, the patient had been “averaging around 4–6 cups per day, and had been consuming the licorice tea for about a year.” She was “unwittingly consuming daily volumes of liquorice tea containing up to 190 mg of glycyrrhizin, well in excess of the recommended limit” of 10 mg per day. It was 8 months before she started to notice the adverse effects, but I do wonder how long she had high blood pressure.

We have a home blood pressure monitor but I haven’t used it for ages and if I hadn’t gone in to the doctor for my vertigo, my elevated blood pressure may have gone unnoticed for a while too.

How much did I consume: a total of 10 Yogi Throat Comfort tea bags over the course of a week. The day before leaving I had a few cups of hot tea and was thrilled to be able to talk on my last day there.  I then drank it all day on the 15+ hour flight back: I had 2 tea bags in my 2 liter / 2 quart water bottle and filled it up a few times with cold water.  And I continued to do this once I was home, having it next to my bed if I woke up coughing in the night. I was probably getting 3 or 4 times more than the safe average daily intake of 10 mg/person/day.

I love licorice tea and drink it from time to time, maybe 2-4 cups a month. I’m quite surprised it affected me so quickly but have never consumed this amount and in such a concentrated time period.

Will I drink Yogi Throat Comfort tea or other herbal teas that contain licorice?

For now, I think I will – the Throat Comfort tea helped so much with my voice – but when I do I will monitor my blood pressure carefully and then make a final decision.

I also plan to dig a bit further into some of the confounding factors I mention above to see how they could possibly have made me more susceptible.

I do also have dietary oxalate issues so this could play into the effects of glycyrrhizin on the kidney. I’m finding mixed results on the oxalate content of licorice: some papers say high and some say low. But I didn’t have any of my typical oxalate reactions such as painful feet or eyes. I have, however, noticed some stiffness in my left hip the last few days so will be looking further into this aspect.

(Update Oct 13, 2023: Licorice tea is listed as low oxalate on the Trying Low Oxalates Facebook group but they will be updating their spreadsheet based on a paper I just shared with them – Oxalate in Foods: Extraction Conditions, Analytical Methods, Occurrence, and Health Implications “Licorice was the highest-oxalate food reported in this review with 3569.3 mg total oxalate/100 g FW (fresh weight).” (this is higher than spinach, sweet potatoes and rhubarb which are really high oxalate)

My takeaway messages – a warning and listen to your body

There is no licorice hypertension warning on this Yogi Throat Comfort tea box (or my Tulsi Licorice tea) and I do feel there should be 2 warnings: the usual warning about licorice if you have high blood pressure AND a general warning that licorice may also affect you if you have low or normal blood pressure.

My other takeaway message is this: listen to your body and get checked out when things don’t seem as they should be.

Has something like this happened to you? How much licorice tea did you consume, which brand and over what period?

Do you typically have low blood pressure and were you also caught by surprise?

Did you know about the caution to avoid licorice if you have high blood pressure?

And what about the fact that licorice may also affect you if you have low or normal blood pressure?

Feel free to share and ask your questions below.

5-HTP for a calm brain, and a racing mind at night: questions and answers

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5-HTP q and a

5-HTP is an amino acid, made from the seeds of an African plant, Griffonia simplicifolia, and used as a supplement to ease low serotonin symptoms. With low levels of serotonin you’ll experience the worry-type of anxiety with ruminations, obsessing, panic attacks, insomnia (often lying awake worrying). This type of anxiety is different from the low GABA physical/tension type anxiety. Other low serotonin symptoms include low mood/depression, late afternoon and evening carbohydrate cravings, pain, digestive/IBS symptoms, PMS, irritability, rage and anger, TMJ, low confidence, imposter syndrome and perfectionism.

When I share my low serotonin blogs on Facebook I receive so many great questions about 5-HTP. Today I’m going to share some of these questions and my answers so you can get the benefits too.

Gail asks why 5-HTP stopped working for her when it had been working so amazingly well:

I took 5-HTP and it worked amazingly….for about 6 months. Then it did nothing. Any idea why?

I took 100 mg per day. It’s hard to explain, but it calmed my brain down. I wasn’t so quick to blurt things out during the day and at night I was able to sleep because my mind wasn’t racing. Nothing else changed at that time. That was a few years ago, I think I’ll buy more and try again

I would guess that something did shift around the 6 month mark and would try and identify what it was so you know for the future. It could have been accidental gluten exposure (from the diet or even cosmetics), hormonal shifts (perimenopause or menopause), adding collagen or gelatin on a regular basis (this can lower serotonin in susceptible folks) and/or changes in thyroid health.

If you have pyroluria and were exposed to major stresses (life stresses or toxic mold etc.) you’d lose vitamin B6 and this could affect serotonin production. The addition of the birth control pill and antidepressants can also deplete vitamin B6. I share some possible reasons for low serotonin on this blog on imposter syndrome (as mentioned above, imposter syndrome is a common sign of low serotonin).

With these wonderful benefits Gail experienced, trialing 5-HTP again is worth considering. Because 5-HTP works so quickly she’ll feel that sense of calm right away and she won’t blurt things out during the day (possibly caused by lack of confidence and/or irritability and/or anger?). Also, her mind won’t race at night, she’ll fall asleep quickly and will stay asleep, waking rested, calm, happy, confident and optimistic.

And in future if something like this happens again, I’d try to identify the cause and bump up 5-HTP temporarily.

Wendy asks about headaches as an adverse effect:

What do you recommend if 5-HTP gives you headaches?

Headaches are not a common adverse effect with 5-HTP (compared to the amino acid tyrosine which is recognized to cause headaches and migraines in susceptible folks).

Even if you are seeing benefits – for the worry-type anxiety and other low serotonin symptoms – with 5-HTP you don’t ever want to push through with something like headaches and continue to take it. I have clients use less 5-HTP and observe if they still see the benefits with no headaches.

We also make sure low serotonin is the issue. If it’s not then any amount of 5-HTP will either do nothing or cause adverse effects. If the issue is low serotonin then I have clients do a trial of  tryptophan.

If the 5-HTP is being used to ease low mood/depression caused by low catecholamine or low endorphins depression then neither 5-HTP or tryptophan is going to help and may cause adverse effects. And tyrosine and/or DPA are better choices.

Gerry asks this question after my interview on Your Best Sleep Ever Summit:

Great talk Trudy. When you want to increase serotonin, do you take both 5-HTP & tryptophan or just one or the other?

They can be used alone or both can be used together. I like to have clients add one new amino acid supplement at a time so we know what is working before confounding things with another one. I typically start with tryptophan for low serotonin support simply because I have such good results with it and because 5-HTP can raise cortisol in some folks.

We start with tryptophan mid-afternoon and evening (after doing a trial earlier in the day to make sure it helps).  If tryptophan causes adverse effects or doesn’t work then we do a trial of 5-HTP and then use it afternoon and evening (when serotonin levels tend to drop).

If tryptophan is working in the afternoon and evening, and additional support for worry or ruminations or panic or anxiety is needed earlier in the day, we may consider 5-HTP which can often also help improve focus. We may also consider tryptophan earlier in the day too.

It’s very individualized and we may mix and match to find the ideal combination and dosing based on trials and symptom resolution. It’s important to be aware that some folks do better on 5-HTP and some do better on tryptophan.

Here are some useful blogs related to low serotonin and the amino acids:

As always, it’s not only the low serotonin we need to address. 5-HTP offers quick relief but we must always do a full functional workup looking at diet, nutritional deficiencies, digestion, all hormones, toxins and infections (and so on) so we can address all possible root causes – and why serotonin is low in the first place.

Thanks to these folks for asking good questions and for allowing me to share here.

What questions do you have about 5-HTP?

Which low serotonin symptoms can you relate to and has 5-HTP or tryptophan helped? Or have you found success with a combination.

Feel free to post your questions and feedback in the comments below.

Tryptophan ends TMJ pain, headaches and worry, and improves mood and sleep: a success story

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tryptophan success story

Today I’m sharing a success story on how the amino acid tryptophan, taken as a supplement, ends  TMJ (temporomandibular joint) pain and headaches in a woman in my community. She had the added benefits of an improved mood and less worrying and her sleep improved too.

There is evidence to support the low serotonin connection to TMJ and pain like fibromyalgia and I share that research below.

Before I share the success story, in case you’re new to neurotransmitter imbalances, the other symptoms we see with low serotonin are the worrying-type of anxiety, panic attacks and phobias, lack of confidence, depression, negativity, imposter syndrome, PMS, irritability, anger issues, insomnia and afternoon/evening cravings. Tryptophan can be used to boost serotonin levels and improve these symptoms as you’ll see below.

Right after speaking on the recent Trauma and Mind-Body Super Conference, Renee shared her wonderful success story on Facebook:

Out of all the interviews I felt yours gave the most actionable steps. I was taking amitriptyline for TMJ and didn’t like the side effects, however what other options did I have? Not many according to my GP [general practitioner]. Luckily I found your suggestion of tryptophan. And I can’t explain how much of a change it made! I weaned off the medicine and took tryptophan instead and not only did it help the TMJ but also helped me feel more even emotionally.

I am being referred for trauma therapy and I am optimistic that I will be discomfort free soon.

So huge thanks for sharing your knowledge. It helped me at a time when I was really starting to think there were no ‘natural’ options and conventional meds were all I could take.

I checked in with her, thanking her and acknowledging her wonderful feedback. I also asked how much tryptophan made this difference and how quickly she saw an improvement. And what side-effects she was seeing with the medication. She shared this:

I am a week into taking tryptophan, and I’m taking 500mg. I saw improvements with the TMJ within an hour of taking it. My jaw felt loose and I had no headaches, I also felt more ‘even’ mood wise. Like an underlying worry had gone. [worry is a classic symptom of low serotonin – more on that here]

I also had some stress yesterday that usually would have made me crumble, but instead I was able to stand up for myself and see subjectively the extent of the issue and resolve it. I am amazed!

My original medication (amitriptyline) had given me extreme dry mouth, which I found hard to manage, the headaches were also not relieved as much as I had hoped, plus I was having sessions of palpitations.

I haven’t had any palpitations from the day I started tryptophan whereas the dry mouth took some time to subside.

These really are wonderful results and typical that we’d see results this quickly with tryptophan if the root cause of the TMJ and headaches is low serotonin. It can sometimes take a few weeks to find the ideal dose but Renee found it with the initial trial amount of 500mg.

The tryptophan also improved her sleep (and the palpitations and dry mouth side-effects from the medication stopped):

I was struggling to get to sleep and stay asleep, suffering bouts of insomnia, prior to any medication. I still am sleeping well taking tryptophan which I am pleased about.

She did however share that the timing of the tryptophan was making her too sleepy too early in the evening and she was planning to shift the timing:

I am finding tryptophan is making me feel drowsy in the evening, so I am trying different times during the day to take it. Hopefully I can push back the tiredness to perhaps 8/9 at night to coincide with bedtime.

My advice to her was that I have my clients use tryptophan MA (mid-afternoon) and evening and if MA makes them too sleepy they just do an evening dose. That can be enough for TMJ the next day. Sometimes more than 1 x 500mg in the evening is needed for easing TMJ and headache pain that night and the next day too.

I did check with her about weaning off the medication as cold-turkey quitting of psychiatric medications are dangerous and not advised. She shared this:

I weaned off over 1 week, but I was only in it for 8 weeks in total before I found tryptophan.

A slow taper under the guidance of the prescribing doctor is always recommended (more on this for amitriptyline/Elavil withdrawal here).

Here is some research supporting this serotonin/TMJ connection:

…both temporomandibular disorders myalgia (TMDM) and fibromyalgia (FM) have been linked to central and peripheral changes in serotonin availability.” (tryptophan is not used in this study which also makes the serotonin/anxiety connection)

Over the 4 weeks of the study, there was a greater reduction in reported clinical pain and a greater increase in pain tolerance threshold in the tryptophan group than in the placebo group. The tryptophan group was given “three grams of tryptophan in conjunction with a high carbohydrate, low fat, low protein diet.”

If you suspect low serotonin symptoms and are new to using the amino acids and do not have my book I highly recommend getting it and reading it before jumping in to taking supplements: The Antianxiety Food Solution – How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood, and End Cravings.

There is a complete chapter on the amino acids and one for pyroluria, plus information on real whole food, sugar and blood sugar, gluten, digestion and much more.  If you’re not a reader there is now also an audible version.

Here is the Amino Acids Mood Questionnaire from The Antianxiety Food Solution and additional information on Anxiety and targeted individual amino acid supplements: a summary

Please also read and follow these Amino Acid Precautions.

This lists The Antianxiety Food Solution Amino Acid and Pyroluria Supplements that I use with my individual clients and those in my group programs.

We appreciate Renee sharing her success story. Please share your TMJ/headache tryptophan success story if you have one. And feel free to post your questions here too.

I have chronic insomnia and I started getting headaches with GABA, 5-HTP and melatonin

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A combination of GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) and 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) can often improve sleep duration more than the use of either of these two amino acids alone. I blogged about this and the supporting research published in 2016.

Eve asked this question about her chronic sleep problems and headaches that she suspects are being triggered by the supplements:

I have chronic insomnia and I have been using 100mg 5-HTP, 250mg GABA and 1mg melatonin during the night for a week but the second day I used them I started getting a headache. Do you have idea what happened and can you please help me?

I shared this feedback about each person having unique needs and that I trial one amino acid at a time to find the ideal dose and then once we have a good baseline with good results and no adverse effects, we add the next one if needed. With 3 new supplements being started at once, we don’t know which one may be helping and which one (or more) is causing headaches.

A reminder I give all my clients is NOT to push through with the amino acids when you are experiencing any adverse effects. Headaches are more common with tyrosine rather than 5-HTP or GABA but too much of any one of the amino acids may cause a headache and with some folks, even a small amount can cause a headache especially if it’s not needed. At the first sign of a headache my advice is to stop the latest supplement added and see how you do. If 3 where started at one time, as in this situation, stop all 3 and add them back one at a time, watching for headaches and benefits.

Eve didn’t say which GABA product she was using. Source Naturals GABA Calm is the one I most often recommend, and the small amount of tyrosine could be causing her headaches. If this is the case, a switch to a GABA-only product or a GABA-theanine product may be what is needed.

It’s always important to also review the amino acid precautions before use. If you have migraines, tyrosine may make them worse.

But I do want to also add that some folks cannot tolerate 500mg tyrosine at all and yet they do just fine with the 25mg of tyrosine in the GABA Calm product (and sometimes up to 75mg of tyrosine when three GABA Calm lozenges are needed at once).

It’s also good to be aware that some folks do better on tryptophan versus 5-HTP so if it is the 5-HTP that is the problem I’d consider a trial of tryptophan. The best way to do that is to replace the 5-HTP with tryptophan (and I recommend Lidtke 500mg tryptophan).

You want to also look carefully at each of the products in case there are fillers that could be causing the headaches.

If it turns out that none of these are working i.e. the problem with sleep isn’t because of low serotonin and low GABA, then we ask these questions and address them:

  • is there a gut issue i.e. is there candida, parasites and/or dysbiosis?
  • is night-time cortisol high?
  • is gluten or other grains an issue? or was there accidental gluten exposure?
  • is caffeine or alcohol consumption a problem?
  • is there EMF and WiFi exposure?
  • are there medication side-effects?
  • has there been mold exposure or some other environmental trigger?

Have you had issues when trialing amino acids for sleep or anxiety and then figured out what the problem was?

WiFi modem with a public hotspot causes seizures, vertigo, headaches, insomnia and heart palpitations in a woman with a history of West Nile virus

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This recent research illustrates the harmful effects of a new type of wireless modem, enabled for both personal use and functioning as a public hotspot: Exacerbation of demyelinating syndrome after exposure to wireless modem with public hotspot. The public hotspot feature was designed to reach up to 100 meters (or 328 feet which is close to the length of a football field).

Here is the entire abstract since it explains the situation so well:

In August 2003, 48-year-old JS of Colorado, USA, a fitness therapist and sports nutritionist, contracted neuroinvasive [i.e infecting the nervous system] West Nile virus which left her with disabilities due to spinal axonal damage.

In August 2014, she suddenly developed symptoms very much like her acute West Nile infection 11 years ago, including focal seizures, ataxia, vertigo and headaches. Her blood count looked normal so there was no obvious infection. What struck her as odd was that when she left her apartment for any length of time, the symptoms stopped.

She found out that a new type of wireless modem, enabled for both personal use and functioning as a public hotspot designed to reach up to 100 m, had been installed in the flat under hers. Her neighbor replaced the modem with a router without the hotspot feature. After that, the seizures stopped immediately, and the other symptoms faded gradually, after which she was fine and again could sleep well.

Later, when another activated hotspot was installed in an adjacent flat, JS once again noticed symptoms.

A possible association between electrohypersensitivity, myelin integrity and exposure to low-intensity radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) typical in the modern world has recently been proposed.

Since the West Nile virus attacks both the nerve cells and the glial ones, one explanation to the above observed case effects is that the initial virus attack and the wireless modem’s RF-EMF affect the nervous system through the very same, or similar, avenues, and maybe both via the oligodendrocytes [i.e. the myelinating cells of the central nervous system].

Here are a few of the other symptoms she reported before discovering that it was the public hotspot that was causing her symptoms:

  • losing sensation in her face, neck and torso
  • tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
  • allergy symptoms like those of severe hayfever
  • difficulty concentrating
  • poor fine motor control
  • impaired short-term memory
  • pain in the facial bones, especially the cheeks, jaw bones and the roots of her teeth
  • numbness and tingling
  • difficulty breathing and swallowing (more pronounced after exertion)
  • dizziness
  • elevated morning fasting blood sugar levels (up 25% from usual to 100 mg/dL) and then back to normal 2 weeks after the hotspot was disabled
  • fight or flight reaction for the first 2–3 weeks, which then turned into fatigue and apathy with little accomplished during the day

These symptoms all dissipated when she wasn’t home. Once home in the evenings, her desire for sweets increased and her sleep was also impacted:

In the evening, her appetite was much increased and she craved sweet food, which was not usual for her. She became sleepy at the usual time, settling down between 10.30 pm and 11 pm and could fall asleep, all as normal.

However, within 1–2 hours, she routinely woke suddenly having had very vivid, disturbing dreams and with a pounding heartbeat. This was usually followed by a seizure, sometimes focal, where one part of her body (primarily right arm) would be shaking. Other times, her whole body was shaking.

She also noticed more severe symptoms when the modem with the activated public hotspot was closer to where she slept i.e. distance was a factor. On bad nights, after waking, she would sometimes go and sleep in her living room which was further away from the modem.

After a seizure, she slept fitfully, unless she moved to sleep on the couch in another room. There, JS found she could fall asleep quite quickly and sleep through the rest of the night.

When in her bedroom the modem was just 20–30 feet away and when in the living room it was about 50–60 feet from her (plus an additional wall), both of which weakened the signal.

It should also be noted that JS used a cell phone, a wireless router and a computer and had no problems from any of these – it was only the modem with the public hotspot that was problematic.The study authors shared that

The hotspot antenna almost certainly has a considerably higher transmit power as this would be needed to increase the effective transmit range for users in the area.

Other possible causes/mechanisms are reported as follows:

  • the pulse width of the beacon signal
  • an additional pattern or stroboscopic effect, or double intensity set up by the simultaneous transmission of the private and public hotspots

However, do keep in mind that for some people with electrohypersensitivity, simply using a cell phone and WiFi can cause symptoms.

Do you know if your router has this public Wi-Fi hotspot feature turned on?

Do you know if your router has this public Wi-Fi hotspot feature turned on? Many people do not and are fuming when they find out – I know I was!

JS discovered this as a result of a pop-upon her mobile phone:

From before the episodes occurred, JS kept her mobile phone WiFi disabled while at home. The day after she began having symptoms in August, she had temporarily enabled the WiFi feature while out shopping and when she came home that day, a pop-up appeared informing her she was in a free Xfinity WiFi zone.

In this article two Comcast customers sued the company for turning their Xfinity Internet routers into public WiFi hotspots saying “Comcast’s actions pose risks to subscribers and are taken without seeking their authorization.” They objected to the increase in customers’ electricity costs, the impacts on network performance and network security concerns.

However, they don’t even raise the issue of potential harm from a public WiFi hotspot that is activated on a modem in your home or one nearby.

In fact this site that offers instructions for disabling this public WiFi hotspot on your Comcast Xfinity router states that “We don’t necessarily think you have to disable this feature, as it seems to work fine — we haven’t heard any horror stories or reports of problems yet.”  

I would consider this case study to be a horror story that is not common knowledge and needs to be. JS was seriously harmed on two occasions by modems with public WiFi hotspots. In both instances the home-owners with these modems were not even aware they had these public hotspots activated and very quickly had them disabled once they found out what was happening to JS.

The study authors conclude that this case study strongly indicates that:

emissions from these new wireless modems could cause physical harm for those susceptible to that type of radiation.

My questions are this:

  • How many people are not even aware that their modem has this public WiFi hotspot feature enabled?
  • How many other people like JS are being seriously harmed by modems with public WiFi hotspots?
  • How many people have chronic issues like problems falling asleep, waking in the early hours, agitation, anxiety and heart palpitations – all possibly caused by a public WiFi hotspot on their modem or on a modem next door or even down the street?

I consider JS to be the canary in the coal-mine and her story is a good lesson for all us to wake up and get serious about WiFi and EMFs.

Here are some other blogs posts I’ve written about WiFi and EMFs:

Do share what you’ve experienced with modems that have public WiFi hotspots activated and if you can relate to any of the symptoms JS experienced?