Everyday Systems: nosdiet: message 2309 of 3212

Note: This is an archived message from our old discussion software. Join the current discussion here.

    

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Debbie Feder" <deborahfederlmt@...>
>Ha ha! I am replying to myself! How verbose :)

Truly funny, Deb! I didn't know we were allowed to do that or I would have 

done it myself. =P

>This is the "guinea pig" update on how 5-HTP "worked" for me, 
as I have 
>used it for a few days now....Well folks, I just feel totally 
>braindead....It's like someone has injected pureed Turkey into my 
>blood...LOL I can say, that if you have any problem with falling asleep or 

>severly agitated depression, this suppliment would be a good addition, as 

>it really makes you feel pretty sedated...

I wasn't really paying attention when you wrote this, but now I am. You may 

remember, but years ago we could buy L-Tryptophan as a supplement (it's just 

an amino acid, and yes, it's the one that's supposed to be high in turkey 

though I've recently read that it's no higher, or not much higher, in turkey 

than any other meat). Well, as a teenager I had some trouble with insomnia 

and L-Tryptophan was supposed to be the best natural product to address 

that--I think my grandma told me about it?--and it worked great. All you 

had to do was take one on an empty stomach.

A few years later, one batch of the stuff (from Japan?) was contaminated and 

someone got sick or maybe died, and the FDA snatched it all off the market 

and you haven't seen it since. I was able to order some on the Internet 

recently for my grandma who wanted to try it again instead of Melatonin (now 

the obvious choice for insomnia), but it was terribly expensive. I don't 

know why the FDA won't let Tryptophan come back but oh, well, they do a lot 

of things for political reasons and I can't get into all that.

Maybe you know all this, sorry! But anyway, I've been told that 5-HTP turns 

to Tryptophan in the body--it's the "precursor" to it (? if I recall...). 

So I would say you should only take it at night if you expect to have 
trouble sleeping. If you are groggy in the morning, try a half. If still 

groggy, try a quarter. That's what we do with Melatonin. Bodies change, 

too...I used to be able to take one Melatonin if needed and now I usually 

take a half. When I say "usually," I only mean when I want to go to bed 

early but I know I'll lie there awake too long.

You said:
>I am quitting it though, because I don't like feeling like my "getup and 

>go, got up and went" I can't concentrate on even very simple things, and 

>even though I have had a very full night of sleep, I am having a doozie of 

>a time waking up....So that's it for me with 5-HTP... No other major side 

>effects, and my mood really hasn't improved or worsened....

So, were you taking it during the day? I am just curious. For a better 

mood I think there are other supplements better recommended, but perhaps 

you've tried them.

We can (should?) continue off list if this goes on much longer!
Diane