I was wondering if someone could give me a little advice on taking 5htp, humanbean i came across one of your posts about 5htp and took all that on board you are very knowledgeable!
My questions are -
1. which brand is best?
I was going to try the solgar brand but cannot find a 50mg dose?
So I have purchased the biocare brand instead as that has a 50mg dose bottle, and ok price..
2. Do I take the one with only 5htp in it?
I see some of them contain 5htp amongst other things like magnesium and b vitamins…
3. If I feel no difference after 2 weeks do I up to 100mg?
Any advice will be very appreciated!
Thank you 😊
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I never buy 5-HTP with other ingredients included. I prefer to make my own choice of types of B vitamin / magnesium I take and which dose I take.
Yes, after a week or two if you don't notice a difference you can up the dose.
I don't know what the maximum safe dose of 5-HTP is because my dose has always been very low. I know that some companies sell 400mg or even 800mg doses, but personally I would be worried about taking that much even if I could tolerate it.
Bear in mind that 5-HTP raises cortisol, which is why starting low and increasing carefully is essential.
Another issue is that, imagine your ideal dose is 200mg per day. You might find it more helpful to take 100mg in the morning and 100mg in the evening, rather than 200mg in one go. So you would need to work out not just the total dose you need but how you take that dose to get the most out of it.
I've been taking 5-HTP at 50mg per day since 2011 and have had no undesirable or worrying effects from it. I have also reduced my dose in just the last year or two and haven't had any withdrawal problems from it either. That could just be because my dose is so low, but I have no idea whether others on larger doses would get withdrawal problems.
As for best brand, I haven't really got one. I buy whichever product I can find with the right dose for me which has a decent number of reviews that say the product works for them - but I am aware that reviews are often fake. The other thing I'm aware of is that 5-HTP doesn't work for everyone so there are guaranteed to be negative reviews from people who say it did nothing for them. My husband tried my 5-HTP (although he is not depressed) and grumbled when he said they didn't do anything. I'm not sure what he expected since he isn't depressed!
By the way, those Biocare 5-HTP are rather expensive. Personally I would go for something cheaper - if you can find it.
I've just noticed that some of the manufacturers on Amazon are making it very difficult to find what you want. I just found this one (NOT a recommendation!) :
and thought it was a 50mg tablet. But it isn't. It's a 400mg tablet according to the title/description. And on the back of the packet it says it provides 100mg 5-HTP per tablet!
I found more options on the Shopping tab of my search engine rather than using Amazon where sellers seem to be competing to confuse and obfuscate their potential buyers :
Thank you for your advice, yes they do make it very hard, I recently ordered the solgar brand of 5htp and I had typed in 50mg so presumed thats what it was as said in the title, I only noticed on the bottle after I’d already taken one, that they actually contained 100mg of 5htp didn’t notice any ill affects thouh and still slept ok..My biocare 50mg have arrived today so I am going to take one each night before bed, I really hope they help my moods and anxiety, I’ve suffered for far to long…
Hi humanbean,As u have been in 5htp for years and also have high cortisol like me I wondered if I could ask some advice…?
I have been taking a 50mg of 5htp by biocare each evening for 5 nights now and the only thing I have noticed is I feel alit more groggy in a morning and hard to wake up, and my mood has not got better, I feel a little worse!?
I am currently on my mentrual cycle which also alters my mood drastically every month too so not sure whether it’s that!?
Thinking maybe I try progesterone cream not sure u know anything about that either?
You could stop taking it now, and then try it for a week at a different point in your menstrual cycle. But if that doesn't make a difference then it would appear that you are a non-responder or a poor responder and shouldn't take it.
Another thing that I've read some good reviews of for depression and anxiety that could be worth your while to investigate is SAMe. I have absolutely NO experience of this at all.
SAMe is actually S-Adenosyl methionine and obviously the full name can be searched for but the abbreviation can't because it is such a common word.
Thank you for your advice/knowledge.I think I am going to give the 5htp the full 2 weeks and see how I go, if I feel worse and no improvement I will then give the saMe a try 😅😌
Also can I ask which brand of 5htp u currently take? I’m wondering if the biocare brand is not suiting me? Does the brand make a difference? i.e quality of the ingredients/type of fillers? Thank you
I have bought various brands over the years and haven't had any problems with them that I can remember. I can't recall ever having the same symptoms as you describe.
I've looked at my past orders from Amazon and have bought these brands of 5-HTP in the past three years :
Natural Foundation Supplements
Best Naturals
Oxford Vitality
If I was going to give a favourite it would be a tie between Best Naturals and Oxford Vitality and the other one wouldn't be far behind.
And some bad news...Some info I'd forgotten...
SAMe is a problematic product to buy. It cannot be sold in the UK apparently, but can be imported from other countries that sell it e.g. the USA. And it is extremely expensive.
Some really, truly ancient advice I read about SAMe from TPA (another thyroid forum - Thyroid Patient Advocacy) a few years ago is this :
beware - there is no point in buying any old SAMe - it has to be pharmaceutical grade and individually foil-blister packaged. The enteric coated tablets disintegrate and become poisonous when exposed for some time to air. I have been taking SAMe for years now - 800 mg per day (2 tablets) - and it is helping to keep at bay the pain of my osteoarthritis, keeps my liver clean, stabilizes my mood .... but all this comes at a price. I buy mine from vitacost in the US... I use vitacost's own brand, but others like 'Doctor's Best' are equally good.
Oh - and there is no point in looking to buy SAMe in the UK - it's prohibited to be sold here (EU regulations), but it is legal to import it from the US.... customs charges will apply, of course...
Just want to add my two cents to start slow like half a 50 because I couldn't tolerate it at all. Probably due to cortisol issues. If you're fine after the half then take the full 50.
I have never heard or read such anecdotes before and I've been taking 5-HTP since 2011.
I tried GABA several years ago and it did nothing for me.
I would consider it likely that someone who got such severe effects from taking 5-HTP must have started on a huge dose rather than starting at a low dose and working upwards at a sensible rate.
I just discovered today for the first time that some manufacturers are selling tablets or capsules with a dose of 800mg. I take 50 mg. I can't force people to be sensible in their dosing or to do their research before buying any supplement.
By the way : 5-HTP and tryptophan are not the same substance.
For the biochemical relationship between the two, see this diagram :
Tryptophan is in the top left. 5-HTP is just below it in the left hand column, and is a metabolite of tryptophan. 5-HTP is metabolised into serotonin and melatonin.
The only other thing I can think of that is being reported by Lizzo30 is that she has heard a story from nearly 35 years ago where a single Japanese manufacturer of tryptophan tried a new method of making it in a lab and ended up poisoning and killing lots of people who took their product, mostly in the USA. Tryptophan was banned for many, many years in many countries including the UK and it was that poisoning that made manufacturers start using 5-HTP instead of tryptophan. But I notice that tryptophan is no longer banned in the UK - Amazon UK sells it.
Tryptophan is the precursor to 5-HTP that is precursor to serotonin. I have read the enzymatic reactions needed for these conversions require good levels of iron.
I’ve been using Dr Vegans Night for better sleep. It only contains a small amount of 5-HTP with other well known sleep inducers such as magnesium, camomile, etc, and recommended by the ThyroidUK nutritionist Melissa Cohen.
raddThank you for your advice, it’s greatly appreciated, I don’t really struggle sleeping to be honest, it’s more my moods and anxiety that I struggle with, depression On and off moods up and down, I’ve supplemented for years u name it I’ve tried it! My iron levels are great and I take ferrous fumurate as a Maintenance dose daily now it’s at a good level, I’m hoping 5htp improves my moods, I’ve been avoiding antidepressants for years… so fingers crossed 🤞
That is quite an alarming and disturbing statement which may be distressing for some members to read, please provide evidence for this in accordance with forum posting guideline 15:
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Hi, I don't know anything about this topic, but I just stumbled upon Trudy Scott. She's written a book, The Anti-Anxiety Food Solution, and has a blog.
Great book. I bought it a few years ago and started 5htp It worked for me for a while but recently tried it again for depression and didn't help. Dr Janelle Sinclair on you tube has some very good videos on natural supplements and how to take them
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