Posted by DSCH on August 11, 2003, at 17:21:58
In reply to Re: Dexedrine fatigue » DSCH, posted by Zenclearer on August 11, 2003, at 15:37:11
> What's DLPA?
It is synthetically-made racemic phenylalanine (PA, an amino acid), meaning that it is 50/50 dextrorotatory (D-) and laevorotatory (L-) (i.e. half "left-" and half "right-handed").
L-phenylalanine is the basic building block for dopamine, norepinepherine, and epinepherine. Most of us should be getting plenty of it through our meat-rich American diet but who knows what might be happening in each of us individually?
D-phenylalanine is less common in nature but nevertheless can be converted within the brain to the neurotransmitter beta-phenylethylamine (PEA). I've also read somewhere that D-phenylalanine slows the breakdown of natural endorphins by inhibiting the enzyeme enkephalinase, but I'm not certain I've got that straight at the moment. PEA has been widely bandied about as a "feel good" and stimulating brain agent that gets released in large quantities when we are falling in love with someone. There is a web page swiped from a poster session at a conference that claimed a lab worker who got symptoms of Parkinson's disease after an bio-contaminating lab accident was helped by D-PA. It's in one of my earlier posts (look for "Fantastic Four" in the subject).
You can buy 100% D-PA or 100% L-PA. But why not try dual action and get both? It's cheaper too. The D-PA cannot be used to form the L-monoamines so it doesn't compete with the L-PA for that. A while back 3 Beer Effect posted that the PAs cross the blood brain barrier quite readily which is not true of L-tyrosine (which is the halfway stage between L-PA and L-dopa and has also been recommended as a "brain booster" amino acid suppliment).
poster:DSCH
thread:249973
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030807/msgs/250099.html