Posted by Larry Hoover on December 12, 2004, at 22:23:19
In reply to Re: James South - anyone tried his recommendations? » Larry Hoover, posted by MKB on December 12, 2004, at 14:28:44
> There must be tremendous variation among individuals. The 500-1000 mg Tryptophan I take nightly is quite sufficient. I can't imagine needing any more serotonin than what this is already producing. It seems to me that one should introduce these various products slowly and cautiously to avoid spending unnecessary dollars and to protect one's health.
Oh, absolutely, titrate upwards in dose, with caution. But I would add one more provision. Just as with a drug, titrate upwards until side effects make further dose increases unreasonable, or until remission of symptoms. Of course, there's always a possibility that the stuff just has no effect in a given individual (the empty wallet effect), but hey! Mama Nature don't make promises.
Anyway, I can think of numerous reasons why the dose-response to tryptophan can be so varied. There are known genetic variations in the transporter that pumps tryptophan across the blood/brain barrier. There are known genetic variations in the activity and efficiency of the first enzyme acting on tryptophan, tryptophan hydroxylase. The essential B-vitamin cofactor for that enzyme, tetrahydrobiopterin, is inefficiently produced by some people (Ray has been pushing biopterin, also known as BH4). The next enzyme also has variants in activity level, and also requires its own B-vitamin cofactor.....
Even when you know in general what sort of intervention you want to try, you're still left with doing the experiment. Even geeks like me have to do the experiment, because there are things that just can't be predicted.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:419594
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20041212/msgs/428628.html