Posted by nolvas on July 11, 2009, at 4:11:55
In reply to Does 5-HTP have more side effects than L-Tryptoph?, posted by SAMe-old on July 10, 2009, at 11:10:02
tryptophan > 5-HTP > serotonin
If you give your body Tryptophan then it will decide how to convert it, tryptophan also gets converted to Niacin and auxin hormones. If you give your body 5HTP then you are bypassing the body's natural process of taking the raw ingredients and deciding how it processes them. The Enteric nervous system, is like your second brain, it's located in your gut, it's a network of neurons, neurotransmitters and it's effectively a brain in yout gut, a complex entity of it's own. There are many many Serotonin receptors in your gut, 5HTP gets converted to Serotonin. When you supplement with 5HTP you are likely to have more Serotonin affecting gut receptors than taking L-Tryptophan on it's own. 5HTP has more side effects in terms of gut problems than L-Tryptophan. Serotonin is implicated in depression and anxiety but it's certainly nowhere near the sole factor. The human body is a vastly vastly complex organism, when we supplement we are thinking in simplistic terms, if I take A then effect B will happen. Both Tryptophan and 5HTP can increase anxiety and they can also decrease anxiety, you can start out with increased anxiety and it will subside eventually in a few weeks such as with SSRI drugs, or you can have reduced anxiety at first and it possibly increase in the future. It depends on your biochemistry, when we supplement we are going in blind and experimenting, much as a doctor does when prescribing drugs. 5HTP logically is likely to have more side effects than L-Tryptophan, but there are many factors involved in how you respond to either supplementm such as genetic factors that may cause problems with synthesis of Tryptohan enzymes, which are needed to in each stage of conversion in the Tryptophan pathway.
I'm not against supplementing with either supplement, just take the minimum recommended effective dose for the condition you wish to treat and try the supplement for a worthy amount of time, i.e don't give up after a few days unless you really can't tolerate any side effects, if there are any.
I have experimented for many years with supplements, I once tried Inositol at 12 grams per day for treating panic and anxiety, it was not effective, I changed brands as well half way through the 3 month trial. So I gave Inositol enough time to work or not work for me, and in hindsight there is very little evidence that Inositol is effective for treating panic and anxiety. Just a few Israeli studies really. L-Tryptophan especially and 5HTP to a lesser extent have been studied with respect to treating panic and anxiety. The only way to find out is to try.
poster:nolvas
thread:906022
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20090410/msgs/906186.html