Originally Posted by Mark in Idaho

Please slow down as you read my comments. You are mixing things up.

[So just using drugs to make your brain work... yeah this really sucks.]

Do you eat so your brain has sugar and other nutrients?

5-HTP is to take the place of the SSRI. It is not a drug. It does not heal anything. Your body already used 5-HTP. It makes it from Tryptophan. If the brain is not requesting enough tryptophan to convert to 5-HTP, you will have a serotonin and melatonin deficiency.

The only side effects from 5-HTP comes when you take TOO much, usually much more than 500 mgs a day. The therapeutic value comes at dose much less than those that cause side-effects.

What are the Lexapro side effects like? It list the same side effects as the paroxetine that I took. YUCK.

Many labs have a broad range of 'normal' for B-12 and folate. The injured brain often needs the high end of the normal range.

B-12 range is often listed as 200 to 900 picograms per milliliter (pg/mL). I try to stay at 1000 at my doctor's recommendation. I take 2000 mcgs of Methylcobolomin B-12 twice a day.

Folate should be 20 or more.

B-12 and folate help maintain the blood brain barrier.

I had struggled with anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, chest palpitations and such on and off since I was 10 years old (1965) when I had my worst brain injury.

I did not get any help until the early 1980s. I learned how to help my brain function better with nutrition and other supplements.

Another event in 1998 and 2001 magnified my problems.

The 5-HTP helps with the anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, chest palpitations. I would get triggered into severe anxiety attacks by over-stimulation. I have rescue Klonopin and propranolol for those events. I have not needed it since I switched from an SSRI to 5-HTP.

You must decide that you are your best help. Doctors cannot do much. They prescribe meds that have limited effectiveness.

There are many injuries and illnesses that cannot be cured or fully healed. Try breaking an ankle badly. I know many people who broke their ankle and ended up needing to have their foot and lower leg amputated. Bones are supposed to heal...... But not always.

Yeah. Life is not perfect. But, we can decide to move on.

If you get stuck in a pity party, I can point you to YouTubes of people who have severe disabilities who get on with their lives. Check out Andy Detwyler at the Harmless Farmer channel.

We may need to just accept our limitations and find new ways to get on with life.