I wonder what exactly amytriptyline or similar SSRIs do to lower pain. 5HTP is a well recognized supplement to help with sleep and depression. I wonder if people with TOS and chronic pain have had good success with it. I heard a talk by author Julia Ross and was very impressed with her knowledge on 5htp and other amino acids. I think Gabba was supposed to help with pain. She has it pretty well laid out in her books Diet Cure, Mood Cure... and might be worth a read. But what I really liked was that she has a clinic to treat people. Rachel, if you cannot tolerate traditional drugs you might want to find a qualified professional that can assist you with trying supplemtents that you may be able to tolerate better. But professional knowledge is necessary. They would know to tell you to never combine 5htp with ssri etc. Just because something doesn't require a prescription doesn't mean its safe to add to one's regimen. Seapines, I applaud you for being very smart and haveing someone with advanced knowledge be aware of everything you are taking, prescription or not.