http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...highlight=saga

Tryptophan was taken off the market in the early 90's due to contamination during manufacturing by an unknown substance then called Peak X--which showed up on gas chromatography during analysis.

There was a brief rash of EMS syndrome with a few deaths, that was linked to high dose tryptophan. Now this connection is less believed. And tryptophan has been trickling back. There were some vet products for animals on iherb a couple of years ago, and then compounding pharmacies started selling it online, and now it is back in proprietary products for humans.

The general feeling in the alternative community was that Lilly was behind its withdrawal, since Prozac had been just launched, and people were using tryptophan instead of the more expensive Prozac. This was during the senior Bush administration, and the Bushes have $$ ties to Lilly.
and here is another spin:
http://psrast.org/demsd.htm

I don't know why all of a sudden it is back. The bottle I received is sparkling NEW ...I've never seen such a thing! You almost need sunglasses to handle it LOL. It does not look like it has been on a warehouse shelf at all! it has a 2009 exp date.

A few months ago I received a huge catalog of products with an order by NOW. Tryptophan wasn't in it. So the big push has just started for it again.
My product is NOW brand. Magazines are advertising it as well, this summer.
GNC has it, but it is much more expensive than the one I purchased.

I would only suggest anyone who plans on trying this to go slowly.
I have only taken one...since you need an empty stomach for best results.
And I did not wake up during the night like I typically do.
But since I didn't like 5-HTP... I am going slowly until I start using my visor again. That will probably be in Oct, since I feel pretty good this summer without it. I'll keep you all posted on it.