I have taken it in the past with no problems, 400 a day at some point but quit, wasnt sure it did anything,though it may have helped my knee pain, but I have started to get joint pain since starting gaba and thought I would try it again. thanks MrsD!

Hopeful, wanted to say hi and hope you are doing better! Thinking of you and keeping you in my prayers!

As a reminder... SAMe is not for people already taking some type of antidepressant. It is for "instead of" use only.

Do you mean me? I didnt think gaba was an antidepressant, but an anti seizure drug? Sorry if you are not talking to me.

Gabapentin is a drug, which affects nerve signaling. It is not an antidepressant.

It is not GABA which is something different. GABA is a neurotransmitter for the inhibitory neurons.

This thread is for Hopeful, who is having problems with drugs that affect neurotransmitters. I just forgot to add that last statement to my last post, that is all. It may pertain to some people here but not all.

Im sorry hopeful, I did not mean to hijack your post. Hope you are feeling better! :hug:

L-tryptophan or 5-HTP?
 

....That is the question!

There's no shortage of opinions on this, and some are—quite aptly—dependent on what they're being taken for—antidepressant discontinuation syndrome, anxiety, chronic pain, depression, fibromyalgia, insomnia/sleep, other...

I dug into it briefly (albeit intensely) when my DW/caregiver/soulmate recently tapered off Celexa/citalopram (SSRI).

It was like....

Quote:

MRS. DR. SMlTH: CAREGlVER, RETlREE.__SEARCHlNG FOR A WAY TO TAP lNTO THE HlDDEN STRENGTHS THAT ALL HUMANS HAVE.__THEN AN lNTENTlONAL REDUCTION lN DOSE OF ClTALOPRAM ALTERED HER BODY CHEMlSTRY.__AND NOW WHEN MRS. DOC GROWS ANNOYED WlTH DOC OR OL' FURFACE, A STARTLlNG METAMORPHOSlS OCCURS!__THE CREATURE lS DRlVEN BY RAGE AND PURSUED BY AN lNQUlSlTlVE RETRlEVER/SLOBBERMONSTER. [MRS. DOC:] "FURFACE, DON'T PEEVE ME OFF.__YOU WON'T LlCK ME WHEN I'M PEEVED OFF!" __THE CREATURE lSN'T WANTED—YET—FOR A MURDER SHE JUST MlGHT COMMlT.__THE OLD (RAY OF SUNSHlNE) MRS. DOC lS FEARED TO BE DEAD, AND THE WORLD MAY THlNK THAT SHE lS DEAD, UNTlL SHE CAN FlND A WAY TO CONTROL THE RAGlNG SPlRlT THAT DWELLS WlTHlN HER! http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KiZAO11S73.../20101113a.jpg

Articles/studies going back 20+ years made convincing arguments both ways; both have their pros & cons. To me it seemed that L-tryptophan has a better safety profile, but I think anyone considering these supplements should read the available literature and decide for themselves—maybe make one of them "Plan A" and the other "Plan B".

So far, despite one uptick in dosage, the tryptophan is working great! :D

Doc :D

Hello all,
Mrs D and Dr Smith really do appreciate all the information. I haven't had a chance to read it all yet but I wanted to say thanks. I haven't started the tryptophan yet because I haven't been on the site to see all of your answers.

I probably will not be able to get it until the end of the week since I'm down my daughters trying to potty train my granddaughter. Not going so well but just started today. Ii is fun being with her.

I got a call from my doctor today. I think something is going on with me. First high b/p now high cholesterol. My total is 246. My LDL is 178. My HDL has come up from 39 to 46 so that is good. In case your wondering I was fasting.

I just don't understand all of this. I am a healthy eater. I do have dark chocolate everyday but not a lot. I eat oatmeal everyday. As my husband said I can't change my diet much more.

I'm starting to think there is something wrong with me that caused the SNF, all the pain, my changes is b/p and cholesterol. I have had runs of a-fib over the last year. I wore a monitor and the cardiologist said he saw it but it's not enough to worry about. Also had a medical stress test. They wouldn't let me do the treadmill because of my neuropathy.

I do feel my heart pounding at times. This was well before the Wellbutrin. This is crazy and personal but sometimes when I think it is my heart I end up with my stomach feeling like it is full of gas.

I know one thing, I'm not just going to keep going on different drugs for each new problem.
That appears to be their answers to everything!

Stacey no problem you did not hijack anything. We all have questions we need to ask. I hope you are doing well also!

We'll if anyone can think of a connection with all of this please let me know.
As always thanks to all!

Ps Dr Smith I love the cartoon and have to say it looks familiar although the last few days on the increased dosage of Wellbutrin I'm not so crazy.

Pretty much. This is the way most western doctors are trained; treatment for injury/disease is most often either surgery or medications.
emphasis mine

Some doctors are branching out/expanding away from that—holistic medicine, osteopathy, integrative medicine, et al. I don't have a problem with these alternative approaches if/when they have a solid basis/foothold in science, but IME some can stray a bit far into the fringe (i.e. pseudoscience). I hear/see the term "cutting edge" bantered about but IME that phrase is also used as a smokescreen; sometimes the borders/delineation between medicine & quackery can be blurred/vague. In many/most cases (with some notable exceptions), only time will tell if they pan out or not.

It was an attempt to parody the opening narration to The Incredible Hulk (1978 TV series).

It seemed like a funny idea at the time... :o

Doc

You were right it is funny! It made me laugh out loud. I showed it to my daughter and son in law yesterday. They got a kick out of it!