Natural Way to Get to Sleep
 

Has anyone tried L-Tryptophan?

I have stumbled across a totally natural insomnia cure for myself and my husband. Now, keep in mind, this works for me. Everyone is different and particularly if you have medical concerns, it is best to double check with a doctor before trying something new.

However, I am so excited about this, I wanted to mention it because I know insomnia is a common problem and folks who frequent this thread are interested in how supplements might be beneficial in helping with health concerns.

I am very sensitive to Melatonin. Even a 1 mg. tablet makes me a little sleepy in the morning. Not sure...but I think this is unusual. From what I have read, most folks take between 1 mg. and 3 mgs. a night and do fine with this. This caused me to start to experiment.

What I ended up with:
1/4 tablet of Melatonin (.25) and
250 mgs. L-Tryptophan (I buy the Pharmaceutical Grade Quality from the health food store)
( I also take a Calcium/Magnesium Tablet at night that may help a little with this issue).

The Melatonin and the L-Tryptophan dosages I am taking are really small, but combined they work unbelievably well for me and do not leave me feeling groggy in the morning.

There was a big problem with L-Tryptophan having to do with a bad batch that caused big time health problems for people. It was removed from the market. It has now been re-introduced. There seems to still be some controversy...but less so. I will only by the pharmaceutical grade. If anyone has has any good documented info. on this...please post.

Also part of my new routine:
Some nights I take a bath with AHAVA dead sea bath salts. I found a cheaper version of this on-line, but while shopping the other day at a beauty supply shop I saw it there and the shop owner gave me a discount. It is WONDERFUL!!! The salts seem to relax the muscles.
I also put on a relaxation tape.

This routine is REALLY helping.
Better than any medication w/ no grogginess in the morning.

re L-tryptophan---
 

I use this occasionally, especially when I use my light visor
during the dark days of winter. I find 500mg (the lowest dose)
to be very strong for me so I only use it twice a week on average. I sort of get a hangover from it sometimes.

L-tryptophan has returned and the Peak X toxic thing is over.
(some believe it never was true anyway--that the drug companies esp Lilly funded the ban so Prozac would have no competition.) It was available for years for pets, and people were just buying that so the ban was finally lifted--I think it was last summer.

Tryptophan is used to make serotonin with B6. Then serotonin is converted to melatonin with B12. Using methylcobalamin is best and often helps sleep problems if enough serotonin is present.

So one must have good B6 intake, and good B12 levels for tryptophan to work.

Thank you Mrs. D!
I'm taking nice amounts of B6 and B12.
I have to take my L-Trophtophan tablet and divide it to get the smaller dosage. When I took the 500 tablet, it made me a little spacey. It seemed like the smaller dosage was sufficient...especially when I threw in my other "extras" like the sea salt bath.

I still think melatonin is bad if you're under a certain age or just younger than 35. but at small amounts it is probably the most helpful and not so bad. it is a hormone and I always hate messing with hormones.

as for tryptophan sounds good, I may try one day using it instead of my anti-depressant to see if it works.

this has nothing to do with vitamins, but I do generally find, if I use my go-lite in the morning. and keep the stimulation at night to a minimum, maybe try shutting off the tv and or computer early, or just abstaining from either helps. and keep my room cool i find that i get better sleep.

Yeah, I use it every Thanksgiving..:D
The tryptophan in the turkey puts me out every time.

another thing...
 

Amino acids compete with tryptophan at the blood brain barrier.

When you eat a meal high in tryptophan (turkey and chicken have comparable amounts), and also high in carbs (like at Thanksgiving with cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes, and other goodies), you increase insulin levels. Insulin drives the other aminos into the muscles, leaving tryptophan a clearer path thru the blood brain barrier.

So if you take l-tryptophan at night, have a little (and I mean little) sweet thing. It will be more effective that way.

...any particular brand of l-tryptophan? I, too, am very sensitive to meds and to melatonin. I would like to try the l-tryptophan. And I don't want to waste money on the wrong stuff...:o

I use the NOW brand...
 

NOW has a great history of quality, and affordablility.

Some tryptophan makers really charge an arm and a leg for it.

Here are two pages as examples of the various brands:
http://www.iherb.com/Search.aspx?c=1&kw=tryptophan

http://www.iherb.com/Search.aspx?c=1...ophan&p=2&sr=0

iherb carries the same brands as local stores for much much less $$. Their shipping is not expensive either.