Mark, I am new here, and this is the first thread I have read, due to an internet search that brought me straight here. I read the entire thread, and noticed your pattern of recommending diet/nutrition and vitamin supplements, as an alternative to taking the neurotransmitter supplements which are intended to directly influence neurotransmitter levels.
But based on what I have studied, while certain foods do contribute to neurotransmitters such as serotonin, the amount is negligible, therefor requiring heavier dosages found in supplements like 5HTP.
And going from diet to vitamin supplements - I was not aware that any vitamins actually affected neurotransmitters much either.
So, could you clarify exactly what diet choices and vitamin choices are valid substitutes for specialized supps like Neuroscience's neurotransmitter support, and how they do it ?
Thanks

The concept is getting the brain to work properly rather than using the neurotransmitters directly that may become a crutch for the brain.

There are foods to avoid to lessen the negative impact. Then there are the supplements to take to help the brain detoxify and work stronger. We are discussing vitamins, especially B vitamins on another top listed thread.

What symptoms are you dealing with?

Have yo had a head injury?

I have had several head injuries.
It started when I was an infant. I was told later in life, that my babysitter dropped by infant body onto the hard tile floor where I landed right on my head.

Then as an early teenager, I was playing neighborhood football, and was struck by someone literally almost 3 times my size, with his entire weight and force landing on my head. I was unconscious for several minutes.

Then, recently had a mild concussion where my head struck the side of a pool really hard, but was not unconscious.

As for my symptoms, I responded to your question about that, with a list of them in my introductory post/thread. ** ... the thread is titled "Introductory Post with Questions" : http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...588#post820588

**

A concussion during the early teenage years can be the toughest to recover from. The brain and body is going through so many changes that healing is a struggle.

Have you ever had a NeuroPsychological Assessment?

It may help to define your symptoms. Then, you can develop strategies to work with those conditions/dysfunctions to get your life back. As you gain coping skills, your stress levels will decrease which will improve your chances of true healing. A brain overwhelmed with anxiety and such will struggle to heal.

The anxious and depressed brain is a toxic waste dump that needs cleansing. Strong vitamin and other supplementation worked wonders for me. I am a basket case without my supplementation regimen. Just ask my wife.

Havn't had NeuroPsycholigical testing that I'm aware of. Does it go by any other name ? I've had the qEEG brain mapping done, which they told me was consistent with effects from a head injury, but I went through that same treatment center's 2 month program of neurofeedback, that but didn't help that much.

Can you elaborate on the vitamin supplementation, on what specifically needs to be taken ? Or is it tailor-made for the patient, based on his individual condition ?

So I tried the vegan diet then i began experiencing dizziness & then it lead me to other health problems... Found out i have both antibodies so i have hashimoto's, hypothyroidism, vitamin D deficient, & eveen though my Naturopath didnt say anything bad about my iron(said me normal) everyone that i show my results to said i am anemic.. The results are in range but the Iron in the high end & Ferritin in the low end. I did the adrenal test kit phrmasan labs & i am told they are a bit off even though steady. She gave me travacor & kavinace & naturethroid(thyroid med). So i started with the naturethroid & had heart irregularities & I added the travacor & kavinace & they increased & got worse. After 2 weeks+ of taking thyroid med i stopped cause it was getn worse! I continued with the travacor & kavinace (x2at bed time) & the heart issues seemed to get worse on 2x kavinace (2weeks+). I told my doc i wanted to stop all meds until i get rid of these heart issues! I am still waiting on them to go away. I am now left with symptoms i didnt' not have b4 starting these meds... like now i wake up at night heart irregularities, anxiety, bad sinus pressure & my dizziness/lightheadedness is worse than ever!! I am scared to go back on the travacor & kavinace . I add something that i learn is good for one thing but find out it only makes one of my other deseases worse so i am exausted with trying to do the right thing & fix myself. I have given up being a vegan & slowly tried to introduce meat into my diet... i will try to stick to grass fed organic meats etc... in hopes that i can raise my iron since my doctor doesn't want to put me on iron supplements cause it will turn toxic according to her.

I am confused cause one of the things she gave me ingreases gabba & but my gabba results are elevated... why would she give me more?

I currently take Vitamin d3, go out in the sun (i never went out) calcium mag, zinc, b12 liquid, & want to add vitamin b complex & any other suggestions? I would like to find something natural without the horrible side effects of travacor to fix my adrenals. PLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEAAAAASE!!! HELP!!! ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am trying to eat a gluten free diet, I never eat processed sugar, i eat sea salt(real salt brand), Brown rice farina(2servings) in the morning with sea salt, raw vanilla, & org cinnamon, either a green juice(with red/green leaf lettuce, granny smith apple, 2-3 cellery, 1 carrot, 1\4 bell pepper, or cooked kale/collards/greens for the morning, & for a snack i eat 6 brazil raw nuts or org brown rice (salt free) cake with tahinni & raw tiny bit of org honney. . I
Either beans with romaine lettuce tomatos, onions, lemon, & avocado for lunch or brown rice gluten free pasta with sauteed onions, tomato, x3-4 squash(green or yellow or mexican), or instead of the squash i will add brocolli & cauliflower (limit this 1-2x a week) Or sometimes i eat two eggs cooked in coconut org oil & salsa with a gluten free brown rice bread. I am trying to eat meat too but I don't know how to cook it? i know i did a bad thing by eating at carl's jr but i am so desperate to get rid of this dizziness & get my life back. . I bought some free range grass fed org chicken patties & want to learn how to cook them betr than the crappy instructions say...i want to bake them.
Here is a link of some of the info that scares me even more into not taking

Your questions might be better in the Nutrition forum at http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum49.html

Hi,

I read your post and you seem to be very knowledgeable about supplements. I was recently diagnosed with adrenal fatigue/exhaustion and have been prescribed travacor and calm-prt. I'm very weary of taking any pills because I believe in the body's ability to heal itself with a little help from nature. I am concerned though. I took the Calm-Prt and I noticed my anxiety flared up to the same point it began when I first noticed my body was going into exhaustion. The Travacor makes me very sleepy and it is hard to stay awake at work. Which makes me a bit confused because the prescription was to take it in the morning. I stopped taking the calm-prt altogether I'm a young gal and I have never been this sick in my life! This experience has been scary because I have been on a roller coaster ride of symptoms ranging from panic attacks, constant anxiety, insomnia, depression, GI disturbances, menstral irregularities, it's been horrible and it's already been almost 2 months since I've had symptoms. I've been doing everything from acupuncture, massage, herbs; I was even prescribed anti-anxiety and anti-depressants which I've never needed in my life! I never took the anti-depressant because I knew that pills were not the solution. So I was wondering if you had any suggestions that may help calm these flair-ups and allow my body to heal

There is a poster here that is using Vit B5 for adrenal issues:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread165169.html

And:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread156416.html

These are two of his posts.

Once you post a short while, you'll be able to PM (private message him).

But you can go on either thread I linked to here, to discuss things with him openly.

Hi,

I was recently diagnosed with adrenal fatigue/exhaustion and I too have been getting told to try this and to try that. I was placed on herbal therapy which seemed to help for a little while but then it reached a plateau. I was prescribed anti-anxiety and anti-depressants which I never took because I've never needed such things in my life and the side effects are considerable. So recently I was placed on travacor and clam-prt which I had a horrible paradoxical effect with the calm-prt. Instead of feeling calm it induced a massive anxiety attack from sleep, which is one of the symptoms I was having in the first place! The travacor was prescribed to me to be taken in the morning but it makes me so sleepy, so it doesn't make sense to take it before you start your day! So I feel your pain I'm totally trying to take a holistic approach because I too don't believe in western ideologies. I think pharmaceutical companies are out to make a buck. The intention of the medications are good but the side effects just end up breaking down other organ systems that probably started off healthy and then where are you at? Back to square one, only this time something else is broken I just ordered this stuff called Happy-Calm-Focused. It is a completely natural amino-acid nutritional based supplement that is suppose to help dramatically with brain function and regulation. They have a web-site if you google it so I will try it out and let you know how it goes.