[Mark in Idaho]

I have been working at transitioning off 60 mgs daily of Paxil. I told my new doctor first so it is in my medical record if I have any problems. We could not find any information about dosages so we decided to wing it. The original plan was to reduce to 45 mgs of Paxil and add one capsule of L-Tryptophan. The minimum capsule size is 500 mgs so I cut the Paxil to just 30 mgs thinking 500 mgs was a lot of L-Tryptophan.

I realized by the 2nd day that 500 mgs was not enough so I doubled to 1000 mgs with my 30 mgs of Paxil. I realized I needed more in the morning so I added 500 mgs of L-Tryptophan at bed time with my gabapentin. I have been doing great with this dose for the past week.

In a week or two, I will cut back to 15 mgs of Paxil and add some more L-Tryptophan. Hopefully, I will be off the Paxil completely in a month or 2.

My goal has been to get away from the Paxil side-effects. The sweating, nausea, and sexual dysfunctions have been unpleasant.

I think adding L-Tryptophan to a daily regimen may work good for many who are struggling with anxiety. It also helps with sleep.

L-Tryptophan metabolizes to 5-HTP which metabolizes to Melatonin and Serotonin. Although 5-HTP is cheaper than L-Tryptophan, 5-HTP is risky to take as one can overdose on it. It is more difficult to overdose on L-Tryptophan.

A starting dose of 500 mgs twice a day would be worth trying. Doubling that should not be a problem. Do not take L-Tryptophan without medical advice if you are taking an anti-depressant, especially an SSRI or SNRI . Effexor and Cymbalta, and norepinephrine are SNRI's. Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa, Lexapro and Prozac are SSRI's. Elavil (amitriptyline), a tri-cyclic anti-depressant, nortriptyline, a tetra-cyclic anti-depressant and MAOI's should not be combined with L-Tryptophan.

Natural remedies like St John's Wort and other natural substances that increase serotonin should also not be taken with L-Tryptophan or any anti0depressant.