[ProAgonist]

Supplements are a great way to help our brains recover from the trauma, and to also feel better while in the process of recovery.

I feel there are some mistakes people do with supplements that are sometimes potentially dangerous.

Here are a few warnings you should know about supplements:

1. Vitamin B6 is an important vitamin, since it is mainly required for the synthesis of neurotransmitters (it is a cofactor). High doses (especially 100mg+) of B6 are suspected of being neurotoxic, causing neuropathy with extended use. The nerve damage from overdoses of B6 can be either temporary or permanent. The recommended daily intake is 1-2mg, but most supplements contain 50mg or more, at least 25 times the recommended daily intake (especially in B-50 Complex supplements). B6 toxicity cannot happen when it is supplemented from natural sources, because it is easily degraded by the body when no more is needed. Therefore, if you want to take B6, try to find a supplement with doses as close as possible to 1-2mg of it.

2. 5-HTP is a supplement sold for improving anxiety and sleep issues. It is metabolized to Serotonin in the body and in the brain (it can cross the blood-brain-barrier). The problem here is that serotonin is cardiotoxic, causing damage to the heart valve (by activating 5HT-2B receptors on it), which ultimately requires an heart valve replacement surgery. Rats treated with long-term, high doses of serotonin show heart valve damage. There is no solid evidence for this kind of toxicity happening in humans, but it is heavily suspected that it's possible. Therefore, if you take 5-HTP, you should take it with an AAAD inhibitor - AAAD is the enzyme that converts 5-HTP to serotonin outside of the brain. An inhibition of this enzyme will cause the 5-HTP to be metabolized ONLY inside the brain, leaving the heart unaffected. A good inhibitor of this enzyme is EGCG, which is found in green tea and can be bought as a supplement itself. Also, make sure not to take too high doses of 5-HTP if you do.

Now, I have a few questions to people who already take supplements here:

1. Is Magnesium potentially neurotoxic? Antagonists of the NMDA receptor (such as Ketamine and Dextromethorphan) produce Olney's Lesions, a type of brain damage, when they are given to rats (NMDA receptors bind Glutamate, which excites the neuron and generates an action potential). Magnesium is a non-competitive antagonist of the NMDA receptor. If NMDA receptor antagonists produce brain damage, and Magnesium is a non-competitive antagonist of this receptor, can it produce brain damage as well? Can Magnesium help with nerve regeneration and reconnection in the brain after an injury?

2. Why is it recommended in the supplements thread to take Magnesium with Calcium? From what I've understood, Magnesium and Calcium are antagonists of each other; Magnesium tends to be inhibitory, while Calcium tends to be excitatory in nerve tissue (Calcium is required for the generation of action potential by Glutamate). From this reason, wouldn't it mean that taking a supplement that combines them will cause them to cancel some of the effects of each other? And can Calcium specifically help with recovery?

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My personal planned supplement stack (all of them are in pill/capsule/tablet/softgel form unless stated otherwise):

Omega 3 - 500mg EPA/250mg DHA/day
Vitamin Methyl-B12 - 1500mcg/day
Vitamin D3 - 5000IU/day
Magnesium Citrate - 200-500mg/day

Melatonin - 0.3mg (only taken at night, never during the day)

I am already taking 1mg of Melatonin right now, as a matter of fact, and it is helpful for sleep. I would like to reduce the dosage to 0.3mg, however, since I've heard lower doses work better.

I know many other supplements are recommended in the thread - I've chosen these because they seem the most important to me for recovery, dealing with ADHD and OCD. I'm quitting Adderall entirely next week, and would only take supplements for my ADHD (this decision is final - the side effects of Adderall just got too bad for me to handle).

What do you think? Are the dosages OK?