Thanks mrsD, you really know a lot about supplements!

I've been thinking about trying Inositol and will probably order some this week.

FYI re: NeuroOptimizer, I only take 2 and feel a big difference.

re: Tryptophan - be very careful - if you are taking anti-depressants you should probably not take it. There is the possibility of Seratonin sydrome, especially if you take it along with SSRIs. In fact my Lexapro has a warning specifically about Tryptophan.

If I was NOT taking any depression meds however, I would definitely give
L-tryptophan or 5HTP a try before getting on meds.

The warnings about SSRIs and tryptophan are slowly changing.
The blanket warnings for the general population remain in place, because SSRIs are serious drugs and should be used with caution. But some doctors (esp in Europe) are using l-tryptophan with antidepressants now to reduce doses of the drugs. This is done with medical supervision.

Some people with mild to moderate depression can avoid use of SSRIs altogether with proper attention to nutrients that work in the brain. Folic acid, and DHA (a fatty acid) and l-typtophan, B6 etc may not even need an SSRI.

Just an update for anyone that cares - i've been taking focus fast for the last several days, and it's definitely helping keeping me more alert and concentrated on certain tasks... they actually lowered their price so thats why i bought it, lol (49.99)... no way was i paying more.

my doctor always advised against combining meds and supplements together because there is hardly any research (plus they want to cover their asses, lol)

Here is a good site on the subject. Just click on it. http://www.nccam.nih.gov/health/bottle/

The FDA regulates supplements as a food rather than a drug. The manufacturer does not have to prove that they are effective, or safe or the quality of them. And you better know what drugs you are also taking if you take supplements.

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/

Click on "interactions" and/or depletions.

The most severe interaction is bleeding. Taking herbs that increase bleeding with blood thinners is one of the most important ones to recognize.

Also some herbs like St. John's Wort increase metabolism of some drugs.

In general if you add up all the potential problems, more nutrients are negatively impacted with drugs, than vice versa.

Many doctors have no clue as to what to do...so they just say a blanket "don't take anything". That is their typical solution to a question.

But the fact that supplements are regulated as food not as drugs is what bothers me. (I do not take any supplements). They do not have to be proven safe, effective or the quality of them. Makes a person wonder. There probably are some good ones that help depending on a person's situation.

And, of course, there can be some big interactions with some drugs that are taken with certain kinds of supplements. Inform you doctor what you are taking when it comes to supplements and even what drugs you are taking if your doctor is a new one for you and he has no knowledge of what you are taking be it drugs or supplements. There can be side effects from supplements just as there can be from drugs.

Increasingly, children are being treated nutritionally to help with symptoms that formerly would have been diagnosed in the DSM-IV. Especially for sleep (although really - a sleep study should be done to try to figure out what is going on, but the U.S.A. insurances seems reluctant to pay for them). The supplements can either augment pharmaceutical medication (thereby reducing the amount needed which thereby reducing side-effects), or replacing the pharmaceuticals entirely.

Some cases really need a collaborative team of specialists who know multiple fields including Integrative medicine.

Sometimes it is frustrating obeying the psychiatrist's command "Thou shalt not use melatonin" and "thou shalt not use tryptophan and suffer for a decade trying med after med only to go ahead and try the supplements ten years later thinking how everything else the psychiatrist did was random and trial and error and find... gee... a simple supplement worked better than everything else... and now you can lower or eliminate the other meds that didn't work well anyway and were giving a bunch of side-effects.