# My recent experience with 5-htp



## afboy143 (Oct 10, 2006)

This post is going to be long but I hope this helps people who experience similar symtoms as myself

Little background on myself:
I'm a 20 year old male, 160 lbs, 5'10. I work part time doing accounting (28 hrs a week) and go to school full time. I work out at a local gym 6 days a week, 4 days lifting and 2 days cardio. Main reason I work out is to gain confidence/appeal more to females. I also did it for health reasons (before I worked out I weighted 125 lbs, genetically skinny), and gain energy levels.

Current supplements are:
X-Factor
Activate
Multi Vita
Fish Oil
Whey Protein
Fiber


I also take Ergofarm AMP in the mornings sometimes to get myself going.

I feel I had a pretty bad case of social anxiety. I was always the quiet kid in class. I'm in college and really haven't made any new friends because I'm not a good ice breaker. I couldn't maintain eye contact with girls in the halls. I felt really nervous to raise my hand/talk to new people. I would blush really easily. I also had very low energy levels. Every morning in high school I would drink an energy drink and prolly another later in the day. I always felt tired and groggy...sometimes I would get depressed. Working out helped a lot and eating right but I will wasn't feeling "normal" 

I tryed everything to try to get over this axiety/tiredness. I tryed high dosing fish oil, stimulants such as stimulant-X/AMP,HEAT, phenebut, valerian root. The only thing that really helped me was alcohol (common, I'm a college student!) Unfortunally you cant go to school drunk and in society for that matter and function normally so I had to find something that works.

Phenebut- Worked the first time but after that it didnt really have much effect. I just laughed a lot and felt spaced out.

Anyways, I finally looked into 5-HTP. After reading what it does in the brain and it's role is seretonin production, I decided to give it a go. I figured from all the symtoms I had I might have seretonin deficancy. I was skeptical at first from everyone's account of it doing nothing for them. Everyone raved about phenebut and it did nothing for me so I decided why not go with 5-HTP....$12 shipped why not?

I ordered MRM 5-HTP off bodybuilding.com along with B-Complex since I read 5-htp needs B vitamins to be successfully converted to seretonin. The first day I got this stuff, I took 1 5-htp before I went to sleep. I must say I had very vivid dreams that night...and they werent the best either. I always remembered a lot of it. (Some girl I met at a bowling alley wanted to kill me with a knife after she found out I was talking to another girl? Weird...) Anyways, I woke up the next morning feeling like I had 8 hours of sleep (I only got 6) I had no problems getting up like I usually do. I then went to school and felt alot more a live... That night I took another one...again very vivid dreams. The day after when I woke up...again very alive. This time I took 1 5-htp in the morning along with my b complex vitamin. I threw in a AMP pill in the mix for energy kick. I must say I felt great ALL day. Today we had a group activity where everyone had to speak outloud and I had no probs. I did turn a little red but no where as much as I usually would. I maintain eye contact with girls now in the hall a lot better and I dont get anxious when people talk to me. Someone talked to me the other day in math class and I actually maintained a convo with them.

Cliff Notes- 5-htp mixed with B Complex worked awsome for me. I take 1 5-htp pill at night and 1 5-htp and B complex pill in the morning and I feel great all day. It feels so good to not be so tired and actually socialize with people for once in my life.


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## afboy143 (Oct 10, 2006)

I would just like to mention that im on my 4th day of the 1 5-HTP in the morning with 1 B-complex and at night I take 1 5-HTP and everything is still the same. Still elevated mood/energy, still vivid dreams, still low anxiety. I hope I dont get immune to this stuff! I would like to also note I DO take the supplements as listed eairlier for workout purposes ONTOP of what I take for anxiety.


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## R (Jun 13, 2006)

One thing I have to say is that the B-complex, if your taking a multi-vita you should get all you need if you eat decently and take a multi. I don't know about B in pedicular but i know some vitamins can harm the body (liver and such) if you take to much. I think you just pee out extra B but don't take my word for it.


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## afboy143 (Oct 10, 2006)

I learned in bio class that to overdose on water soluble vitamins (B and C) you need to take somewhere in the range of 10-15 500mg pills a DAY to get anywhere near toxic levels. The reason being you do pee out any excess. This is why people may experience very yellow pee after taking a multi because that is excess vita your body didnt need. The vita you have to worry about over dosing because they are fat soluble is everything else like A, D, E, K. They can be stored in the fat at toxic levels...but then again you would have to take in A LOT to get to that levle


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## mousse (Oct 26, 2005)

does anyone have any experience taking this with other meds? like zoloft.


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## scairy (Sep 18, 2005)

afboy143 said:


> I learned in bio class that to overdose on water soluble vitamins (B and C) you need to take somewhere in the range of 10-15 500mg pills a DAY to get anywhere near toxic levels. The reason being you do pee out any excess. This is why people may experience very yellow pee after taking a multi because that is excess vita your body didnt need. The vita you have to worry about over dosing because they are fat soluble is everything else like A, D, E, K. They can be stored in the fat at toxic levels...but then again you would have to take in A LOT to get to that levle


vitamin b can be toxic? What if I take like 3-4 B- complex pills at once?


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## leppardess (Nov 8, 2003)

> vitamin b can be toxic? What if I take like 3-4 B- complex pills at once?


Anything can be toxic if you take too much... 3-4 B complex won't be near enough to be toxic.


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## afboy143 (Oct 10, 2006)

You have to take A LOT of b vitamins to get to toxic levels as your system does a great job of flushing out the excess. If you notice your pee being bright yellow after taking them, thats getting rid of all the excess b vitamins.


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## Panic Prone (Mar 5, 2006)

5-htp didn't seem to do much for me in the past. I'm giving l-tryptophan a chance right now. DO you take in on a empty stomach and how many mg? If you want a good b-complex get a coenzyme formula. The vitamins go straight to their sites and the liver doesn't even touch em. Much more potent and you only need the recommend dose on the bottle.

On a side note. Stimulants may make you feel better to get you through the day but overall you add to your anxiety in the long run. Alcohol does the same thing. Lowers glutamic acid which is involved with gaba and serotonin.


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## itsmemaggi (Sep 26, 2005)

mousse said:


> does anyone have any experience taking this with other meds? like zoloft.


It is not recommended that you take 5-HTP with any sort of anti-anxiety med or anti-depressant, as seritonin syndrome can develop. The warnings are on the labels.

I recently weened off Paxil and am now trying 5-HTP. I never heard of taking the B vitamin with it, but if I can get myself to a GNC, sounds like a good idea.

xoxo
Maggi


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