Post: #1

So I noticed a few threads in the forum regarding nootropics but they have very short reviews, rumours and speculations. Few people actually go into detail so I decided to post a more detailed review of a particular nootropic for those who are interested or thinking seriously about buying it.

Firstly, I bought a digital scale from amazon.uk. It says jewellery scale but it measures mg really well. It's small and easy to carry with you when you travel around. I've been using it for almost a year and the batteries are still going.







Sorry for the image size. I didn't know how to resize the pics

On to the review:

5-HTP is a non prescription drug (at least in the UK) but that doesn't mean you should underestimate it. It's quite powerful as I found out the hard way. When I first got it in January 2015 I didn't read the label or any recommended dosages on the web and just put 130mg on the scale, washed it down with water (it's non soluble but it's tasteless) because I didn't really believe that it will have any serious effects on me. Well, later on that right in the middle of the bitter cold winter I woke up bathed in my own sweat from a very intense nightmare wondering what the hell happened.

The first side effect of 5-HTP is that you will have nightmares on the first few days that you take it, even at low doses of 50mg before sleep. I reccommend 50 mg before sleep for every beginner no matter how much you weigh. You are going to experience nightmares but not as intense as I had on my first night when I overdosed.

Secondly, I do not recommend taking it during waking hours or midday. I tried it and It gave me light headaches and made me feel sleepy. I used it 1-2 hours before bed time and it worked fine.

The benefits :

Once you get passed the first 5-7 nights of nightmares you will start dreaming very deep and happy dreams 100% of the time. I tried it during relaxing and stressful times in my life and whenever I took it I never had a nightmare. Yes it's that powerful.

The second benefit is that it raises serotonin levels but that takes a bit more time to feel the effects of it. I was on my 4th week of using it until I noticed that I felt genuinely happy upon waking and sometimes walking on the street with a smile on my face for no good reason.

For the introverts reading this: It's not going to cause to have a strong urge to high five and shake hands with random people on the streets or acquaintances at work. You are going to be the same chill dude but now with a bit more happiness while you are going about your daily business.

Rumours and random stuff on 5-HTP:

Is it going to eliminate depression ?

No, not by it self. It's should be used in conjunction with good habits and nutrition plan. It is a good first step to start but don't regard it as your exit to depression. I've had depression when I first laid my hands on it and overdosed in hopes of waking up the next morning feeling happy.

Can you use it for weight loss?

No it won't cause excess fat to fall off and won't reduce your appetite for food. At least it didn't do that for me.

Dosages:

(Only take a dose 1-2 hours before sleep)

First 2 weeks: 50 mg
3rd week: 100mg
4th week and onwards: 200mg

The longest I have been using it was 6 weeks straight and I didn't feel the need to take higher than 200mg doses so I can't tell you much about tolerance.

I hope this was a useful review and I wish you all good luck for your future endeavours. If it makes the journey a little bit easier it's worth it.

Post: #2

Do you have any experience taking this after ecstasy wears off to recover?

Post: #3

(09-17-2015 06:16 PM)LINUX Wrote:  Do you have any experience taking this after ecstasy wears off to recover?

Beat me to it, I know guys that take this stuff along with a few other supps to help ease off E.

I'm also wondering if this actually is substantial help ?

Post: #4

(09-17-2015 06:16 PM)LINUX Wrote:  Do you have any experience taking this after ecstasy wears off to recover?

No I have not been taking any drugs like ecstasy etc at that time. Not even alcohol.

Post: #5

For the last few months, I've been taking 100mg htp almost every night before going to sleep. I haven't noticed any difference in sleep (nightmares or happy dreams) compared to what happened in the past. I also take Melatonin about an hour before sleep. My sleep has been just ok. I can get 7 hours of sleep if nothing bothers me and I go to bed at approx the same time.

Sometimes during the day I suddenly start feeling good for no reason, feeling like smiling, thinking about something good, etc. I don't get an urge to high five or even talk to anybody, but these occasional good mood spikes definitely happen, and I believe they can be attributed to talking 5htp. I agree that 5htp is no cure for depression, though.

Post: #6

5HTP doesn't help my sleep at all. It gives me energy and a mood boost (slight). I do suffer from depression though so I believe 5HTP helps boost serotonin to counteract the biophysics of depression. It's only a very slight effect, nothing dramatic.

Anyway, seems like a real trouble to get it in the UK. In the US its available in every vitamin store on every street corner. If you want to experiment other similar nutritional supplements in the same boat as 5HTP are SAMe and L-Dopa (Mucunua Pruriens).

Post: #7

(09-17-2015 06:16 PM)LINUX Wrote:  Do you have any experience taking this after ecstasy wears off to recover?

Yeah, it doesn't make a noticeable difference.

Post: #8

If you lack serotonin, 5 htp can help you to sleep.

Post: #9

5HTP is what I take with cocaine.

Post: #10

(09-21-2015 05:21 PM)Sonoma Wrote:  5HTP is what I take with cocaine.

Really ? I've never heard of guys doing that, usually it's with E, Acid, Shrooms.

I usually only do blow if I've been drinking already.

How does it help you ? With the comedown ?

Post: #11

First of all 5-HTP is not a drug.

It's a concentrated supplement similar to the amino-acid L-Tryptophan.

It is known to work in almost 100% of cases on the physical reasons of depressions.

Usually you take it in combination with a good high-dosage multi-vitamin. Otherwise it's possible that it won't work, because your body still lacks many essential nutrients.

The dosage being used by orthomolecular doctors are the following:

1. Good multivitamin-mineral (Swanson, Now Foods, Youngevity etc.)
2. L-tryptophan at doses of 500mg to maximum 2000mg
5-HTP at doses of 50-400mg - it's essentially a stronger version of l-tryptophan

By the way - l-tryptophan can be found in meat and in especially high doses in turkey, so it's not dangerous to take and the reactions you described are strange frankly - my take is that you were still lacking in essential nutrients that would have been solved by taking a multi, vitamin D3 5000IU and at least some magnesium at 400mg daily.

If for example you take drugs or alcohol, then that depletes your nutrient level too and you would need to take even more supplements.

Post: #12

I started taking 200 mg of 5htp before sleep instead of 100mg before I read this thread. I seem to feel better, though it could be placebo effect.

I also take good multivitamins every morning.

Post: #13

(09-23-2015 07:29 AM)Brodiaga Wrote:  I started taking 200 mg of 5htp before sleep instead of 100mg before I read this thread. I seem to feel better, though it could be placebo effect.

I also take good multivitamins every morning.

I have recommended it to several people in combination with a multi.

For most people a good multi does the trick. People who have a tendency for depression take some additional 5-HTP or l-tryptophan daily.

While it is true that in clinical studies conventional anti-depressants are less effective than placebos (because of the side-effects), with nutrients it's a slightly different matter.

I even noticed a marked improvement or balancing in my moods after I started taking my supplement regiment - also a number of family and friends noticed that too. It'S MUCH more difficult to be depressed while doing that frankly.

Post: #14

(09-23-2015 08:18 AM)Zelcorpion Wrote:  

(09-23-2015 07:29 AM)Brodiaga Wrote:  I started taking 200 mg of 5htp before sleep instead of 100mg before I read this thread. I seem to feel better, though it could be placebo effect.

I also take good multivitamins every morning.

I have recommended it to several people in combination with a multi.

For most people a good multi does the trick. People who have a tendency for depression take some additional 5-HTP or l-tryptophan daily.

While it is true that in clinical studies conventional anti-depressants are less effective than placebos (because of the side-effects), with nutrients it's a slightly different matter.

I even noticed a marked improvement or balancing in my moods after I started taking my supplement regiment - also a number of family and friends noticed that too. It'S MUCH more difficult to be depressed while doing that frankly.

I think the people who have tendency for depression are much fewer than we imagine. I used to think that as well but after finding out that I could be depressed for months at a time by simply running out of willpower after overloading my life with multiple new daily tasks in my life and having a shitty died.

Seriously, these are two things that most people overlook the most in their lives and that is why it's more common than it should be. I was having depressions for months multiple times in my life (every year to be honest) but after finding out more about these stuff I haven't had any serious problems with my mood for almost a year.

Post: #15

(09-23-2015 12:51 PM)Andreas Wrote:  ...

I think the people who have tendency for depression are much fewer than we imagine. I used to think that as well but after finding out that I could be depressed for months at a time by simply running out of willpower after overloading my life with multiple new daily tasks in my life and having a shitty died.

Seriously, these are two things that most people overlook the most in their lives and that is why it's more common than it should be. I was having depressions for months multiple times in my life (every year to be honest) but after finding out more about these stuff I haven't had any serious problems with my mood for almost a year.

Ja. Everything feeds back on itself, creating cyclical rather than linear processes. So in trying to correct something you have many valid potential starting points. Diet, medication, "positive thinking". Start of with any single one and the others will almost always show improvement.

HTTP is quite good around bedtime if you are very tense. I am pretty chilled (too chilled probably) so I very rarely take it. But I bought a bottle a couple of years ago and take a 100mg tablet on the very rare occasions that I am stressed out or twitchy when I want to sleep, and deep breathing and mental concentration aren't working. Definitely works. No question.

Post: #16

Anyone experience their mood going down when cycling off of it?

I'm currently cycling 5-HTP and L-Tyrosine 4 days on 3 days off and my mood gets foul as fuck during the off days. Does that happen to anyone else?

Post: #17

I recently had some blood tests done with my checkup at the doctors office.

My serotonin levels were very low, 25 percent lower than the lowest part of a big range. So I'm going to buy a kg go 5Htp and start an experiment. In a few months I'll tell you how it went.

Post: #18

(09-28-2015 09:22 AM)ball dont lie Wrote:  I recently had some blood tests done with my checkup at the doctors office.

My serotonin levels were very low, 25 percent lower than the lowest part of a big range. So I'm going to buy a kg go 5Htp and start an experiment. In a few months I'll tell you how it went.

Actually the whole lack of serotonin = depression is a medical lie perpetuated since decades. Even the original MD who initially raised the hypothesis later withdrew it because more evidence came in.

Serotonin levels decrease with age naturally. If low levels of serotonin were causing depression, then all people above 50 would have to be depressed. Of course that is not the case.

There is certainly some correlation between nutrition, vitamin D3 (sunlight) and depression, but it's not as clear cut at serotonin levels. THERE ARE NO TESTS WHICH CAN ATTEST YOU DEPRESSION - NONE WHATSOEVER!

Dr. Timothy Scott above wrote a book about that entire scam - well researched with a multitude of studies to back it all up:







He did it after his career-end (so as not to lose everything when the backlash would come by the pharma lobby) and even donates 100% of all proceeds from the book (so as not to appear biased).

Even orthomolecular MDs who treat depression very effectively with multvitamin, niacin B3 (up to 3000mg / day) and l-tryptophan / 5-HTP - they don't know exactly why it works. They just know that those doses are harmless and they work.

But it's certainly not serotonin alone.

Post: #19

How much would be good to treat depression? I just got some today with a added B6.

Post: #20

(09-30-2015 10:09 PM)kbell Wrote:  How much would be good to treat depression? I just got some today with a added B6.

Orthomolecular doses begin at 50mg of 5-HTP and can go up to 400-500mg. More is not necessary - if 2000mg of L-Tryptophan or 500mg of 5-HTP in combination with a good multi don't do the trick, then you are either on drugs which block those nutrients or your mental state has nothing to do with anything that anyone can help you physically.

If you start out with 100mg/day, then that should work within 2-5 days - if it does not work within 2 days you can up the dose.

Post: #21

I was taking 5-HTP regularly, but read about it potentially damaging your heart valve if you take it long term, and got off of it immediately. I can't explain the whole thing, but if you Goggle "5-HTP heart valve" you'll get plenty of hits.

Just thought I'd warn you guys.

Post: #22

(10-01-2015 03:09 AM)Reaper Wrote:  I was taking 5-HTP regularly, but read about it potentially damaging your heart valve if you take it long term, and got off of it immediately. I can't explain the whole thing, but if you Goggle "5-HTP heart valve" you'll get plenty of hits.

Just thought I'd warn you guys.

Indeed - it's pretty scary how the medical mafia will literally trump up every lie to protect their crap products and badmouth things which actually help people.

I have read so often about high-dosage vitamin C destroying your liver. And no don't read about the actual real verifiable cases when people were taken off the liver transplant list by taking 30-40.000mg pure vitamin C daily. Yes - instead of liver destruction you have liver regeneration - what a surprise when you give your body enough nutrients - yes high ones, but liver damage is no pittance, so you need more.

And the 5-HTP heart valve issue makes no sense. Yes - some supplements like B3-Niacain or Tryptophan at higher doses can increase heart rate during the flushing (B3 reaction that disappears), but your heart must have been damaged by then and neither vitamin B3 nor tryptophan has anything to do with your condition and won't damage jack shit:

http://www.life-enhancement.com/magazine...nd-fiction

Quote: I've heard that the elevation of blood serotonin levels (caused by taking 5-HTP) can cause coronary artery spasm, abnormal platelet aggregation, and increased risk of death by sudden heart attack.

A: That would certainly be a concern, if it were true. However, we could find nothing in the scientific literature to support these contentions.

Q: People with a particular (and rare) type of serotonin-secreting tumor called hindgut carcinoid, also have various heart problems, such as fibrosis of the endocardium and right heart valves, and heart failure. Should they avoid 5-HTP?

A: That's also pretty scary - until you consider the fact that these conditions have nothing to do with 5-HTP. This rare disease (carcinoid) is associated with extremely high serotonin levels (much, much higher than are obtainable by taking recommended doses of 5-HTP). It's true that this disease, in a very few instances, is associated with the heart problems mentioned above. However, nobody who has studied carcinoid thoroughly would jump to the conclusion that 5-HTP or another serotonin precursor might cause it! There is no evidence to support an initiatory role for serotonin in hindgut carcinoid or any other disease, nor to justify the contention that 5-HTP can cause the kinds of dramatic increases in serum serotonin levels associated with carcinoid tumors. Furthermore, even if 5-HTP caused huge increases in serum serotonin levels - which it has not been demonstrated to do - there is no evidence that this, in itself, would be harmful or that it could increase heart valve problems.8 In fact, in cats, 5-HTP-induced serotonin production has been found to reduce vulnerability to ventricular fibrillation.9 (One caution, however, for anyone with this rare type of carcinoid tumor: Since there is a statistical correspondence between serum levels of serotonin and valvular heart disease in some patients with carcinoid tumors (19 out of 604 in the Duke study),10 it is inadvisable at this time for those with carcinoid cancer to take supplemental 5-HTP.)

So next time you read a headline on google, you have to take a look in depth and sometimes sift through the supposed study. Then suddenly you find out that the study has either nothing to do with it or was designed in a faulty way. It helps to compare it with for example orthomolecular studies to find out what the mainstream pill pushers were doing deliberately wrong to come to their stupid fake conclusions. And I won't even respond to further attacks, because I read so many of those shit-heads and their fake studies on for example vitamin C, that further discussing it is useless.

Go make up your own mind, look at both sides of the spectrum and then start thinking yourself questioning everything - instead of believing the first google result that appears on your screen.

Also - personally I would not take 5-HTP, but would rather stick to L-Tryptophan that the body needs to transform itself to 5-HTP. You just take 4-5 times more L-Tryptophan than 5-HTP to have the same effect. So as to keep it as "natural" as possible here. Another point is the product you take - whether it's pure, what kind of producer did it (some have known contaminants), some add toxic additives like aspartame.

Post: #23

(09-23-2015 07:29 AM)Brodiaga Wrote:  I started taking 200 mg of 5htp before sleep instead of 100mg before I read this thread. I seem to feel better, though it could be placebo effect.

I also take good multivitamins every morning.

So, here is a quick update. About 3 weeks ago, I upped the dose of 5-HTP from 100 to 200mg per day. I buy 5-HTP made by NOW on Amazon. Each pill is 100mg, so I take 2 every night about an hour before bed, together with one pill (5mg) of melatonin, also made by NOW, which I use to normalize my sleep. In the morning, I also take Adam multivitamins for men (also sold on amazon and made by NOW). I didn't change the dosage of the multivitamins and melatonin, only 5-HTP.

The results so far have been impressive. Again, part of it could be placebo effect, but I'm pretty sure 5-HTP is working. My general mood has been much better than before which has also resulted in increased productivity and more productive thought process in general. Over the past 3 weeks, I've done a couple of major things I was putting off since last year. I generally feel much better about work and personal life. It's not that I was depressed all the time before, but I would often feel pretty shitty for no good reason or react negatively to something that irritated me but wasn't anything major.

Conclusion so far: I would definitely recommend trying 5-HTP to anybody who suffers from bad mood either occasionally or frequently. I don't know if it's good enough to treat clinical depression, but it seems to work well if you don't feel bad enough to go to a doctor but still want to try something to lift your mood.

Questions to those who have more experience with 5-HTP:

-Is it worth trying to take even more per day, perhaps 300mg?

-Is there a recommended limit to how long you can take this supplement or can you take it pretty much indefinitely? if you take it for a long time, does it stop working or cause any side effects?

Post: #24

I take two pills a day and so far it seems to help quite a bit. Not 100% due to numerous injuries and gut problems but a noticeable improvement.

Post: #25

I take between 100-200mg per day, always before bed and sometimes in the morning. It definitely helps to stabilize your mood, it takes a few weeks of steady use to kick in though.