So, I am trying desperately to deal with my insomnia, and I really want to get off ambien (which is not helping alone anyhow, anymore), and I am looking into this 5-htp thing.. If it’s out there, I’ve tried it.. except for this one. I took 100mg tab last night, and had a very strange experience of actually sleeping and dreaming but having my “center” feel awake all night, and my heart was pumping like crazy. I wonder if anyone has any first hand experience with this thing.
Thanks.
I’ve tried it too. It made me sooo drowsy.
The reason why it made your heart pump is it creates a release in seritonin (sorry spl).
I don’t think it’s your best bet for sleeping. Here’s what is: Seriane.
I REALLY recommend it.
I heard that it was supposed to take a while (days, weeks) to raise the serotonin levels.. not 1.5 hours like last night..
I felt almost angry all night, too. So weird.. maybe the dosage is too high. I’ll try splitting the capsule tonight. I feel really up even today, 20 hours later.
I’ll check out Seriane, thanks futurist. Btw, is pheroproof only for men or women too?
100mg is too much, first of all. 50 might work better for you.
I take it you’ve tried melatonin, etc.?
Unfortunately, there’s no women’s version. Sorry ladies.
So here’s what I usually load up every night (with some variations):
2-3mgs time-release melatonin
GABA (1-2tsp)
Valerian
Sleepy time tea
Eden PM (which works great even alone, sometimes)
Plus, I add 3-5mg ambien to fall asleep. Which stinks, I hate unnatural drugs.. natural is a different story 
And now I am out of ambien and trying to break this little habit. It’s just sooo easy to take it..
That’s what I think, too, I’ll try less tonight..
5-HTP worked great for me. It made me really calm and energetic all day which I am guessing was because of improved slepp in the night even though I don’t have sleep problems. Not sure about the dose now. On a side note I think it also delayed ejaculation by quite a bit. I took it for 6 months and then stopped fearing dependency.
5-htp is crazy stuff. It works almost like and ssri. It increases your seritonin levels and because of this increses your time needed to ejaculate (for some anyway).
Ravers use 5-htp to help deal with seritonin depletion after extacy abuse. Of course your brains chemistry reregulates after 3 months back to normal seritonin levels even with hardcore extacy abusers, 5-htp has been a saving grace for many.
Interstingly enough, if you are on an SSRI you can’t trip on extacy! It just won’t work. HAHA!
I know this girl who used to be a candy flipper. Back in her prime she was throwing 100-300 person raves at her house.
damn, well, I thought I was taking a lot.
I use ZMA-T (for more than just sleep, though), Valerian Root, and Melatonin. That usually puts me out quickly and for a long restful sleep.
Holy Moses! That regimen would knock me into next week. Tyson-style.
Quite a cocktail you got goin’.
What brand of ZMA are you using?
ZMA-T by MuscleLink. The only product I own by that brandline only because it works great for me. It’s supposed to have tribulus in it.
The Life Extension Foundation’s old depression protocol says one needs to be very careful when taking 5-HTP (see below).
The Life Extension Foundation Forums (http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-040b.shtml)
“The process by which 5-HTP is converted into serotonin is called decarboxylation. If decarboxylation occurs before 5-HTP is absorbed by the brain, blood levels of serotonin will elevate significantly, but very little serotonin will enter the brain. When Europeans take 5-HTP, they are often prescribed the decarboxylase inhibitor carbidopa that prevents 5-HTP from being converted into serotonin until it reaches the brain. Americans do not take carbidopa with 5-HTP and the result is possible serotonin overload in the blood, with virtually no serotonin reaching the brain.
Americans taking 5-HTP are more vulnerable to blood serotonin overload because, unlike most Europeans who are vitamin deficient, Americans who use 5-HTP usually take vitamin B6 as well. Vitamin B6 rapidly converts 5-HTP into serotonin before it reaches the brain. Even when combined with carbidopa, high levels of vitamin B6 will break through the carbidopa barrier and ensure that 5-HTP converts into serotonin in the blood before it can reach the brain. Excess serum serotonin is especially dangerous in those with underlying coronary artery disease as serotonin in the blood can induce arterial constriction.”
Holy Smokes. I can’t believe you can’t fall asleep with all that going on. I’ve tried the 5-HTP and I was taking it before bedtime like you and had the exact same symptoms. I now take it in the morning. The only other thing I could say to add would be L-Theanine, it is a calmative and cuts the edginess off of caffeine. I’d take some in the morning, and then some more in the evening. However, if your insomnia is this bad you should have gone to a sleep clinic long ago. They usually have them at the universities and I think are therefor somewhat cheap, though I might be wrong.
I have used 5-HTP on and off for the last 5 or 6 years. In doses ranging from 100 mg up to 1,800 mg (18 tablets in one day). Your experience with vivid dreams is very common of this serotonin precursor; and get weirder and wilder with higher doses in my experience.
You could look at melatonin as a natural sleep aid if you have not tried that. I’ve got major insomnia issues - 5-HTP , in any dose, has made me more tired but rarely enough to actually get me to sleep. Melatonin has (in the past) made what sleep I got more refreshing, but again I used very high doses of it. Also used diphenhydramine as a sleeping aid, although that is chemical.
Matthew
That might not be such a bad idea, actually.
Another vote for melatonin here 
I use it on days when I feel I might have a hard time sleeping (i.e too much thinking, stress etc)
It works extremely well but you have to find your correct dosage. If you take too much you will wake up feeling groggy and really lethargic. If you take just enough you’ll feel extremely refreshed and ready to take on the world.
Just try a 5mg capsule… if you wake up feeling like shite then slowly reduce the dosage (I take 2.5mg) until you find your ‘sweet spot’. Everyone is different.
I quit it when my wife couldn’t awaken me to make love again
Well, I don´t know if I should say this or will I be in trouble?
I was having a lot of trouble sleeping before Christmas, till my son came home from Uni and had his friends round! They were chilling out drinking beers and smoking a few splifs. Anyway, before I knew it, I was dozing off!!
I found that the smoke was making me really sleepy!! So now I have one of my son´s friend come round to the house and deliver me a little “chocolate”, that´s what the Spanish call it!! Anytime I can´t sleep, I just roll one up, and sleep the whole night through!!! Only down side is that if it doesn´t kick in quick enough, I get very hungry!!!
Apart from that, I don´t take any type of medication!!! Not even if I get a headache!! I haven´t taken antibiotics or anything for about 7 years and I don´t normally get colds!!! But I reckon that “chocolate” is more natural than synthetic drugs so…
Just my 2 cents worth!!!
2007 most impressive screensaversmyscreensavers.info
Look at this article on insomnia and blood sugar balance. This helped me end a long bout of insomnia:
http://www.nutritionalwellness.com/archives/2007/may/05_insomnia.php:)