5-HTP and Anxiety: What Users Say

• Nut...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• February 16, 2021

For Anxiety "Be very mindful it's all about the dosage & type. Always start with the lowest dosage, this is a very strong drug not to be messed with. 25-50mg is all that is needed to start with and use slow release to avoid bad side effects. I started this for PTSD, ADHD, depression, insomnia, mood swings. I use 50mg slow release as soon as I open my eyes and if need be during stressful times, another 50mg after lunch. At 1st, I did take the recommended dosages which in my experience are dangerous. Horrendous side effects. Trial, error, and masses of research were the key in the end. I have now been taking 5-HPT for 13 years on and off due to PTSD and undiagnosed ADHD, which was causing me all sorts of issues from Depression, Anxiety, Insomnia, Terrible Mood Swings, Migraines, the list goes on. This stuff has helped tremendously with all the above. I cannot rate it enough, actually saved my life :)"

• Ano...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 28, 2020

For Anxiety "I came off my antidepressants about 6 months ago with medical supervision, and decided to try 5-HTP about a month after. I got the impression it made me a lot more anxious and a bit paranoid, so I stopped using it after a couple of weeks and wondered if it was too close to coming off my medication. Six months later, I thought I would give it another go. It has been 4 days since I started, and today I feel much more anxious and paranoid again. I think 5-HTP works well for some people, but for others, it makes anxiety worse."

• Ano...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 28, 2020

For Anxiety "I came off my antidepressants about 6 months ago with medical supervision, and decided to try 5-HTP about a month after. I got the impression it made me a lot more anxious and a bit paranoid, so I stopped using it after a couple of weeks and wondered if it was too close to coming off my medication. Six months later, I thought I would give it another go. It has been 4 days since I started, and today I feel much more anxious and paranoid again. I think 5-HTP works well for some people, but for others, it makes anxiety worse."

• Nut...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• April 9, 2020

For Anxiety "5-HTP, in my experience of taking it (10 years+), has absolutely been down to dosage. I have had terrible side effects with the lowest recommended dosages: sweats, shakes, anxiety through the roof, nightmares, and insomnia. Until I started at the lowest dose I could buy, 50 mg slow/timed release type in the morning, I had no unwanted side effects. I have increased my dosage to 100 mg daily if having a bad episode, and usually after say 6 weeks to 3 months, I have gradually reduced back down to 50 mg over 2-3 weeks. For example, I take 100 mg on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, and 50 mg on the other days. Then I take 50 mg for 2 days and 100 mg on the 3rd day, and so on. Obviously, I am not a medical professional, I am just sharing my experience here. I suffer from PTSD, depression, and anxiety, and 2 out of my 3 pregnancies ended in serious episodes of PND (suicidal psychosis). I self-medicated for many years and have been prescribed many anti-depressants and anti-psychotics, all of which have given me the worst side effects listed."

• blu...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 25, 2020

For Anxiety "Took a 50 mg pill for the 2nd time. (1st time I took it, I felt weird but wasn't sure.) This medicine actually increases my anxiety a lot, and I feel very anxious and nervous. It also feels like my heart is racing. I do feel like I have a ton of energy, but I didn't need energy, I needed to be less anxious. I will never take this again."

• zed...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 28, 2015

For Anxiety "Just want to add this has been great. I was on citalopram but it became too much of a problem for me, having to go to the doctors every month and work. Getting this delivered to my door was so much easier. Been taking 100mg every night before bed, it has reduced my anxiety quite a bit. I'm still on a benzo for the time being, but what people need to understand is that this drug works with chemicals in your brain. This is the reason you might experience increased anxiety. When I started citalopram, my anxiety skyrocketed before starting to improve my condition after about 8 weeks. Let it ride through and take it at night at first. It might increase your anxiety initially and may increase your depression in some people at first, but afterwards it works wonders."

• Rob...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 3, 2021

For Insomnia "Solgar 5-HTP 100 mg. 1x daily. First three days it helps with my insomnia, nice 7-8 hours of sleep, but no change with anxiety or mood. Then I started waking up at 3 a.m., sweaty with elevated heart rate and having very vivid bad dreams, and it continued during the day with tension headache and severe anxiety and depression. I didn't know 5-HTP was causing it, so I continued taking it. Things got worse to the level that I was stuck in a dark mood and suicidal feelings. I stopped taking them. Three days later, my system cleared and was back to normal. Some of us are sensitive to these 'brain chemical adjusters.'"

• dol...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 18, 2020

For Anxiety "I'm suffering from PTSD after a car accident. Started on 5-HTP, and after the 1st week taken at night -- minimum dosage had terrifying anxiety attacks magnified way beyond the level I began with, also felt aggressive. Have used St. John's Wort for depression in the past with no issues."

• Big...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 28, 2020

For Anxiety "I have been suffering from PTSD and severe anxiety issues. The doctor put me on mirtazapine at 15 mg to help, which it did. Saying that I was so determined to get off this nasty antidepressant because of weight gain, even though I run 30 miles a week. So silly me, started taking 200 mg of 5-HTP for 2 days. I have ended up with really bad palpitations and anxiety because of the two 200 mg of 5-HTP and antidepressants giving me serotonin syndrome. Can someone tell me when it is safe for me to go back on my mirtazapine again and how long will it take for 5-HTP to leave my system? Day 2 after taking 5-HTP and very anxious still, shallow breathing, etc. My doctors are useless and don't even know about 5-HTP. Maybe friends from across the pond can guide me better."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 12, 2019

For Anxiety "I've been taking this stuff for over a month. I'm on my second bottle. I am less irritable and less anxious. Every time I take it, about 10 minutes later I feel energetic again. I am hoping it will help me completely in another month or so. Bear in mind, it takes a while to notice improvement. Could take weeks to a month. Be patient."

• Int...
• February 19, 2017

For Anxiety "It's caused mixed reactions, often awake and cannot return to sleep. Foggy feelings during the day, with an occasional odd sense of impending doom. Anxiety that keeps me indoors... But, when I decide to go out despite odd feelings, I find myself to be strangely aggressive. It seems that I'm less tolerant of other people. For example, there is a cashier who is always rude, a real eye roller, with frequent head shaking and sighs. Well, after she rolled her eyes at me for asking for a pen, she reluctantly smacked it down on the counter. I tossed it at her after using it. Hmmm, this is odd behavior for me, I usually don't react to other people like that. So, I've decided to quit this 5-HTP for now. I could end up doing something that gets me on the news."

• Med...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 11, 2018

For Anxiety "Only started taking this for a few days. After experiencing mild anxiety and insomnia, I started with 200 mg and noticed immediate improvement with sleep and anxiety. I found a boost in concentration and therefore better memory, which helped with work and socially. 200 mg was a high dose to start off with, in which I had nausea. Some tips for people: start at 50 mg if first dose, and consume with a light carb-heavy meal, avoid caffeine if possible. I feel like that if you cycle use (i.e., 1 month on, 1 month off), it will reduce the likelihood of tolerance and dependence. I decided to not take it for a day and noticed withdrawal anxiety, it may be worth tapering off the dose instead of going cold turkey. To conclude, this is excellent for anxiety and sleep, although not for everyone."

• Lul...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 18, 2020

For Anxiety "I have been taking 200 mg of a 5-HTP blend that also has B6 for two months. I take it with dinner every night, and I also take a probiotic every afternoon with lunch. It has definitely made my mood swings, depression, and sleep problems go away! Although I do still have anxiety in public places, I have always had this, and it isn't as bad. I feel like everyone has anxiety in public, it's encoded in our DNA as a safety mechanism. I will say, though, that after going off 5-HTP because I ran out for about a week, my mood swings and depression came back quickly and seemed worse than they were before. The change felt drastic, and that kind of scared me a bit. Otherwise, I'd give it a 10."

• Sad...
• April 12, 2019

For Anxiety "Took 5-HTP 100 mg at night with magnesium, to calm my mild anxiety and sadness, help with sleep. I was post-concussion and being treated for autoimmune disease. At around 6 months, I increasingly noticed I was waking at night, I started getting more anxious, suicidal thoughts. During this time, I also did a small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) treatment of antibiotics, which probably helped my gut work better, and then started low-dose naltrexone for my autoimmune disease. I started to have heart palpitations, sweating at night, depressed thoughts, panic attacks which I never had before, where you get arrhythmia, continuous bad thoughts, tingling in your fingers, and feel dizzy. When withdrawing from 5-HTP, I had a horrible time. I had to withdraw slowly, as I had a lot of the symptoms of SSRI withdrawal. My brain and thoughts were so disturbing. I would be very cautious using this drug long-term and continuously. Study needs to be done on low-dose naltrexone and 5-HTP. Or post-concussion and 5-HTP."

• Diz...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 26, 2016

For Anxiety "Don't take this with benzos, it made me extra drowsy and anxious. One pill-I only took half of one pill (50 mg!). I got some kind of adverse reaction. My insomnia got worse, I got panic attacks, shivering, tremor, felt disoriented, and seriously more depressed. Now I have woken up in the middle of the night for many nights to the same feeling: anxious, can't fall asleep again. I regret taking this. And I said once again: DON'T MIX THIS WITH BENZOS and be careful if your nervous system is sensitive, you are sensitive to supplements, or you suffer from bad insomnia, because it can cause a paradoxical reaction. Start with tiny doses to find out whether this is the right supplement for you. For me, it definitely is NOT. This supplement also has many side effects."

• Jen...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 29, 2020

For Anxiety "I've been struggling with anxiety and panic disorder for 3 years now and finally built the courage to try a supplement. This is my 3rd day on Natrol's Daily Stress Relief. It has 5-HTP, magnesium, B6, and 12, and some other vitamins. 100 mg after breakfast. Every day it's been different. My first day was amazing. I felt the physical symptoms I was anxious, but I didn't fear the sensation. I hope that even makes sense. I was in tears because I haven't felt not being scared in 3 years. My 2nd day was horrible... terrible anxiety symptoms, constant palpitations, panic attack, and a meltdown. Today is my 3rd day, I felt so off today... anxious, irritable, like nothing satisfied me (I'm usually a happy, upbeat person despite the anxiety). I was thinking about not taking it anymore because it feels like I'm getting more negatives than positives, but I read a few comments about taking a lower dose. So tomorrow I'm going to try splitting the pill in half and take 50 mg. I hope it makes me feel better."

• Jen...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 29, 2020

For Anxiety "I've been struggling with anxiety and panic disorder for 3 years now and finally built the courage to try a supplement. This is my 3rd day on Natrol's Daily Stress Relief. It has 5-HTP, magnesium, B6, and 12, and some other vitamins. 100 mg after breakfast. Every day it's been different. My first day was amazing. I felt the physical symptoms I was anxious, but I didn't fear the sensation. I hope that even makes sense. I was in tears because I haven't felt not being scared in 3 years. My 2nd day was horrible... terrible anxiety symptoms, constant palpitations, panic attack, and a meltdown. Today is my 3rd day, I felt so off today... anxious, irritable, like nothing satisfied me (I'm usually a happy, upbeat person despite the anxiety). I was thinking about not taking it anymore because it feels like I'm getting more negatives than positives, but I read a few comments about taking a lower dose. So tomorrow I'm going to try splitting the pill in half and take 50 mg. I hope it makes me feel better."

• Dia...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 30, 2022

For Anxiety "I have tried 5-HTP on a couple of occasions. The first time, it made me really tired. Almost scary tired because I couldn't get out of bed. I wasn't wild about the effects, so I stopped taking it. Then, a couple of months later, I tried it again because I was suffering from anxiety, and I had few other options. I had a really bad experience. Again, it made me really tired. I didn't like that it also made my depression worse. It altered my thinking so that I was having more negative thoughts. I had one experience where I was sleeping, and I woke up feeling like I was suffocating. It also gave me nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. I think it actually also made my anxiety worse. I had one incident where I started feeling extremely anxious for no reason. I have had panic attacks before, and the feeling was similar. Overall, I have not had a positive experience with this drug."

• Hel...
• August 19, 2020

For Anxiety "I have tried 5-HTP 100 mg and 50 mg for anxiety/alcohol withdrawal, and I have had a good experience with it. I know there are a lot of different brands of 5-HTP. I usually stick to the Natrol brand. I've tried another brand, but that one made me feel really paranoid and high anxiety, feeling not good. But after I tried the Natrol brand, it didn't make me feel wired and panicky. I think some brands are generic or they add a little extra something in those off-brand ones. I start by taking little by little too, so it won't hit so hard if I take the whole dose (like a quarter of a whole) just to see how I feel in a few minutes."

• Hel...
• August 19, 2020

For Anxiety "I have tried 5-HTP 100 mg and 50 mg for anxiety/alcohol withdrawal, and I have had a good experience with it. I know there are a lot of different brands of 5-HTP. I usually stick to the Natrol brand. I've tried another brand, but that one made me feel really paranoid and high anxiety, feeling not good. But after I tried the Natrol brand, it didn't make me feel wired and panicky. I think some brands are generic or they add a little extra something in those off-brand ones. I start by taking little by little too, so it won't hit so hard if I take the whole dose (like a quarter of a whole) just to see how I feel in a few minutes."

• Pin...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 19, 2017

For Anxiety "Took 50 mg sublingual this morning, kicked in about 30 minutes later. Had not eaten. Wanted to see how it worked. I am bipolar, GAD, and PTSD. I do suffer from anxiety and panic attacks. Made me feel happy, but it caused me too much mania, meaning high and very anxious. Increased my talking. Did give a boost, but not great for anxiety. I have just eaten, so it would bring me down some."

• Zob...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 9, 2019

For Anxiety "7 days ago, I went cold turkey off Phenibut (dangerous, beware severe withdrawals), no sleep, extreme anxiety (I also have generalized and panic attack disorder), and extremely bad depression, which I’ve never had. I came across 5-HTP, which has seemed to help with the depression and anxiety, but it’s only been 3 days. Still can’t sleep, but my brain is in a bad way due to also being an ex-painkiller addict (clean from pills for almost 5 years) and recently Phenibut. I’ve got a very high tolerance to all forms of medications, etc., and started at 100 mg, but it didn’t do anything. 300 mg seems to take the edge off, but I don’t plan on going on a higher dose or for a long period of time because these adverse effects from Phenibut withdrawals only last a few weeks."

• Hea...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• January 19, 2023

For Anxiety "I have taken this supplement for over 7 years. I’m not sure if it still works as well as it used to and came here to see about raising dosages. My experience has been overall good. I am a diagnosed NPD. I have increased anxiety around anyone who does better than me in life. To put it mildly, I loathe anyone who might have some sort of leg up on me. My son-in-law is one of these people. A very confident person and can’t seem to be manipulated by anyone. I’m not kidding when I say I just absolutely can’t deal with myself when I am around him or any strong male, really. My speech is off, I have stomach knots, and inside is like a raging fire in my head. I’m working closely with a therapist to change my way of thinking and understand it’s actually me that is the problem and that I am just an insecure old man with a lack of empathy. I have noticed on days when I take a double dose of 200 mg before seeing my son-in-law, I am much more lively and actually enjoy my son-in-law."

• Tri...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 19, 2019

For Insomnia "I bought some 400 mg high-strength tablets after reading good reviews about 5-HTP and knowing I have a high tolerance for medicines. I took a tablet around 8 pm hoping to feel a bit drowsy by bedtime, but it's 12:15 am and I'm still wide awake, even though I also took 2 zopiclone at 10:55 pm and ran 13 km earlier and did a full 9-hour day at work today. I feel a little bit queasy in my stomach, but it's hard to say as I do have a lingering chesty cough right now too. I feel a bit anxious as I want them to work."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 20, 2020

For Anxiety "5-HTP was absolutely terrible. I only took a 100 mg dose for anxiety and had 5 hours of symptoms of serotonin syndrome. Could not sleep. Heart racing. Waves of anxiety, feeling like a panic attack."