5-hydroxytryptophan User Reviews & Ratings (Page 5)

• Anonymous
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• April 25, 2015

5-hydroxytryptophan for Insomnia "I have a love-hate relationship with 5-HTP. It has definitely helped me sleep in the past, but after a while, I build up a tolerance. I don't like stopping and restarting because the first few days of restarting give me an upset stomach."

• Ann...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 15, 2024

5-hydroxytryptophan for Anxiety "I've been using 5-HTP for almost two months now. The first day I have used the supplement (100mg), it gave me palpitations and made me a little more anxious. But it actually didn't bother me because I have tried one time a man-made medication for my anxiety and depression, and man... that was something I don't want to experience anymore xD. I have lowered the dose to 70mg per day, and it really works. It gives me more energy (mostly mentally) and makes me more calm. It has no horrible side effects as synthetic medication has, and you can quit whenever you like. It is only recommended not to drink alcohol combined with 5-HTP and to keep the dosage max 200 mg per day. This plant medicine is amazing for people who are sensitive to man-made medication or if they want to switch to a natural solution for their depression and/or anxiety."

• Not...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 26, 2023

5-hydroxytryptophan for Anxiety "I had been on an SSRI for months after finding out my dog had cancer in combo with empty nest. I was just not in a good place. After gaining back all the weight I worked so hard to lose, and feeling pretty numbed out from the drugs, I decided to wean off them. I read a lot about 5-HTP, had taken it in the past with decent results. I actually feel really good with 100 mg a couple of times a day, BUT I do combine it with L-tyrosine to stabilize my dopamine. I have read this is important and it must be because I actually feel much better than I did on the SSRI meds. I will say nausea does happen (taking it with a protein helps with this), and do not combine it with L-tyrosine before bed. I am still currently taking both and feel pretty good! If you're on the fence, try looking up 5-HTP & L-tyrosine articles to help explain how they work in tandem together."

• Tas...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 21, 2016

For Depression "I tried to take 5-HTP for depression and anxiety accompanied by insomnia (early morning awakenings). I took antidepressants in the past, and it really helped, but this time I decided to try a natural remedy. I went from 100 mg a day to 300 mg. At first, the results were great-just like when I took antidepressants. My depression lifted, sleep improved, I was not as anxious. Unfortunately, after a few weeks, 5-HTP just stopped working. The positive effects were very short-lived."

• Dop...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 2, 2022

5-hydroxytryptophan for Anxiety "I found that both the 100 mg and 200 mg made my depression much, much worse. I cried more, thought of suicide more often, and felt completely hopeless. I started with 200, then reduced it to 100 and still had the same thing happen. Although the thought of suicide is never really out of sight as an option, being on 5-HTP made it worse. I actually started formulating a plan, making a will, etc. I stopped taking it, and about a week later, I was back to my usual depressed self - minus the urgent need to commit suicide. Be careful. Prozac did me the same way."

• Gre...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• October 21, 2020

5-hydroxytryptophan for Insomnia "Just a few comments regarding 5-HTP and melatonin. Often the actual tablet strength is the problem. The tablet strengths are insanely high. 100 mg of 5-HTP is way too much and can turn you into a sleepy zombie, but you don't sleep. Melatonin is even worse. A 3 mg tablet of melatonin is off the charts too much. I crush a melatonin tablet and take a crumb or two, and it knocks me out cold. A 3 mg tablet lasts me at least a week. 5-HTP is good at around 25 mg, however, long-term the zombie effect starts. You feel asleep, but you are actually awake. Hormones that affect your brain are in your body in extremely small quantities."

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

5-hydroxytryptophan 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."

• Nop...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 12, 2022

For Anxiety "If you have tinnitus, don't take it. It amplifies it. I usually brag about my stomach of steel, but this made my stomach sick, and I swear it made my kidney hurt. If you look further into it, you'll read it does make you pee more. All that from one 100 mg capsule."

• Ahm...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 6, 2019

5-hydroxytryptophan for Anxiety "I suffered from high-level social phobia for more than 25 years. My face became red, and I could not speak. For many years, I resisted this without medication. Since the last 5 years, I usually take Inderal 40 mg in social situations, but today I bought 5-HTP, 60 pieces, 100 mg. I opened the capsule and made it half (50 mg). I think 50 mg every day with Inderal 40 mg will work fine for me. Best regards."

• Sar...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 13, 2019

5-hydroxytryptophan for Insomnia "I've been taking 5-HTP 400 mg for 2 months to try and help with insomnia and depression. But I don't feel any different at all? I don't understand it as other people have reported success, so I was hopeful for this stuff."

• reg...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 11, 2022

5-hydroxytryptophan for Anxiety "BE CAREFUL! I took 5-HTP without any advice from the doctor, and it kickstarted my panic attacks journey. Of course, I had some trauma deeply rooted in my subconscious, that was the primary reason for my panic attacks, but 5-HTP unleashed all of it! I ended up having to go to a psychiatrist and went on SSRIs to fix myself. The doctor told me the dosage advised on the 5-HTP box (100-200 mg/day) was way too high for me and that messed up my brain. Just don’t take this without a doctor’s advice, please, it might do more harm!"

• bri...
• August 28, 2016

For Anxiety "Took this to try and stay natural, been dealing with anxiety recently and read a lot of good reviews and a few bad. Went to Walmart and purchased the day before yesterday and took 1 pill just before I went to sleep. When I woke up, it was like a living nightmare! Anxiety was magnified by 1000! Never have I felt so out of control! It was very scary, horrible thoughts went through my head. I went back and read some more reviews and read another person had the same experience as me, so I am not alone. It was unbelievable how a herbal pill can make you react. I was so scared I forced myself to take ZzzQuil so I could try and sleep it off, I prayed it would work, and it did. Woke up about 8 hours later feeling much better. Hope that more people read this!"

• Kie...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 31, 2020

5-hydroxytryptophan "I have mild depression, with low serotonin found. I have tried four antidepressants for a decade and always had terrible side effects. I have started to take 5-HTP 75 mg once a day, and it works great! Not sure about the long term for now, but I don't feel like garbage, don't have suicidal thoughts, and don't feel irritable. When I stop, all those symptoms come back."

• Hel...
• August 19, 2020

5-hydroxytryptophan 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."

• Sty...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 30, 2020

5-hydroxytryptophan "I went to a nutritional store for 5-HTP after doing some research on it for mild chronic depression. The nutritionist suggested 200 mg. Took it at night for a couple of nights, and my stomach woke me up. Had pains and diarrhea. Took it after breakfast two days later and ended up with severe nausea, diarrhea, dizziness, sweating, pale, and weakness. Was terrible. I am going to try the smallest dose I can get and take it on a full stomach. See what happens. Otherwise, it's not going to work for me."

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

5-hydroxytryptophan 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."

• Jan...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 5, 2019

5-hydroxytryptophan for Anxiety "Used generic at 100 mgs for slight depression, mild anxiety. Got skipped heartbeats, especially upon any muscular exercise, and it was becoming increasingly worse. Figured out this was the only new supplement I had started and used for 1 month. It certainly helped me into a deep sleep, but the skipped heartbeats (like 40 in one minute) scared me—so I stopped. In two days following, my heart returned to normal rhythm. Starting a different brand now at 50 mgs—will keep you posted after one month."

• kcl...
• January 20, 2018

For Depression "I suffer from insomnia, mood swings, depression, anger, outbursts of anger, I was always mean. I have sadness and a feeling of doom to where I do not function well in life. It affected my relationships with people in a bad way. No one liked me. The doctor would not renew the antidepressants that were working. I tried this and had instant improvement! I sleep better, I no longer flip out like a crazy person over the smallest of things, and I handle stress much better. I am less depressed and have a better quality of life. The only side effect is I am groggy during the day."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 4, 2022

5-hydroxytryptophan for Anxiety "My therapist said to take this for depression, so I bought a bottle of 5-HTP 200 mg, followed instructions, took 1 pill at night. Within 30 minutes of taking this, I went really hot and had a rash on my face, arms, neck, and chest. Went into severe vomiting for hours with muscle spasms in my stomach. Horrible headache from the back of my head wrapping around, felt like I was going to have a stroke. Made it through the night, I am 12 hours on but would not recommend. Feel horrible. Think it must have been an allergic reaction."

• Art...
• March 26, 2015

For Fibromyalgia "I've been taking 200 mg a day for the past 2 weeks. I definitely can tell a difference in my mood. It has seemed to help my pain some but not completely. I do sleep better, but I find myself going into these deep pockets of sleep, then wake up, then drift back, and some of the dreams are pretty vivid. I'll continue taking this, it couldn't hurt. I just don't want to take any of the other RX drugs on the market because of the side effects."

• Jay...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 16, 2019

For Anxiety "Tried this after trying to get off SSRIs. Had anxiety building up to a pre-panic attack on my second day on this. After taking 100 mg, I started to feel the anxiety melt away and pretty much relaxed after an hour. After day 3, I have noticed my acid reflux going away too. After researching, I found out serotonin stops gastric acid production. I usually take it around nighttime with a multivitamin. It tends to make me sleepy in a couple of hours. Pretty much as effective as SSRIs without as many side effects. Just get a little disoriented once in a while, but a very small price to pay compared to having anxiety."

• May...
• September 11, 2019

For Anxiety "I started taking 5-HTP three weeks ago. This third week was when I noticed it started working a bit. For some people, it can take as little as two weeks, but I wasn’t keeping up with taking it in the second week. Today, I woke up feeling kind of happier, and it felt really just amazing. I have been depressed for about a year or more, so I was just shocked at feeling this happiness. A couple of months ago, I was struggling even more and was prescribed Zoloft. I was told to take half of a Zoloft pill each night to build up to one complete pill. Well, the first night I took it, I woke up sweating a lot and felt kind of scared. I stopped taking Zoloft and looked for natural pills, and that’s how I found 5-HTP. It has helped a bit with my anxiety, I hope it starts helping more when I move up to 100mg. I’m taking two 50mg each day: one at night and one in the morning. Always take it with a meal! I am very thankful 5-HTP has helped a bit. Good luck to you all, don’t give up."

• Anx...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• March 3, 2022

5-hydroxytryptophan for Anxiety "After the loss of some family members, a sudden realization of past trauma, and a prolonged period of stress at work, I started having panic attacks and rising anxiety, which I couldn’t explain, being a really logical person. With the onset of the pandemic and the surrounding stress and negativity, it resulted in more frequent spells of anxiety and worry. 5-HTP really helps me lift myself off the bottom step of extremely low periods and moments of rising panic and anxiety and helps me get more restorative sleep to enable recovery. I take 100 mg at night and 50 mg in the morning for a week after a troubling episode and reduce down to 50 / 50 and then 50, etc., and reuse if needed. It’s an absolute savior - no side effects and no embarrassment of continuous calls to the doctor, who takes days to get back in touch and only offers SSRIs."

• JCM...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 21, 2022

5-hydroxytryptophan for Anxiety "I am very sensitive to any medication and have “inverted” symptoms from some (valerian gives me nightmares). So taking 5-HTP 3 years ago for acute anxiety, I felt the effects immediately. Now I am taking it again."

• Mad...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 25, 2016

For Fibromyalgia "100 mg of 5-HTP has been very effective for my insomnia and fibro. I combine it with an edible of THC/melatonin. I have been doing this for 4 months and feel much better. It's not the magic bullet but better than prescription drugs. I was taking Norco and Valium."