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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2004 >> 5HTP
        
(Message started by: manana on Sep 15^th, 2004, 6:42pm)

Title: 5HTP
Post by manana on Sep 15^th, 2004, 6:42pm

I was reading a post on the UK site regarding the use of 5HTP (natural, obtained from health food stores) for the treatment of CH. Not many on that site had heard of it. Does anyone here know more about 5HTP?

Title: Re: 5HTP
Post by Jonny on Sep 15^th, 2004, 8:03pm

Bob P has been posting about that for five years, grab his email addy off one of his posts.

....................................jonny

Title: Re: 5HTP
Post by floridian on Sep 15^th, 2004, 9:15pm

I have used it off and on for the past 5 or 6 years. It boosts serotonin - it is a form of tryptophan that passes readily across the blood brain barrier. It only takes one enzyme transformation to convert it to serotonin.

It has a decent track record for migraines, depression and some types of panic, and I think it may help with clusters. If nothing else, it probably increases melatonin production. (I think it does more).

Don't mix with SSRIs or other antidepressants or take too much - an excess can cause serotonin syndrome - overheating, convulsions, etc. I find that 50 - 100 mg a day is good for me, others sometimes take more.

There is a theoretical concern that 5-htp might cause heart problems like phen-fen did. That problem has never been observed in people who take 5-htp, but to be on the safe side, I limit myself to a week or so at a time, with the lowest dose that works for me.

Quote:

Toxicol Lett. 2004 Apr 15;150(1):111-22.

Safety of 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan.

Das YT, Bagchi M, Bagchi D, Preuss HG.

5-Hydroxy-L-tryptophan (5-HTP) is the immediate precursor in the biosynthesis of 5-hydroxy-tryptamine (5-HT; serotonin) from the essential amino acid L-tryptophan (L-Trp). The use of L-Trp as a dietary supplement was discontinued in 1989 due to an outbreak of eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS) that was traced to a contaminated synthetic L-Trp from a single manufacturer. 5-HTP has since become a popular dietary supplement in lieu of the removal of L-Trp from the market. Because of its chemical and biochemical relationship to L-Trp, 5-HTP has been under vigilance by consumers, industry, academia and government for its safety. However, no definitive cases of toxicity have emerged despite the worldwide usage of 5-HTP for last 20 years, with the possible exception of one unresolved case of a Canadian woman. Extensive analyses of several sources of 5-HTP have shown no toxic contaminants similar to those associated with L-Trp, nor the presence of any other significant impurities. A minor chromatographic peak (peak X) reported in some 5-HTP samples lacks credibility due to chromatographic artifacts and infinitesimal concentrations, and has raised undue speculations concerning its chemistry and toxicity.

Also, pyridoxine (a b-vitamin) increases 5-htp synthesis in the brain.

Quote:

Arch Med Res. 2004 Jul-Aug;35(4):271-4.

Pyridoxine, regardless of serotonin levels, increases production of 5-hydroxytryptophan in rat brain.

Calderon-Guzman D, Hernandez-Islas JL, Espitia-Vazquez I, Barragan-Mejia G, Hernandez-Garcia E, Santamaria-Del Angel D, Juarez-Olguin H.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate effects of pyridoxine and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) on lipid peroxidation and on levels of 5-hydroxytryptophan and serotonin. METHODS: Thirty rats (30 days of age) were used in the survey, measuring levels of lipid peroxidation (TBARS), hemoglobin, 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), and serotonin (5-HT) after intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections of 4 and 10 mg/kg/day of pyridoxine HCl during 20 days and a single dose of 2 microM/kg (440 microg) of BHT. RESULTS: Levels of TBARS and 5-HTP increased considerably (p <0.05) in all vitamin- and/or BHT-treated groups, and 5-HT increased partially (p <0.05) only in B(6) with or without BHT-treated groups compared with control group. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that pyridoxine plays a role in tryptophan metabolism, increasing production of 5-HTP.

Title: Re: 5HTP
Post by floridian on Sep 15^th, 2004, 9:21pm

More.

Quote:

Adv Exp Med Biol. 1999;467:177-82. Related Articles, Links

L-5-hydroxytryptophan can prevent nociceptive disorders in man.

Nicolodi M, Sicuteri F.

Interuniversity Centre of Neurochemistry, Florence, Italy.

Prevention of primary pain is a new topic, endowed with social and economic interest. We observed that L-5-HTP can induce a significant decrease of the cropping out of migraine, the commonest primary pain. This finding seems interesting, since it represents the first data in the field and was obtained in a prospective, long-term, placebo controlled study. The result obtained suggests that CNS abnormalities underlying the mechanism of migraine can be changed by L-5-HTP, if the amino acid is administered to subjects who are predisposed to headache.

http://www.health-pages.com/ht/tryptmetab2.gif

Title: Re: 5HTP
Post by thomas on Sep 15^th, 2004, 10:19pm

Giovanni is also a big proponent of 5HTP. Be sure you are not on any antidepressants before taking it.

Title: Re: 5HTP
Post by Bob P on Sep 16^th, 2004, 9:34am

I was looking at it some years back. Took it for about 6 months, but that was between clusters. It must have worked with 5HT levels because it did mellow me out (people on the General board probably wish I would go back on it). I don't know if it will help with clusters but the chemistry looked interesting.

Title: Re: 5HTP
Post by Giovanni on Sep 16^th, 2004, 9:50am

I used it before the alternative treatment for a couple weeks at a time @50mg X 2 per day. It did seems to help with the mood and CH. I would use melatonin at night along with 5-HTP during the day.

I believe it would worth a try.

John