Taking 5-Hydroxy-tryptophan

[BP2PROFESSIONAL]

Hi Everyone,

Currently my whole world is crashing down at the moment, jobs going down the toilet, marriage on the rocks, having to sell a house to degear and reduce stress, have no money.

Went to the doctor and they are going to do the genetic test for the effects of antidepressants on me as I had a really bad reaction last year.  Have been given some Innovative Therapies Proxan which contains 100mg of 5-Hydroxy-tryptophan plus some other vitamins as well in the bottle Google it if you can for me.  I was pretty cool with it until after I had had my first pill and then read the bit on the bottle which said people who suffer from Bipolar Depression should not use this product unless under the supervision of a healthcare professional.

Well I'm under the supervision of a healthcare professional, but I don't like reading things like that on bottles of pills I'm taking, particularly seeing I'm Bipolar and currently depressed from complete exhaustion.

Can the med guru's here do there magic explaining why I may or may not want to take this.  

Also I'll do everyone the favour and let them know I'm going to call my Psychiatrist tomorrow to see what he says as well, so you don't need to recommend I do that as I already know.

I'm not on any antidepressants right now, but am likely to be taking some in a few weeks once I have that test done.

I have a headache right now as I'm typing this, but I'm not sure if thats from the Proxan or from the fact I feel really crap anyway.

Also I read somewhere that people suffering from insomnia shouldn't take more than 50mg of 5-Hydroxy-tryptophan as it can give you vivid dreams.  I'm Bipolar, suffer from insomnia and I've just taken double as well as 0.3 mg of melatonin as a pill to get to sleep.

Should I be freakin out or should I just accept that my doctor got it right as she said she was giving it to me as my seratonin levels are likely to be depleted right now from all the stress I'm under and she's just helping to bring them back to normal levels.

I guess I'll find the answer to that question as I sleep tonight.

[BP2PROFESSIONAL]

Hey would be fun to have a read anyway, years ago I actually got my undergrad degree in Industrial Chemistry.  Haven't used it in years but these little chats are starting to bring it back to me.  Really want to try and learn as much as I can around the Biochemistry of Bipolar.  Any good books texts you could recommend would be great.

The contents of Proxan are as follows

%HTP 100mg
S-adenosyl methionine 100mg
dl-Phenylanaline 100mg
Potassium Phosphate - monobasic 50mg
Equiv Potassium 14.4mg
Magnesium Phosphate - tribasic 50mg
Equiv Magnesium 10.3mg
Pyridoxal-5-Phosphate 5.0mg
Cyanocobalamin 400 microgram
Folic Acid 400 microgram

Cheers

[moonpanda]

No problem! Vitamin B6 in general is really important in the synthesis of serotonin, and other neurotransmitters that can play some sort of role in mood disorders and sleep (ex: norepinephrine, which some antidepressants like venlafaxine modulate along with serotonin; GABA, the major inhibitory neurotransmitter that gets modulated by alcohol, anti-anxiety drugs, etc.). So I think it's only going to help ensure that the 5-HTP is going to get converted.

I know that there is definitely an upper limit to how much B6 you should take a day (from what I've read it's about 100mg for long term use) because there can be some bad neurological side effects. But you're under a doctor's care, so he/she should hopefully be keeping an eye on that, and you'll be able to notice if something funky starts happening.

I Googled Proxan, and while I couldn't find very much on what exactly is in it, the site that I think is the manufacturer's said that SAM-e is in it as well as 5-HTP. SAM-e can have antidepressant effects like 5-HTP, although it does have the potential to trigger mania/hypomania in bipolar individuals.

Also, it's really important to take B-vitamins with SAM-e, because it's converted into the chemical homocysteine, which can be harmful if too much of it accumulates. B vitamins prevent this from happening. I think I read about some connection also between 5-HTP and homocysteine, but I can't find it now! I don't know a lot more about SAM-e, but here's a website that shows the process of breaking it down if you're interested, and a website describing what SAM-e is and how it might be helpful in depression:
http://www.biopsychiatry.com/article/sameart.htm
http://www.biopsychiatry.com/sameart.html

So yeah, again, since you're being monitored by a doctor, if any manic symptoms or toxicity signs begin to emerge, you'll be able to catch it early. Take a look at the bottle to see what exactly it has in it... I'm curious, because I can't really find anything on Google!

Also, that genetics paper isn't really good, haha. I wrote it during a depressive episode, after getting a two week extension, and even then it was a huge struggle to put together coherent sentences. Somehow I still did really well in the class, so go figure. But I can send it to you in a PM if you really do want to read it.

[BP2PROFESSIONAL]

Wow would be interested in reading your paper for the genetics class, sounds interesting.

I will admit I've woken feeling a bit better although I still have a bit of a headache.

Thanks for all the info, has started to make sense now, I am taking an activated B6 Supplement as well as a multivitamin which has the normal spread of B vitamins as well.

[moonpanda]

5-HTP is basically the precursor to serotonin (5-HT), which is probably why your doctor thinks it would be helpful to take this. It has the potential to give you some more of the 'building blocks' needed to increase serotonin levels in the brain. Another way to help with this is to take L-tryptophan, or to eat foods high in tryptophan (turkey, for example), because L-tryptophan is the precursor to 5-HTP. Melatonin is produced from serotonin, so perhaps you won't have to take melatonin supplements as well while taking 5-HTP, but I'm not so sure about this.

In case you're wondering why you need to take the precursors to serotonin, as opposed to serotonin itself, it's impossible for 5-HT (serotonin) supplements to make any difference in mood and other nervous system controlled functions.When taken orally, 5-HT is unable to cross the very selective 'blood-brain barrier', which protects the brain from toxins and infections. 5-HTP and L-tryptophan can cross this barrier, and once in the brain, they are converted into serotonin. 5-HT supplements would basically just be a huge waste of money, as you will literally just be urinating it all out.

There is also a relation between certain B vitamins and the conversion of all of these chemicals into serotonin, so depending on the other vitamins in the supplement, it might be more or less effective (I think, I'm not totally up to speed on this).

On a bit of a side note, I recently wrote a paper for a genetics class on mutations (polymorphisms) in the gene that codes for the production of tryptophan hydroxylase, the enzyme that converts 5-HTP into 5-HT (serotonin), and the relation of these mutations to bipolar disorder. (We picked genes from a hat, and I just happened to get this one assigned... quite a coincidence!) A lot of research is being done on this right now, because this has only been recently discovered, and it's very possible that this gene plays some sort of role in the development of BP.