5-HTP – My Experiences
I recently started taking 5-htp again, primarily to help with anxiety as well as to sleep better at night. I have taken 5-HTP in the past due to adrenal/thryoid problems (it was prescribed for that reason by a holistic practitioner along with L-Taurine and L-Tyrosine – an excellent combination), and I saw noticeable effects in terms of a decrease in appetite and increase in energy (weight loss) from 5-HTP.
My husband also found a decrease in appetite when he tried 5-htp back then along with me.
However, this time around I am feeling absolutely no difference with this 5-htp (Now Foods brand). Not sure which brand I was using before, it was numerous years ago. But I think if I try HTP again in the future, I will try a different brand.
As I stated in my posts on glutamine and Green Tea Extract, I’m really starting to wonder about the effectiveness of Now Foods products in general. I know they are purported to be a very good brand, but repeatedly I feel like I am merely consuming sugar pills when it comes to a lot of their products. Now, granted, there are certain Now Food Products that do seem to be effective and which my husband and I consume regularly. Things like their L-Arginine powder and L-citruline capsules may be good (however I’m even wondering if I should try a different brand for those as well, based on this mounting pattern of experience I’ve been having with other Now Foods products delivering disappointing results), but some of this other stuff is consistently having no effect.
On the other hand I have been taking source naturals L-Tryptophen (of which 5-HTP is a pre-curser), and I can say that packs a punch, both for sleeping and for calming anxiety during the day. Took the butterflies right out of my stomach with just 2 pills (taken together) after dealing with that non-stop for weeks due to some ongoing highly stressful situations. So powerful, when I first started taking it it left me quite foggy headed (mostly at first – seems after body got adjusted, it didn’t have the groggy side effects ).
Anyway, I’m not dissing Now Foods, just giving some honest commentary about my experiences, mainly for my own record keeping purposes (which is what this blog was originally intended for, but I’m very pleased that others are finding benefit from it). Like I said, there are some products from them that I feel do work, but lately, I’ve encountered numerous of their products which seem to have no effect. 5-HTP is a wonder-supplement, no question. I just need to find a brand that produces the results I know I’ve experienced before with 5-HTP.
Have you used 5-HTP? What benefits did you experience? Have you tried the Now Foods brand and did it work for you? I’d love to know!
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