Re: 5-HPT & Paxil
5-HPT & Paxil
Dear Dorian,
I hope someday he will be able to say for sure, as he would for a drug combination. You really don't want to mix 5-HTP and an antidepressant.
5-hydroxytryptophan is the raw material for serotonin, so adding in a large amount of serotonin while continuing to take a drug that holds serotonin in your brain can cause serotonin syndrome, where you get an anxiety response and panic attacks.
It sounds from the other posts that others have experienced this as nausea, etc. But that is in doses too large for the system to handle.
While I respect the cochrane data base reports, I feel that particular review of 5HTP made what is essentially an amino acid readily available in warm milk and turkey sound far more dangerous than it is.
The side effect picture for 5HTP is far lower than an equivalent antidepressant, for the specific reason that the body has set feedback loops to help prevent intake and toxicity.
I am attaching the toxicity profile.
I hope this is helpful.
Christopher Maloney, Naturopathic Doctor
Augusta, Maine www.maloneymedical.com.
Informational only, I cannot treat or diagnose via the web.
I can give you research, and research is available on my site.
I have no affiliation with Naturopathic Medicine Network, I just post because someone needs to.
Toxicol Lett. 2004 Apr 15;150(1):111-22. Related Articles, Links
Click here to read
Safety of 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan.
Das YT, Bagchi M, Bagchi D, Preuss HG.
ISSI Laboratories Inc., 515 Blue Ridge Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA.
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.
Publication Types:
* Case Reports
* Review
PMID: 15068828 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]