Comment · Thu, November 29, 2012 · Ceretropic
Been taking 5-HTP for 3 months. How worried should I be about heart valve damage?
Original post in this thread
mintmuse · 16 points
I hope this is the right place to post this.
I've been taking 5-HTP for about 3 months now, because I had read about it's effects with helping with depression (heard about it through the book, The Mood Cure). I started off with 150-200mg a day, taken in the evening and night before bed. In the beginning of October I started taking a vitamin b-complex (this one) in the morning. About a month ago I started feeling a slight vertigo once or twice a day. I went off the 5-HTP for about 3 or 4 days and it went away, so then I started taking just 50mg at night before bed. I know now I really should of just stopped taking it, but I didn't. I haven't had problems with the vertigo since, but I did not know until now about the link between 5-HTP and heart valve damage and cardiac fibrosis (just found out today reading through this sub).
I've also been taking:
Gaba Calm in the morning for about 2 months.
500mg-1000mg DLPA in the morning, off and on for 3 months.
And 500mg-1,500mg of L-Tyrosine for about a month (didn't seem to help with anyt…
What they were answering
mintmuse · 1 points
Luckily I am not depressed anymore. When I was depressed I felt hopeless, worthless, and felt like everything I use to love and aspire to was pointless. I started not caring about things that I used to care a lot about (like school), and everything seemed hard. I never got to the point of thinking of suicide though. I also had social anxiety. I used to smoke weed daily and I definitely think that contributed to it.
I believe my recovery was a combination of things. I started seeing a therapist in August and went to her for 10 weeks. I also started taking the amino acid supplements in August as well. I joined a sports team and met people, and started back up in school. Also have been working on meditation and being more aware of my thoughts and emotions and how I can get caught up in them.
I guess I'll have to see if I feel different without the 5-HTP and if it was making a big difference of not.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · Ceretropic
I'm glad you are figuring it out. I went through a bad depression, and got close to ending it multiple times. Don't put too much stake in chemical supplementation. That is a Band Aid, not a solution. Conscious introspection is what will truly help you to figure your brain out. Supplement if needed, but only as assistance and not a cure. I would say stop the 5-HTP. It can mess with your balance too much for long periods. I would, however, start taking fully chelated magnesium glycinate, along with some good antioxidants like alpha lipoic acid. Those will help with your body's natural process for maintaining balance and protection. You might also start supplementing bacopa and L-theanine. They are working very well for me, along side noopept.
For me, I just did not know how to control my brain. It would get away from me and I would keep spiraling down, past the point of recovery. No supplement, pill, SSRI, etc could stop that. It was fully my issue to figure out. I still think the same way I always have. However, I know how to stop my spiral, and make my brain work for me, not against me.
I equate it to a 16 year old being given a Ferrari. He's got all the power in the world, but doesn't know how to use it. Before too long, that Ferrari is going to end up being wrapped around a tree. The driver needs to learn how to operate it! I feel that was my situation with my brain. I needed to learn how to control it.
Perhaps you are/were in a similar situation. Keep up the introspection, along with the sports and social activities. That really helped me through it. Best of luck!