Is this supplement safe and effective?

Hi everyone,

I've been reading up about hormone levels in patients with fibromyalgia. It seems many of us may have low levels of:
- serotonin: affects mood, appetite and sleep
- dopamine: affects cognition, behaviour, learning, movement, attention span, memory, sleep regularity, mood
- norepinephrine/noradenaline: affects response to stressful situations

So I started looking for supplements for these hormones and stumbled across one that is supposed to help boost levels of all 3 of these hormones by supplying the amino acids from which they are built. One of my questions is, do we have a lack of the amino acids used to build these hormones or do we have trouble processing them, which could make supplementing with amino acids ineffective?

Anyway, the supplement is called Serotune and it contains:
- L-Theanine (100mg) which is building block for norepinephrine
- 5-HTP (100mg) which is the building block for serotonin
- L-Tyrosine (300mg) which is a building block for dopamine

The recommended dosage is 2 capsules daily, increasing to 3 if needed. I'm just wondering, are all these amino acids safe to take? Could I get any bad side effects from taking these? Are the levels in the capsule too high to be considered safe? When I asked the doctor about it, he went onto Wikipedia and read to me some of the information there about it! It's like, "well, thanks, doc, I could've done that myself." So I'm turning to you guys for help.

Are there better supplements out there that offer these same amino acids in higher quality and effectiveness?


Jasmine

P.S. I know that L-theanine has already been suggested on this forum, but I listed it since it is part of the supplement I am considering.

Ok. I won't try them without a doctor's permission, I just wondered what everyone here thought of them.

I don't take any medications for my fibromyalgia. I tried antidepressants - they didn't help so I stopped taking those over a year ago. I used painkillers for awhile - the effects wore off. The doctors won't prescribe me anything, except for an acid tablet for my low stomach acid. That's literally the only medication I take.

Jasmine Grace

Its like you read my mind!

I was going to post almost the same question when I got home this eve from work about if anyone knew of anything to help brain fog?

Could this be low dopamine then?

Are there any supplements for just dopamine? I suppose omega 3 help with brain function and I already take those

serotune sounds good, though I do know your not supposed to take 5htp with anti ds (i was on 5htp before Ami) not sure I noticed a difference

I am on Amitrilyptine and will always ask phramacist or doc before trying new things

These supplements sound like they are for depression. But antidepressants can help with fibromyalgia pain. So they might help you too. But as posted above, talk to your doctor first before trying anything. I hope it helps...

Hugs, Karen...

Hi getting by, I suppose I've kind of been wondering if I may be depressed, anyway... But I was thinking mostly of the pain and brain fog

Post Edited (Jasmine Grace) : 6/11/2013 11:07:48 AM (GMT-6)

Jasmine Grace

I have been reading about this Serotune and I really like the sound of it...My book on fibro in the UK says about Dopamine, Serotonin and norephripine (can't spell that one) and GABA. I have been looking for something that combines all of these things.

I would really like to come off the Amitriptyline soon and this could be something which might be a nice all round alternative

Well done you and thanks for doing all the research for me ;O)

Sherrine,

I just looked at my vitamin B Complex and it has folic acid in it, so was already taking it! Have been taking this supplement for about 4 months now...so maybe i need something else or just to give it longer to work

Not sure you read my post last week, I took a liver cleansing supplement, and end up having my liver going into hyper drive. I managed to catch it because I do weekly blood test and keep a diary, so when there's an elevation of any sort, I can easily refer back and try to pin point the cause.

I urge you proceed with caution, speak to a medical profession first before taking them.

Hi clarie, no, I didn't see that post. Thanks for the warning. I have a doctor's appointment booked so I'll ask about the supplement then.

Wackers, the only things I take to help with my sleep problems (which I definitely do have!) are Magnesium oil which I put on my skin and Brauer's natural medicine Sports Ice Gel - Joint and Muscle. And that's simply because the magnesium helps to relax my muscles and the gel eases the pain somewhat. I tried valerian for a while but I found that I got terrible nightmares from it. Oh, and sometimes I also drink chamomile tea to help calm my nerves before I go to sleep. I also do mindfulness meditation sometimes, but I'll admit that I find it very draining so I often don't do it.

But of course, the pain is a lot greater than anything those simple remedies can solve. But they help.

I've seen many wonder supplements/drinks/foods, etc. advertised before but never bought them without checking with other people first (like I'm doing right now)because I'm always wary of being scammed.

hCG is WAY more fringe than the supplements Jasmine is talking about. L-Theanine, L-Tyrosine and 5-HTP are all naturally occuring amino acids. The latter 2 basically give our bodies the nutrients to make more of certain neurotransmitters, and L-Theanine is found in green tea and have a number of effects. Many mainstream doctors receommend them and they are considered generally safe.

Whereas hCG is a hormone which is normally only produced by a fertiziled egg in a woman's womb or by certain cancerous tumors. It has the capability of causing serious side effects. Many countries (including the US) have banned the sale of hCG without a prescription. I would definitely do a lot of research before considering something like hCG.

Fishchris said...
It's a hormonal sup, just like these others.

No, they are not hormones. They are amino acids.

Fishchris said...
And BTW, even males have "some" of this chemical in their bodies.... or at least, are supposed to have...

Sorry, maybe I should have phrased that differently. Levels of hCG in men and non-pregnant females are normally so low as to be undetectable by standard tests. Some researchers have detected minute quantities using an ultra-sensitive test. No one has levels comparable to the levels you would be introducing when you take hCG injections. Just because something exists in the body does not make it safe to inject large doses of. hCG can have major side effects.

I am still curious as to whether hCG can indeed work for fibro - it's not like some of the other drugs we try aren't risky. But what I meant by hCG as a treatment for fibro being more "fringe" than taking amino acid supplements was "alternative or unorthodox health care that is currently on the fringe of acceptability because it lacks scientific evidence". Whereas the supplements Jasmine mentioned do have scientific evidence behind them and are recommended by many more "mainstream" health care practitioners (they also have a good safety record). However, sometimes fringe medicine can work, I'm not trying to be dismissive of it :)