Tryptophan or 5-HTP for people with Lyme?

Hi CP,

What is the primary purpose you are taking these supplements?

I have not known anyone to say man, that tryptophan is what really did it for me-so if you are concerned unless you are seeing a lot of tangible relief from it I would stop.

I hear you on the contradictions, story of our lives, right?

~beth

How many hours are you getting a night?

Correct me here but wouldn't 5-htp and tryptophan have exactly the same effect? They one is a precursor to the other so unless you have some sort of enzyme deficiency inhibiting that pathway or one supplement is superior to the other I would expect the same end result. Thoughts?

~beth

Ill look into it a bit-I'm curious now. If you try it let us know how it works. That sounds awful about the waking up Sleep is so important!

I've often suspected that Lyme sufferers are dopamine deficient instead of serotonin deficient,
Due to the tremors we develop. Insomnia is my biggest misery. I usually get 5-6 hrs of sleep and that's on sleep meds. On a rare occasion, if I get 9 hrs. I think I'm healed

The 5 htp did not agree with me. I've been very reluctant to try tryptophan because of it.
It actually was a neurologist who believed I had Lyme. I was trembling and vibrating so bad I thought I had Parkinson. I have found that GABA works fairly well at night. Thus the dopamine theory.

Ashwaghanda, lithium orotate, and chinese skullcap can help with sleep. l-tyrosine can boost dopamine, though it should be taken with 5-htp during longterm use. 18 mg of supplemental iron has reduced my RLS.

After ending ABX, I still focused on adrenals and effects of stress, I did not instantly sleep better, it was a slow but positive process.

I dropped the RX sleep stuff soon after halting ABX, and only recently did I drop Advil PM- I needed that for sleep and aches at night.

I continue on natural calming supplements before bed: Mag glycinate (the best), HTP, holy basil (lowers cortisol and glucose) and Advil PM. These together allowed as much sleep as I had time for (two jobs). I still take short power naps- because I can.

I also need night time Benadryl generic in winter due to sinus sleep issues that looked like Apnea to Drs,.... but were not. I dont like taking it, but it works for me.

I sometimes can sleep with nothing but magnesium, but I still benefit from the other sups above.

Killing or lowering the lyme load only lets the body heal on its own, which can take a long time depending how long one was affected.

In the case of people with Hashimoto, adrenal issues are not uncommon either, with or without lyme.

We have to do whatever we can to help sleep, that means a lot of experimenting.
----------------------------------------
As far as daytime: I take a multi vit and digestion supps with the amino Taurine for better calm energy and thinking. For tendon and muscle healing I still take cissus plant extract, but less.

The only daily Rx I take is natural Rx pig thyroid.

Thats everything I now take vs the 50 different suppliments still in my kitchen from the recent past.

Post Edited (astroman) : 7/20/2018 2:05:43 PM (GMT-6)