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5-hydroxytryptophan User Reviews & Ratings (Page 5)

Brand names: 5-HTP

5-hydroxytryptophan has an average rating of 6.5 out of 10 from a total of 184 reviews on Drugs.com. 55% of reviewers reported a positive experience, while 27% reported a negative experience.

Reviews for 5-hydroxytryptophan

  • brian...
  • August 28, 2016

For Anxiety "Took this to try and stay natural been dealing with anxiety recently and read a lot good reviews and a few bad. Went to walmart and purchased day before yesterday and took 1 pill just before I went to sleep. When I woke up it was like a living nightmare! Anxiety was magnified by 1000! Never have I felt so out of control! It was very scary horrible thoughts went through my head. I went back and read some more reviews and read another person had the same experience as me so I am not alone. It was unbelievable how a herbal pill can make you react I was so scared I forced myself to take zquil so I could try and sleep it off I prayed it would work and it did. Woke up about 8hrs later feeling much better. Hope that more people read this!"

1 / 10
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30 Report
  • Portend
  • April 17, 2017

5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) for Anxiety "I felt great...very calm and confident. But combining 5-HTP with alcohol has caused adverse reactions. Additionally, I feel a sudden down swing, sometimes, and take a second dose, each dose being 50 mg. Since the supplement I take called Medulla also contains GABA, I am not sure I am doing the right thing, especially drinking up to 4 glasses of wine per night. Lately, I have poured the wine out, because I've felt odd. I am afraid that combining this with other supplements I take, plus Avapro for hypertension might eventually do harm, as the depression feels on the edge of returning and I feel agitated at times."

8 / 10
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28 Report
  • Anonymous
  • Taken for 2 to 5 years
  • April 25, 2015

5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) for Insomnia "I have a love hate relationship with 5 HTP. it has definitely helped me sleep in the past but after a while I build up a tolerance. I don't like stopping and restarting because the first few days of restarting give me an upset stomach."

7 / 10
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33 Report
  • Tashka
  • Taken for 1 to 6 months
  • October 21, 2016

For Depression "I tried to take 5-HTP for depression and anxiety accompanied by insomnia (early morning awakenings). I took antidepressant in the past, and it really helped, but this time I decided to try natural remedy. I went from 100 mg a day to 300mg. At first the results were great-just like when I took antidepressant. My depression lifted, sleep improved, I was not as anxious. Unfortunately, after a few weeks 5-HTP just stopped working. The positive effects were very short-lived."

3 / 10
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29 Report
  • Abigail
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • January 31, 2019

5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) for Anxiety "I took 2 pills about 2 hours ago. The back of the bottle said too. They are 100mg each. I have really bad anxiety which leads to my panic attack. It's been happening more often than not. Anyway I took 2 pills about 2 hours ago. Not feeling too good right now. My stomach feels yucky. I feel a little warm. Definitely not hungry, and I'm tired. I feel crappy actually. I've never tried these before. Maybe my body is trying to adjust. I will keep taking them, but only take one a day. I really need this to work. My anxiety is getting the best of Me."

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  • a20030
  • January 29, 2016

For Fibromyalgia "5-HTP is a really effective all-natural supplement for combatting symptoms of Fibromyalgia - among many other things. It naturally increases serotonin levels which help with sleep quality, pain reduction and depression. "

9 / 10
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29 Report
  • Hello...
  • August 19, 2020

5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) for Anxiety "I have tried 5HTP 100mg and 50mg for Anxiety/alcohol withdrawal and I have had a good experience with it, I know there are a lot of different brands of 5 htp, I usually stick to the natrol brand I've tried another brand but that one made me feel really paranoid and high anxiety n feeling not good, but after I tried the Natrol brand and it didn't make me feel wired and panicky I think some brands are generic or they add a lil extra something in those off brand ones. I start by taking little by little too so it won't hit so hard if I take the whole dose (like a quarter of a whole) just to see how I feel in a few minutes."

10 / 10
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  • Nope
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • February 12, 2022

For Anxiety "If you have tinnitus, don't take it. It amplifies it. I usually brag about my stomach of steel, but this made my stomach sick and I swear it made my kidney hurt. If you look further into it you'll read it does make you pee more. All that from one 100mg capsule."

1 / 10
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  • LucyA...
  • Taken for 1 to 6 months
  • April 23, 2024

5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) for Anxiety "I came off escitalopram a couple of years ago and my anxiety had gotten really bad recently (triggered by a lot of pressure at work and home). I was waking up every night with a pounding heart and having panic attacks and crying most days. I had tried a variety of different supplements but none seemed to have any effect. Then as a last resort before going back to the doctor, I started taking a couple of 5-HTP capsules before bedtime each night. Within a matter of days, my anxiety had subsided massively. I am now able to cope with everything going on at work, I no longer wake up in the night with a racing heart, and feel so much better. I am so glad I found this supplement as I was at my wit’s end."

10 / 10
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  • Sarah
  • Taken for 1 to 6 months
  • December 13, 2019

5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) for Insomnia "I've been taking 5-HTP 400mg for 2 months to try and help with insomnia and depression. But I don't feel any different at all? I don't understand it as other people have reported success so so I was hopeful for this stuff."

3 / 10
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  • Jill
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • September 2, 2023

5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) for Anxiety "Life changer! My naturopath suggested I start taking 100mg a day for my depression. It's day 2 & I already feel a massive difference in my thought patterns. The past few weeks have been very dark for me & full of racing thoughts. I finally feel normal again."

10 / 10
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  • Zobo
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • June 9, 2019

5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) for Anxiety "7 days ago I went cold turkey off Phenibut (dangerous beware severe withdrawals) no sleep, extreme anxiety (I also have generalised and panic attack disorder) and extremely bad depression which I’ve never had. I came across 5HTP which has seemed to help with the depression and anxiety but it’s only been 3 days. Still can’t sleep but my brain is in a bad way due to also being an ex painkiller addict (clean from pills for almost 5 years) and recently Phenibut. I’ve got a very high tolerance to all forms of medications etc and started at 100mg but it didn’t do anything, 300mg seems to take the edge off but I don’t plan on going on a higher dose or for a long period of time because these adverse effects from Phenibut withdrawals only last a few weeks."

6 / 10
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  • ogoway
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • September 23, 2019

For Anxiety "Started taking 5-htp for general anxiety based on web info gushing about its effectiveness, bought NOW brand 100 mg. Label said take 3x per day with food, which I did. After 48 hrs, started getting bad diarrhea, along with a dizzy/weak feeling much like the bout of anemia I used to have. Another 24 hours and the problems persisted, stopped taking the 5-htp and they resolved within a day. There were no warnings on the label about these possible side effects, but a quick google search showed that these were the most common side effects of this product... why would the producer of this product fail to put these common side effects on the back of the label??? Are they that greedy that they can't give informed full disclosure? Pretty much cost me 2 days of sickness to try their product."

1 / 10
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  • Meowaw
  • Taken for 1 to 6 months
  • June 16, 2024

5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) for Insomnia "I took 5-HTP after a rave sometimes, and it really works wonders. Then I started taking it for insomnia (400 mg once per day). At first, it worked well, but after a while, I got serotonin syndrome-like symptoms. At first, I didn't know from what, but then eventually figured out it was 5-HTP. Definitely strong stuff, so use it with caution!"

5 / 10
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  • Anonymous
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • August 30, 2021

5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) for Anxiety "I’ve been dealing with some intense anxiety and sadness. Pretty sure all my symptoms point to anxiety. I started a supplement with 5Htp in it. Took it for 2 days and had a massive dizzy spell so I stopped taking it thinking it was the supplement. Started a week later and it’s been four days and I honestly feel my symptoms are much worse than before. It’s 50mg of 5Htp, I’ve researched the other ingredients in the supplement and no other ones seem to make my symptoms worse. I will take a break and see what happens."

1 / 10
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  • Dopey
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • September 2, 2022

5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) for Anxiety "I found that both the 100mg and 200mg made my depression much, much worse. I cried more, thought of suicide more often and felt completely hopeless. I started with 200, then reduced it to 100 and still had the same thing happen. Although the thought of suicide is never really out of sight as an option being on 5-HTP made it worse. I actually started formulating plan, making a will, etc. I stopped taking it and about a week later I was back to my usual depressed self - minus the urgent need to commit suicide. Be careful. Prozac did me the same way."

1 / 10
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  • NotKa...
  • Taken for 1 to 6 months
  • October 26, 2023

5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) for Anxiety "I had been on an SSRI for months after finding out my dog had cancer in combo with empty nest. I was just not in a good place. After gaining back all the weight I worked so hard to lose, and feeling pretty numbed out from the drugs, I decided to wean off them. I read a lot about 5-HTP, had taken it in the past with decent results. I actually feel really good with 100 mg a couple of times a day, BUT I do combine it with L-tyrosine to stabilize my dopamine. I have read this is important and it must be because I actually feel much better than I did on the SSRI meds. I will say nausea does happen (taking it with a protein helps with this), and do not combine it with L-tyrosine before bed. I am still currently taking both and feel pretty good! If you're on the fence, try looking up 5-HTP & L-tyrosine articles to help explain how they work in tandem together."

8 / 10
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  • Janelle
  • Taken for 1 to 6 months
  • January 5, 2019

5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) for Anxiety "Used generic at 100 mgs for slight depression mild anxiety. Got skipped heartbeats especially upon any muscular exercise and was becoming increasingly worse. Figured out this was the only new supplement I had started and used for 1 month. It certainly helped me into a deep sleep, but the skipped heartbeats ( like 40 in one minute ). Scared me- so I stopped. In two days following, my heart returned to normal rhythm. Starting a different brand now at 50 mgs— will keep you posted after one month."

3 / 10
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  • Kieran
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • July 31, 2020

5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) "I have mild depression, with low serotonin found. I have tried four antidepressants for a decade and always had terrible side effects. I have started to take 5-HTP 75mg once a days and it works great! Not sure for the long term for now, but I don't feel like garbage, don't have suicidal thoughts, and don't feel irritable. When I stop, all those symptoms come back."

10 / 10
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  • regina
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • February 11, 2022

5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) for Anxiety "BE CAREFUL! I took 5-htp without any advice from the doctor and it kick started my panic attacks journey. Of course I had some trauma deeply rooted in my subconscious, that was the primary reason of my panic attacks, but 5-htp unleashed all of it! I ended up having to go to a psychiatrist and went on SSRIs to fix myself. The doctor told me the dosage advised on the 5-htp box (100-200mg/day) was way to high for me and that messed up my brain. Just don’t take this without a doctor’s advice, please, it might do more harm!"

3 / 10
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  • Anna
  • April 24, 2018

5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) for Anxiety "I was recommended this by a close family friend who also suffers from anxiety. I took 50mg a couple of times a week a few months ago and didn't notice a change or any negative side effects at that time. I have been feeling more anxious over the past few weeks due to hormonal imbalance/other issues so I decided to try again one night when the anxiety was really bad just to see if it could alleviate some of it. I took 1 50mg capsule about an hour after dinner and for the first few hours after I took it I actually felt noticeably less anxious. At one point, my entire body felt very peaceful and relaxed and almost had a warm feeling to it. It did not help me sleep though like some people commented, I woke up multiple times throughout the night and tossed and turned and then around 6AM woke up feeling nauseous, wide awake, and anxious again. I'm not sure if this is because of my hormonal imbalance issues right now or side effects from this, but not sure its worth it to try again."

5 / 10
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  • Kellb...
  • August 28, 2016

For Anxiety "Listed my reason for taking as anxiety but I am taking it for depression also. Jarrow's 5htp has been amazing for me. I've been taking 50mg in the morning and at night, I've felt the best that I've felt in months. Happy, in a good mood, far less anxious than I usually am. I'm feeling excited to live each day again. Did not work immediately but after a few days I started to feel the good effects."

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  • Maya
  • September 11, 2019

For Anxiety "I started taking 5 htp three weeks ago. This third week was when I noticed it started working a bit. For some people it can take as little as two weeks, but I wasn’t keeping up with taking it in the second week. Today I woke up feeling kind of happier and it felt really just amazing. I have been depressed for about a year or more so I was just shocked at feeling this happiness. A couple months ago I was struggling even more and was prescribed Zoloft. I was told to take half of a Zoloft pill each night to build up to one complete pill. Well the first night I took it I woke up sweating a lot and felt kind of scared. I stopped taking Zoloft and looked for natural pills and that’s how I found 5 HTP. It has helped a bit with my anxiety I hope it starts helping more when I move up to 100mg. I’m taking two 50mg each day one at night and one in the morning. Always take it with a meal!! I am very thankful 5 htp has helped a bit. Good luck to you all don’t give up."

8 / 10
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  • Jay
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • October 16, 2019

For Anxiety "Tried this after trying to get off SSRI's. Had anxiety building up to pre-panic attack on my second day on this. After taking 100mg started to feel the anxiety melt away and pretty much relaxed after an hour. After day 3 have noticed my acid reflux going away too. After researching found out serotonin stops gastic acid production. Usually take around night time with a multivitamin It tends to make me sleepy in a couple hours. Pretty much as effective as SSR's for without as many side effects. Just get a lil disoriented once in a while but a very small price to pay compared to having anxiety."

10 / 10
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  • Peter
  • Taken for 1 to 6 months
  • November 25, 2021

For Depression "I've been taking it for a month, I feel absolutely no difference, no worse no better. Don't feel anything what so ever. I think this might work better if you have mild depression where placebo is effective. I have taken time release 2 times daily so 200mg. Positive is I bdidn't get side effects but damn what a waste of time"

1 / 10
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Reviews may be edited to correct grammar/spelling or to remove inappropriate language and content. Reviews that appear to be created by parties with a vested interest are not published. This information is not intended to endorse any particular medication. While these reviews may be helpful, they are not a substitute for the expertise, knowledge, and judgement of healthcare professionals.

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