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GABA

Fipronil insecticide: GABA/glutamate and anxiety, aggressive behavior, memory and Alzheimer’s disease in humans?

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The insecticide called fipronil has me concerned because there is increasing evidence that it can be toxic to humans and, much to my surprise, I’ve just discovered that the main mechanism of action is by targeting the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor and recent research points to increased anxiety, aggressive behavior, memory problems and even Alzheimer’s disease in animal studies.

Based on a rather surprising conversation I had with someone a few weeks ago (let’s call her Sue), I felt compelled to get more information on fipronil. Before that I was not aware about the specific effects I mention above.

We were in Sue’s front yard and the dog kept sniffing these small white plastic squares in the flower beds. Sue kept pulling the dog away and I asked “why? what are those?” It turns out they were ant-bait devices. Yes, I’m this clueless simply because I’ve never purchased anything like this. I expressed my concerns about toxicity and possible endocrine/hormone effects but didn’t have enough concrete facts, so I went digging through the research. Needless to say I am very concerned with what I found.

What was equally concerning is that Sue had not even considered that it could be harmful. Looking into possible harms was not even on her radar. When pressed, Sue said “it’s only a small amount in each container so I’m sure it’ll be fine” and “the poison is inside the container so none of it will come out – so it’ll be fine.”

This is what went through my mind (which is pretty typical for me – I’m always in questioning mode): What is it and how toxic is it? Does it have impacts on humans and by what mechanism? Could it cause anxiety or increase existing anxiety symptoms? Are there additional concerns about it being in a flower-bed near the front door where you could possibly walk some into the house or breathe it in as you come and go?

Organophosphates and psychological effects

Organophosphates are a commonly used pesticide used on fruits and vegetables and research going as far back as 1994 reports that acute exposure can cause psychological effects because they

act directly on the nervous system by inhibiting the neurotransmitter acetylcholine … [contributing to] … acute psychological and behavioral effects, such as anxiety, depression, and cognitive impairments.

The researchers also suggest that long-term psychological effects of low-level exposure have not been determined satisfactorily.

We hear less about insecticides such as fipronil

We hear less about insecticides such as fipronil and how they work.

According to the National Pesticide Information Center Fipronil is a broad use insecticide that

belongs to the phenylpyrazole chemical family. Fipronil is used to control ants, beetles, cockroaches, fleas, ticks, termites, mole crickets, thrips, rootworms, weevils, and other insects.

Fipronil is used in a wide variety of pesticide products, including granular products for grass, gel baits, spot-on pet care products, liquid termite control products, and products for agriculture.

It can be found in ant-bait and anti-cockroach products as well as Frontline Plus for cats and dogs. You can find a partial list of products here and a fact sheet here.

GABA & glutamate: anxiety, aggressive behavior and neurotoxic effects

Fipronil works to kill insects via the inhibition of glutamate- and GABA-activated chloride channels resulting in uncontrolled neural excitation. It also blocks GABAA receptor function and is typically considered toxic to insects but not humans.

As soon as I read the GABA-glutamate mechanism I started searching for anxiety and neurotoxic connections.

There are no human studies on increased anxiety due to fipronil exposure but research on zebrafish larvae exposed to fipronil at typical environmental levels, finds anxiety-like behavior.   In the paper, A metabolomic study of fipronil for the anxiety-like behavior in zebrafish larvae at environmentally relevant levels, the authors report decreased levels of glycine and serine with higher levels of glutamate saying fipronil may be a potential neurotransmitter disruptor. Here are some of the possible mechanisms they discuss related to this:

  • The decreased metabolite glycine caused by fipronil may contribute to the excitatory swimming performance. Whether the glycinergic reciprocal receptor (GlyR)…inhibitory mechanism is also involved in low level of fipronil [exposure] requires further investigation.
  • Additionally, as one of the most abundant amino acids in microenvironment stress, proline is biosynthetically derived from the amino acid L-glutamine. Low levels of L-proline detected in fipronil-treated group may indicate the accumulation of glutamine. As an excitatory neurotransmitter, high level of glutamine would associate with the excitatory behavior of the fish.

In another study, Prenatal exposure to fipronil disturbs maternal aggressive behavior in rats, the authors suggest fipronil impacts the central nervous system areas that control aggression and increases in maternal aggressive behavior are via impacts on GABA(A) receptors.

This 2016 paper lists a variety of toxic effects to both animals and humans: Fipronil insecticide toxicology: oxidative stress and metabolism:

because of accidental exposure, incorrect use of fipronil or widespread fipronil use leading to the contamination of water and soil, there is increasing evidence that fipronil could cause a variety of toxic effects on animals and humans, such as neurotoxic, hepatotoxic, nephrotoxic, reproductive, and cytotoxic effects

They explore oxidative stress as a possible mechanism as to how fipronil causes these toxic effects.

Does concrete make fipronil more toxic?

One of the questions I asked myself was this: Are there additional concerns about it being in a flower-bed near the front door where you could possibly walk some into the house?

It turns out that this may be a valid concern. In this 2016 paper, Conversion of pesticides to biologically active products on urban hard surfaces, the researchers report that urban landscapes that include concrete can actually convert pesticides to other biologically active and more toxic intermediates, likely caused by the alkalinity and metal oxides in concrete. They report that fipronil:

was quickly transformed to desulfinyl and sulfone derivatives, with the desulfinyl level exceeding that of parent in the runoff water only 1week after treatment. Fipronil derivatives have aquatic toxicity similar or even greater than the parent fipronil.

Impacts on memory and a possible factor in Alzheimer’s disease

This 2016 animal study, Memory impairment due to fipronil pesticide exposure occurs at the GABAA receptor level, in rats concludes that fipronil can

have toxic interactions with the CNS [central nervous system] of mammals and lead to memory impairment by modulating the GABAergic system.

We also have to ask how big a role this insecticide could be playing in Alzheimer’s disease? In a paper published earlier in 2018, Induction of Amyloid-β42 Production by Fipronil and Other Pyrazole Insecticides, they use the term “Alzheimerogens” when writing about insecticides such as fipronil and the metabolite fipronil sulfone:

Focusing on fipronil, we showed that some of its metabolites, in particular the persistent fipronil sulfone, also favor the production of Aβ42/Aβ43 in both cell-based and cell-free systems.

Fipronil administered orally to mice and rats is known to be metabolized rapidly, mostly to fipronil sulfone, which stably accumulates in adipose tissue and brain.

In conclusion several widely used pyrazole insecticides [such as fipronil] enhance the production of toxic, aggregation prone Aβ42/Aβ43 peptides, suggesting the possible existence of environmental “Alzheimerogens” which may contribute to the initiation and propagation of the amyloidogenic process in sporadic AD.

The paper shares that amyloid-β peptides (Aβs), especially increased production of Aβ42/Aβ43 over Aβ40, represent a characteristic feature of Alzheimer’s disease.

Why wait for long-term human studies?

Hopefully you’re like me and don’t buy ant-bait or roach-bait products.

My bigger concern is the wide-spread use of spot-on pet-care products which contain fipronil, exposing our beloved pets to this toxin and all the humans they come into contact with. Pet-groomers are especially cautioned. And I’d also add a caution for children playing with pets where these flea and tick products are used since “the developing brain is particularly vulnerable to the action of insecticides.”

We don’t know for sure how harmful this insecticide is for humans and it’s not clear what the mechanisms are – GABA-glutamate and/or glycine and/or oxidative stress – but why wait for long-term human studies, especially given that chronic and long-term effects are difficult to investigate and based on what we already know about their effects on Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and depression.

I have found enough information to be very concerned and to feel justified in continuing to avoid fipronil. I encourage you to avoid fipronil as well.

This is especially the case if you already suffer from long-term anxiety, insomnia or another chronic health condition as it may be one more possible contributory factor.

Given that fipronil blocks GABAA receptor function, I have to wonder if chronic long-term exposure could play a role in difficulties with benzodiazepine tapering.

If this is old news to you feel free to share with family and friends who may not be as informed as you.

If this is news to you, I hoping this gets you thinking and questioning. I’d love to hear your thoughts, concerns and questions.

Pharma-GABA: study participants with an irrational fear of heights are relaxed and less anxious when crossing a swaying suspension bridge

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Based on clinical evidence, we know that gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a calming amino supplement, reduces anxiety. There isn’t as much research on GABA or Pharma-GABA as we’d like to see, so we’ll take small studies that are done on humans.

In a 2006 study, Relaxation and immunity enhancement effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) administration in humans, Pharma-GABA was used to determine if it would increase relaxation and reduce anxiety during the stressful event of crossing a suspension bridge:

Eight healthy volunteers, with no clinical evidence of any illness, (5 males and 3 females) aged 25 to 30 years who had a history of acrophobia [extreme or irrational fear of heights], were recruited.

Subjects crossed … a pedestrian suspended bridge at Nara Prefecture, Japan (Totsu River Bridge) with 54 m height, 300 m length, and 2 m width.

I believe it’s also called the Tanize Suspension bridge and is one of the longest suspension bridges in Japan. You can see pictures of the bridge here and here. They say this: “though quite safe, the swaying motion can be disconcerting, or fun, depending on your perspective.”

If we convert that to feet, it’s 177 feet high, almost 1000 feet long (about 3 times the length of a football field) and 6 feet wide.

There were 2 groups: placebo and Pharma-GABA. Salivary immunoglobulin A (IgA) levels (also known as secretary IgA or sIgA) was measured in both groups and used as a marker of relaxation and stress, as well as immunity. Saliva was collected before crossing the bridge, half way across and at the end. The study found that the

placebo group showed marked decrease of their IgA levels, while GABA group showed significantly higher levels.

And concludes as follows:

GABA could work effectively as a natural relaxant and its effects could be seen within 1 hour of its administration to induce relaxation and diminish anxiety. Moreover, GABA administration could enhance immunity under stress conditions.

The paper is reporting about 2 studies and it’s not clear how much Pharma-GABA was used in this bridge study – it was either 100mg or 200mg. Results were observed within 60-90 minutes. Also, this study was conducted by the company who makes the Pharma-GABA product, and they do say that this bridge study includes unpublished data.  Notice that they use the term GABA in the paper – I prefer to differentiate since Pharma-GABA and GABA are actually different.

Other than this and the very small number of participants, I’m always encouraged by any research we have. Clinically, we see very similar results with GABA or Pharma-GABA when someone has a fear of something – heights, flying, spiders etc. – and it typically addresses the physical fear and anxiety symptoms.

Here are some of my thoughts as to why results were only observed after 60 minutes:

  • Pharma-GABA was used in the study and for some folks this is not as effective as using GABA. I typically start my clients on GABA.
  • Using GABA sublingually often has calming results in under 10 minutes, so a chewable Pharma-GABA may have been a better option and would be something I’d recommend
  • Low serotonin is commonly a factor with fears and phobias and I’d recommend a trial of tryptophan

The resources in this blog and my other articles are intended to be used in conjunction with my book: The Antianxiety Food Solution – How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood, and End Cravings (Amazon link). If you do not have my book I highly recommend getting it and reading it before jumping in and trialing/taking amino acid supplements: There is a complete chapter on the amino acids and one for pyroluria, plus information on real whole food, sugar and blood sugar, gluten, digestion and much more.

You can find the GABA and tryptophan products I recommend on this blog: The Antianxiety Food Solution Amino Acid and Pyroluria Supplements

How would you feel walking across a swaying suspension bridge like this?

Have you used Pharma-GABA, GABA and/or tryptophan to help you with the stress and anxiety caused by a phobia like this or another phobia?

GABA reduces the visceral pain of IBS & SIBO, eases anxiety and helps with insomnia

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I’m a speaker on the IBS & SIBO SOS Summit. I have chronic SIBO myself and share some insights on what helps me when I’m trying a new protocol or new food and get that awful and painful belly bloat.

It’s so bad that I’m in pain all night, tossing and turning and can’t sleep…. and Iberogast, enzymes and peppermint and lavender essential oil on my bloated belly help so much:

Because of the cellulose in one of the Candibactin products, I was getting the bloating. And the Iberogast taken at night just before I went to bed (together with a few other things) definitely helped with some of the bloating.

For me, the problem with the bloating is the pain (obviously), but worse than that is the lack of sleep. If I’m bloated, it just feels like I’m tossing and turning the whole night. And if I don’t get eight hours of sleep, I’m a mess. So, the biggest issue for me is the impact on my sleep.

But if I’ve got this huge, bloated belly which was happening a lot, I take enzymes that help with carb digestion. I will also rub peppermint essential oil on my belly. So I’ve got a little bowl of coconut oil with a dab of lavender (it’s calming and it helps you sleep as well) and a little bit of peppermint oil.

There’s a number of studies showing that essential oil or peppermint ingested in a capsule can help with IBS. And I’ve found that, topically, it can help too. So that works for me to help with some of the bloating.

I also share about my 2 favorite amino acids – you guessed it – GABA and tryptophan. They just have so many applications! In this instance of painful belly bloating they help with pain and sleep and improve motility:

The other thing that helps is GABA which is one of the amino acids. There’s actually research showing that GABA helps with reducing the visceral pain that is seen with IBS (because we’ve got GABA receptors in various parts of the body). GABA is amazing for physical tension/anxiety and it can ease that. I’m thinking that this easing of physical tension may be one of the mechanisms as to how it works for some of the pain issues.

I do want to mention something about GABA – it works most effectively when taken sublingually. I just chew a capsule and get the results. And it works within five minutes.

And then, the other one that I use at night is tryptophan. This really helps with the sleep as well by boosting serotonin levels. It actually helps with motility too – there’s research showing this.

If your SIBO causes increased anxiety, these two amino acids would help ease those symptoms too – GABA for the physical anxiety and tryptophan for the worry in the head anxiety:

And then, it helps with anxiety as well if that’s an issue – for many people with IBS and SIBO, anxiety is an issue.

Shivan shares how LDN (low dose naltrexone) has helped her tremendously (she also has chronic SIBO) and we discuss how too much can increase anxiety and impact your sleep. Since doing this interview I’ve had feedback from two people who successfully used GABA Calm to reduce their anxiety from too high a dose of LDN.

We also touch on some of the possible mechanisms of LDN, I share some of the benefits of berberine, and we discuss benzodiazepines which are so often prescribed for IBS/SIBO (for the anxiety, the insomnia and the pain) and why nutritional approaches are a safer option.

Learn to overcome your digestive challenges at The IBS & SIBO SOS Summit.

This summit is hosted by health advocate and popular TV personality Shivan Sarna. Shivan asks the questions YOU would ask if you were in the room with these experts.

She draws on her own experience with painful digestive issues and years of failed treatments (alternative and conventional) to be YOUR champion for improved health…

…and she’s here to share her knowledge with you!

Join me at The IBS & SIBO SOS Summit to learn more about:

  • Identifying the root cause of your digestive struggles
  • Saving money from wasted doctor visits and ineffective treatments
  • Identifying which foods cause your flares
  • Naturopathic and conventional principles important to gut healing
  • Strategies for food reintroduction
  • Treatments, protocols and diets for IBS and/or SIBO
  • And more!

The IBS & SIBO SOS Summit is online and complimentary from September 3-10, 2018!

You can register here today

GABA, 5-HTP and melatonin isn’t working anymore for my insomnia and tryptophan gives me a migraine – what should I do?

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Today I’m addressing a great question I received on a recent tryptophan blog about insomnia and the use of the amino acids GABA and 5-HTP in a combination product together with melatonin, and what the next steps should be when you are not getting the expected results. And if continuing with tryptophan is a good idea when it seems to be causing a migraine and isn’t leading to a whole night’s sleep. Here is the question:

I have suffered from insomnia for most of my life. I just got your book and am loving it! Thank you for all that you do. My symptoms seem to be high for both low GABA and low serotonin [here is the questionnaire].

I also believe I have a blood sugar problem, so I’m starting to follow your suggestions for that.

I’ve been taking a supplement for sleep that has both GABA and 5-HTP in it, along with melatonin. It worked for a year, however it just recently stopped working.

I thought maybe I should try tryptophan. After taking only 220 mg per night, along with 5 mg of melatonin, I was able to sleep, but not through the entire night. However, the next day I woke up with a horrible headache/migraine. I know it was the tryptophan because I did a trial and tried a night without it and then again with it and the nights I took it, sure enough, the migraine would return.

I must add that I had bloodwork done and tested low for melatonin, which is why I was adding the melatonin into my protocol.

My question is: do I continue with a higher dose of GABA, 5-HTP and melatonin, since it worked for a year i.e. do I up the dosage of the supplement I’ve been taking? Or do I continue trying different doses of tryptophan?

I shared this response in my comment (with some additions for this blog post).

Always first address the nutritional foundational aspects

Firstly, I was glad to hear she is loving my book The Antianxiety Food Solution (my Amazon link) and implementing dietary changes. This is so foundational to any protocol for both anxiety and insomnia. Too often, someone hears me talking about the amazing amino acids and forgets the nutritional basics of real whole food, quality animal protein (like wild fish, pastured eggs and chicken, grass-fed red meat), organic veggies and fruit, healthy fats (like olive oil, coconut oil and butter), fermented foods and broths, and no gluten, caffeine or sugar.

I don’t ever have clients push through

With regards to her trial of tryptophan I shared that I don’t ever have clients push through on a product that is causing any adverse effects, and especially when it’s a migraine. She was smart and trialed the tryptophan twice to make sure it was the tryptophan that caused the migraine and not something else.

Capitalize on what has worked and increase one at a time

With regards to the GABA, 5-HTP and melatonin I shared that I always like to capitalize on what has worked in the past (or is currently working) and would rather increase the 5-HTP and/or melatonin and/or GABA one at a time.

Notice that I said increase these products one at a time. She is taking a combination product so it’s impossible for her to do this. Maybe her GABA levels are now good (because her progesterone levels have improved due to be on a regular zinc supplement or because she has been doing regular yoga sessions) and maybe she needs more serotonin support (because her estrogen levels are off because of recent exposure to xenoestrogens in plastics).

Even though is research showing that a combination product containing GABA and 5-HTP improved sleep and sleep duration more than the use of either of the two amino acids alone, based on her feedback, if we were working together I would have her do each of the GABA, 5-HTP and melatonin separately. This way it’s easy to mix and match and increase one and possibly lower the other, until the ideal combination is found for her unique needs at this time in her life.

She may even find she only needs GABA or only needs 5-HTP or only melatonin. She may also find she needs sublingual melatonin for helping her fall asleep and timed-release melatonin for helping her stay asleep.

She mentions the amino acid questionnaire so it sounds like she is clear on her symptoms: low GABA physical anxiety affecting her sleep and low serotonin mental worry-type of anxiety affecting her sleep. So as she trials the individual amino acids she can see how she does symptom-wise in order to find the ideal amount.

Other factors to consider with insomnia

It’s often straight-forward with the amino acids and the great thing is that one you have the correct combination you will see results in a few days to a few weeks. But There are other factors we may need to consider with insomnia:

  • Keep in mind that 5-HTP can raise cortisol and low blood sugar can indicate adrenal issues so looking at high cortisol as a factor in the sleep problems would be something to consider. A 4-collection saliva test will measure this and my favorite product for lowering high cortisol is Seriphos. Other nutrients for adrenal support may be needed too.
  • Just addressing low blood sugar can often improve insomnia. Eating to support blood sugar swings, early morning sunlight and no blue light after dark can make a world of difference.
  • Other sleep factors we always want to consider: sex hormone imbalances, parasites (they are more active at night and can keep you awake and play a role in high cortisol), accidental gluten exposure, SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), candida, sleep apnea and mouth breathing, EMFs (WiFi in the home, commuting with the iphone on, a new cordless phone etc.) and medication side-effects (benzodiazepines are a common one).

I really appreciate questions like this being posted on the blog so others like you also get to benefit. This question also demonstrates just how our needs for certain nutrients can change over time and how we may to keep adjusting what we are doing.

In case you have questions about specific products that I use with clients, here is my supplements blog and more information on GABA for the physical type of anxiety and 5-HTP/tryptophan for the worry-type of anxiety.

Can you relate to this scenario? Feel free to ask your questions about sleep, GABA, 5-HTP, tryptophan and melatonin and share your experiences with these products and how they have helped you or if you’ve had issues with any of them.

GABA oral rinse reduces burning mouth pain

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Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS) is a chronic pain condition characterized by persistent burning in the mouth. It affects mostly females, especially postmenopausal women, and conventional approaches are often not very successful. You’ll often see articles and papers with the terms ‘refractory’ and ‘unknown etiology’/unknown causes.

Medications like SRNIs and benzodiazepines

Some studies report limited success with medications like venlafaxine/Effexor, an SRNI and topical and oral use of benzodiazepines such as clonazepam/Klonopin. In this paper, Refractory burning mouth syndrome: clinical and paraclinical evaluation, comorbidities, treatment and outcome, 8 participants saw their pain diminish by half within 3 months.

Another paper, The Effect of Clonazepam Mouthwash on the Symptomatology of Burning Mouth Syndrome: An Open Pilot Study, reports success with a benzodiazepine mouthwash in half the participants.

Other than the poor quality of life and having to continue to live with pain, the bigger concern is the side-effects of medications like these, plus concerns with tolerance and then issues with withdrawal.

New oral GABA research for burning mouth

It’s for this reason that I’m excited about the recent research, γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) oral rinse reduces capsaicin-induced burning mouth pain sensation: An experimental quantitative sensory testing study in healthy subjects, that finds that both and men and women experienced immediate benefits when using GABA for burning mouth pain.

The burning mouth pain was caused by the application of capsaicin to the tongues of thirty healthy males and females. Capsaicin is the compound that makes chili peppers hot. (I find it interesting that capsaicin was the compound used to cause the burning mouth sensation because this same compound is used in topical creams and patches to ease pain.)  

The study concludes as follows:

Capsaicin-induced burning tongue pain and decreases in WDT (warm detection) and HPT (heat pain) can be ameliorated by rinsing the mouth with lidocaine and GABA solutions.

Rinsing the mouth with an oral GABA containing solution ameliorated burning pain and increased heat sensitivity produced by application of capsaicin to the tongue. This finding suggests that GABA can act as a local analgesic agent in the oral cavity.

Lidocaine, a numbing medication, was part of the GABA solution in this study, but because it has side-effects that may include anxiety, I recommend a trial of a GABA-only solution to ease the burning mouth pain.

Using a GABA-only oral solution

Using a GABA-only oral solution makes sense given that the likely mechanism of action of topical benzodiazepines in burning mouth pain is via local action on peripheral GABAA receptors found in the nerve fibers of the tongue.

This is also very feasible based on how effective GABA is for other pain such as proctalgia fugax/rectal spasms, and the visceral pain and muscle tension in your gut caused by the bloating symptoms of SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) and muscular back pain after a fall.  

How much GABA will help?

As with any use of GABA and the other amino acids, how much will help depends on each person’s unique biochemistry and needs at the time. In the same way I do a trial of GABA with my anxiety clients to determine how much would help, I do the same with burning mouth pain (and other pain situations).

I recommend a trial of a GABA-only product and starting low with 100 to 200mg of GABA swished held in the mouth with some water for a few minutes. This can be used three or four times a day in between meals and with the mg increased slowly based on results.  You can find the GABA supplements I recommend here.

GABA is an amino acid that is recognized for calming physical anxiety and tension and since anxiety (and depression) is very common in those with burning mouth pain, the GABA is going to provide calming benefits too.  

As with any health condition, finding the underlying root causes using a comprehensive functional medicine approach is key. One such root cause may be low GABA and using oral GABA is going to address this one and provide some relief while other root causes are identified and addressed.  

These other root causes can be very varied as explained in the paper Burning Mouth Syndrome. They can include: age-related reduction in estrogen and progesterone levels, lower cortisol, diabetes mellitus and hypothyroidism, allergic reactions to foods, additives and even metals in the mouth, autoimmune connective tissue disorders, nutritional deficiencies (B1, B2, B6, B12. folate, and/or zinc), smoking and candida, and medication side-effects as mentioned above.

Have you experienced burning mouth pain and seen relief with GABA or other nutritional approaches?

If you’re a practitioner, is burning mouth pain common in your postmenopausal clients or patients and what approaches have you found most successful? Have you found GABA to be helpful?

If you are still suffering with burning mouth please share the following when you comment:

  • Your age (it seems to be more prevalent in women 59 and older)
  • If you have anxiety and/or depression now and have been prone to either in the past
  • How you score on the low GABA questionnaire and which symptoms you relate to? This will provide a clue that low GABA may be an issue and the oral GABA rinse is more likely to help
  • How you score on the low serotonin questionnaire (same link as GABA questionnaire above) and which symptoms you relate to? SSRIs have been shown to help in some cases and we know tryptophan/5-HTP help with pain so serotonin support may help too. Perhaps a tryptophan or 5-HTP rinse is worth a trial too?
  • How long it’s been an issue, what approaches you’ve tried and which approaches have helped (even if they only helped a short while or helped the pain a little)
  • Current and past medications (burning mouth is caused by certain medications)

I’d love to gather a list of all this so we can help you and more women who suffer with these awful symptoms.

PTSD from 3 tours in Afghanistan: Can GABA help with the anxiety?

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My husband is suffering from PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] from 3 tours in Afghanistan. Can [GABA] help with the anxiety he is experiencing. Your thoughts?

I received the above question in response to one of my blogs addressing GABA for the physical, stiff-and-tense muscle type of anxiety.

It’s very likely that GABA will help ease some of the anxiety he is experiencing. Anxiety can have many root causes and with PTSD I would look into neurotransmitter imbalances first and use three key amino acids to address these three possible root causes, before digging deeper to address other nutrient deficiencies and root causes that may take longer to address.

Amino acids to provide some anxiety relief quickly

In order to provide some anxiety relief as quickly as possible I would assess for low GABA, low serotonin and low blood sugar using the amino acid questionnaire:

  • With low GABA he could be experiencing physical anxiety, muscle tension and the need to self-medicate with alcohol or sugary foods in order to calm down and relax. We would do an amino acid trial with calming GABA. Research also now shows that GABA helps with unwanted obtrusive thoughts which are common with PTSD.
  • With low serotonin he could be experiencing mental anxiety, ruminations, fears, phobias, anger and irritability and probably insomnia. We would do an amino acid trial with tryptophan first and then 5-HTP if the tryptophan isn’t helping and we know cortisol is not high.
  • With low blood sugar he could experience anxiety and feel extra stressed when he goes too long without eating. It’s likely he could also have an intense desire to eat candies and sweet treats. We would do a trial with glutamine and make sure he’s eating a breakfast that contains quality animal protein such eggs and bacon, or a protein smoothie.

High cortisol?

We would also want to determine if high cortisol is a driving factor of the anxiety. I’d want to see the results from a 4-collection cortisol saliva test (on waking, noon, around 5pm and around 10pm).

We would address adrenal issues (either high or low) with adrenal support of a good 50mg B-complex, extra pantothenic acid, vitamin C, and adaptogen such as rhodiola. If cortisol is high this can trigger anxiety and adrenaline-type surges and the phosphorylated serine product Seriphos used a few hours before the high cortisol is the best for lowering the high cortisol.

Recent research finds evidence that orange essential oil reduces fear and anxiety, diminishes immune system markers of stress in mice and may help alleviate PTSD and a blend of lavender, ylang-ylang, marjoram, and neroli (also a citrus oil) reduces stress and lowers cortisol too.

Other factors: gut health, diet, low vitamin D

When it comes to anxiety and PTSD, there are other factors to be considered:

Possible effects from malaria drugs and other toxic exposures  

If symptoms persist other factors like the effects of medications (or other toxic exposures) must be considered. In one case study, Malaria drug causes brain damage that mimics PTSD, a service member was diagnosed with anxiety, PTSD and a thiamine deficiency. Various treatments, including medication, behavioral therapy and vitamins didn’t help. It was determined that his symptoms were due to the anti-malaria medication mefloquine, which is now known to contribute to neuropsychiatric symptoms in susceptible individuals.

As with any anxiety condition, the root causes and solutions are unique to each individual and the above approach would be adapted based on each person’s unique needs and biochemistry. Additional approaches over and above these listed here may well need to be considered.