GABA is a calming amino acid that helps to reduce anxiety and panic attacks in individuals with low GABA levels and helps to address the anxiety that many individuals experience when they have Lyme disease.
At the recent IMMH/Integrative Medicine for Mental Health conference Dr. Suruchi Chandra presented on Neuropsychiatric Lyme Disease and shared that:
Lyme disease is one of the fastest growing infectious diseases in the United States. It can remain dormant for years and then later mimic a number of psychiatric illnesses, including anxiety disorders, mood disturbances, psychosis, and autism-like behaviors. It can be further complicated by the presence of co-infections.
Last month I shared a post called GABA, the calming amino acid: expert opinions and Tricia Soderstrom, creator of the blog Abounding in Hope with Lyme shared it with her online Lyme community with this comment:
Lyme anxiety is real! We’ve used GABA with great success.
Tricia shared further when I asked what had helped:
We’ve used Source Naturals GABA Calm sublinguals with good results. I learned about GABA helping anxiety and because I was treating my young daughter I purchased this because it was easy for her to take.
Lyme, Bartonella and Babesia are all known to cause anxiety and other psychological disorders ranging from mild to very severe. My daughter had it very severely but thankfully is much better now that we’ve treated the tick-borne diseases.
She also shared this excellent article by Pamela Weintraub as a resource: High Anxiety (Neurological Lyme Disease, Part Three)
I asked Tricia if I could share some of her daughter’s Lyme story and how GABA (and other nutrients) had helped with her anxiety while they were treating the Lyme disease. She kindly agreed and here are some excerpts from her blog post: How A Tick Bite Changed My Daughter – Part 2 Using Supplements To Nourish The Brain
When my third daughter turned 7 we had no idea that our whole lives were beginning to turn upside down by severe anxiety and OCD.
As that year progressed I noticed my …daughter incessantly washing her hands, pooling saliva in her mouth, clenching her fists until the skin around her knuckles turned bright white and repeating motions. Her eyes were wider than normal and she became very fearful of things that never bothered her before.
At the same time, she was complaining of deep hip pain, pain in her feet, very bad headaches, motion sickness, nausea, heart palpitations and other symptoms….
Her anxiety grew, her obsessions controlled her and she was incapable of thinking rationally during these episodes. With age her episodes became more frequent and more severe.
Tricia diligently searched for solutions for the Lyme disease that was impacting her daughter and herself. As Tricia learned more, she discovered the psychiatric connection to Lyme and they worked without success, with various doctors, having her daughter try antibiotic treatments and anti-anxiety and antidepressant medications.
Still searching, she discovered Dr. Klinghart teaching about pyroluria and started adjusting her daughter’s diet and adding various nutrients: magnesium, fish oil, trace minerals, vitamin D, evening primrose oil, vitamin B6 and zinc (the latter three are key for pyroluria).
Tricia then came across some of the amazing interviews I did with various experts on season 1 of the Anxiety Summit and it further consolidated what she had already discovered. She shares this:
What I learned was astounding and it was very similar to what [Dr. Kinghart] taught but I began to also learn about GABA, 5-HTP, L-Theanine, and L-Tryptophan.
To my daughter’s routine I added Source Naturals GABA Calm sublingual, Nature’s Way 5-HTP, Nature’s Way L-Theanine/ Green Tea sublingal, and Source Natural’s Melatonin.
At first we used GABA or L-Theanine whenever she would have a panic attack or her OCD was too much to deal with. After awhile I just had her take it first thing in the morning, mid-day and then again in the evenings when her symptoms would be at their worst.
The amino acids and brain nutrients were ONE part of the solution, together with dietary changes, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and homeopathy. As Tricia says:
These supplements did not cure my daughter but they helped her get off the prescription drugs and they helped both of us during our most trying times
This is why I love using targeted individual amino acids such as GABA. They give you immediate relief from anxiety and panic attacks while you are dealing with bigger underlying issues such as Lyme disease. Adding other nutrients (like zinc, magnesium, vitamin B6 etc) address nutritional deficiencies that the Lyme disease may be causing.
Keep in mind that Tricia’s daughter did well with Source Natural GABA Calm but there are many other excellent GABA products that can be beneficial too.
Tricia’s daughter has given her the go ahead to share her story and she is now doing so well!
My daughter is now a beautiful 15 year old, looking forward to her 16th birthday and getting her driver’s license.
She is the brave one to allow me to expose how this illness completely changed her and controlled her. At one point she was embarrassed about it but now she really wants to help others.
What an encouraging, heartwarming and inspiring story!
Both Tricia and her daughter are very brave and I appreciate having the opportunity to share their story with you. I encourage you to read the whole story here on her blog.
Tricia also experienced Lyme-induced anxiety and she too found benefits with GABA. You can read more about her episodes of fear, panic attacks, fear of going outside and withdrawing from social situations on this blog post: Where Does Your Fear Come From And What Are You Doing About It? (Our Journey With Neurological Lyme)
Here is a little more about Tricia: She is a mom of 4 and wife of 26 years to Scott. She was living a busy and active life as an outdoorsy homeschool mom, when chronic Lyme disease side-lined her and her entire family. She has spent the past 8 years recovering, advocating and caring for her family and researching tick-borne diseases. Tricia continues to homeschool her youngest two children and blogs about her life as a Christian homeschool mom with chronic Lyme, while homeschooling her children who also have chronic Lyme. She is passionate about educating others about tick-borne disease, and how to prevent, recognize and get the proper treatment. You can read more about her and her Lyme resources here. And you can find Tricia on Facebook here AboundinginHopewithLyme
I’d love to hear if you have used GABA (or one of the other amino acids) to help with your anxiety while undergoing treatment for Lyme disease.
Dr. Klinghart discusses the connection between Lyme disease and pyroluria. I’d also love to hear if you have Lyme disease and also have pyroluria? You can do the pyroluria questionnaire here.
Dear Trudy,
I have had Chronic Lyme Disease for more than 15 years and am in pretty poor shape. After hearing one of your talks on a functional medicine webinar a few months ago (sorry, I don’t recall which one, I watch a lot of them) I tried GABA to help with my symptoms of anxiety, which manifests as cheek-chewing, and insomnia. It took 4 capsules of 750 mg each nightly before bed to notice anything, and for a month or two didn’t need to take any prescription sleep aids (normally I would almost always need to take .5 or more of clonazepam to sleep). Lately though this hasn’t been enough, and I have added a fifth capsule nightly. This is helping, but I still need half a clonazepam pill. So I may add a 6th capsule at some point. Sometimes I get a weird tingling sensation an hour or so after taking the GABA and a sudden rush of relaxation. But not always. I hope this dosing is not too much, I really want to get off the clonazepam as much as possible. Do you know why I might need more GABA now than a month ago? Why I need such a high dose to get any benefit? I do know the borrelia bacteria hijack the hormones and my monthly hormone cycle is closely tied to my Lyme cycle, and I experience more cortisol symptoms halfway through my cycle, so I wonder if some change in my hormones by the bacteria could result in needing more GABA?
Thank you for getting the word out about GABA, no other natural solutions have helped at all with sleep.
Aleksu Hillerstrom
Green Mountain, NC
Hi Aleksu
It’s great to hear that the GABA helped with your anxiety/cheek-chewing/insomnia.
I will say that 4 x 750mg is a very high amount for most people and this may be why you get the weird tingling sensation. I typically caution against starting with the 500-750mg GABA capsules and building up to that from 125mg. But we are all unique and some people do well on this amount. Too much GABA can cause breathlessness and I’d be concerned if this was happening.
The need for more GABA could be a number of things: the Lyme/borrelia bacteria, hormones (GABA and progesterone are closely tied together) and the clonazepam (which over time can start to increase anxiety and/or insomnia https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/say-no-to-benzodiazepines-for-anxiety-webinar-replay/)
Is the increased need for GABA tied to your hormone/Lyme cycle? And can you please share what form of GABA/product name?
The anxiety/cheek-chewing/insomnia could also be due to low serotonin and if we were working together I’d consider doing a tryptophan trial (amino acid questionnaire is here https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/amino-acids-mood-questionnaire-from-the-antianxiety-food-solution/). I’d also check if high cortisol is a factor and look at diet/gluten/blood sugar etc.
Was scanning thru a webpage on lyme for dogs and it said antiinflammatoy of Smardweed (P.cuspidatum) helps with same pathway lyme uses and when it helps, symptoms lessens!and supps to rebuild collagen. Also lists an herbalist , Stephen Harrod Buhner.
Maybe you Need GABA, but it doesnt work just by itself and maybe while being used its using up some other conutrient you need. Was reading on Dr Driscoll YT saying she has symptoms of high enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine and takes a supplement that helps her . Wonder what is using up your gaba making a need for more?
Was listening to this on sleep(others on headaches ….)
http://drgominak.com/videos.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6ZVtf4suh0
Do we need to be outside more…
She finds if people can sleep they will heal but need vit D3 and B12. Found can have too much, there is a window to find not make worse by over doing D or B’s.
she said clon. not have rem sleep?
I have Lyme,Anaplasmosis,and Erhliciosis. I have panic attacks,adrenal fatigued sleep( waking after four hours panicked) fear of people and socializing . The only product my LLMD and I have found to help me is GABA! It helps me sleep at night and calms me through the day.
Question….some nights I need more,or no matter how much I take I still can’t over come the anxiety and sleeplessness. How much is safe to take? What causes the need for my body to have more? Thank you for your article.
Hi Theresa
Great to hear the GABA helps you sleep and calms you through the day! Can you please share what form of GABA/product name? and how much helps when it’s working?
As I said to Aleksu, the need for more GABA could be a number of things: the bacteria and how it affects the hormones (GABA and progesterone are closely tied together). Have you noticed a pattern? Are you using any medications like a benzodiazepine?
The anxiety and insomnia could also be due to low serotonin and if we were working together I’d consider doing a tryptophan trial (amino acid questionnaire is here https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/amino-acids-mood-questionnaire-from-the-antianxiety-food-solution/) and even looking at melatonin.
I’d also check if high cortisol is a factor and address this. And as always look at the basics of diet/gluten/blood sugar etc.
Trudy,
Thanks for featuring Lyme as it relates to anxiety. I recently purchased your book & look forward to digging into it fully. When doing your online checklists I found I have many that show potential supplementation and will experiment as I have been tweaking my individualized healthcare for 12 years. I am in a fairly good place now.
The order of my healing began with Lyme Rx, treating my hypothyroidism, exercise, going dairy then gluten then grain free. It is my opinion that Lyme created my multiple food sensitivity while my dairy sensitivity likely existed from early childhood. I am using supplements as recommended. Most recently fish oil and adrenal supplements to the mix. I do have to say my personal favorite is Magnesium for both muscle cramps and inability to sleep at night.
One of my daughters has found great relief with L theanine, the other with GABA for anxiety and panic.
Continue getting the word out there. Many of us are researching our way to better health. With gratitude!
Hi Trudy,
I read your book The Antianxiety Food Solution and I’ve found that removing gluten from my diet over the past 30 days has made me feel 70% better. Before quitting gluten, I was struggling with debilitating anxiety and panic daily. Now, I’m finding myself dealing with a more manageable amount of anxiety, but it’s still there. I decided to supplement with GABA Calm as I scored highly on your amino acids quiz for a deficiency in Gaba. That being said, the Gaba Calm seems to make me feel shaky and weird. I think it might actually be worsening my anxiety symptoms. Is that possible? I’ve even tried taking half a tablet instead. Would you suggest I try L-tryptophan instead (I also rated high for the serotonin questionnaire) or maybe try a pure Gaba supplement without the added amino acids that Gaba Calm has?
I just want to feel better and I feel myself improving, but these setbacks can be so difficult. Your advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you for all you do!
Also, I don’t have Lyme Disease, but since you talk about GABA in this article, I figured I’d ask my question. 🙂 I’m not on any other supplements or medications right now either. Just a good diet, exercise and trying the Gaba Calm. I previously tried inositol and it caused major ongoing fatigue.
Lauren
Great to hear about your gluten results! Love it! Not everything works for everyone. For some the tyrosine and even sugar alcohols in GABA Calm are too much and a 200mg GABA (or less) works better (preferably opened on to the tongue).
GABA helps with physical anxiety and tryptophan with head anxiety and many people have both and doing separate trial of each is what I have my clients do
Thanks so much for your reply, Trudy. It sounds like I still have some trial and error to do to figure out which supplements I might benefit best from. I’m going to try the Lidtke tryptophan chewables and might order the 200mg GABA as you suggested.
Thanks again for all you do! You’re a huge help to those of us struggling with mood issues.
I was wondering what is safe to take for anxiety while breastfeeding? Is GABA ok to take?
Kim
I’m afraid none of the aminos have been tested during pregnancy and breast-feeding. I’d consider exercise, yoga, guided imagery, heartmath, meditation and dietary changes (like no gluten, sugar, caffeine) and improving gut health with sauerkraut and yogurt, controlling blood sugar with a good breakfast that includes protein and eating grass-fed read meat and wild fish like salmon/sardines.
Trudy, I’ve been getting good results with taking 2 x Source Naturals GABA Calm lozenges of late, especially at night if I can’t get to sleep. I have tried several GABA supplements but this one seems to be the only one that works for me and I am amazed how reasonably priced it is compared to other GABA supplements. GABA calm helps to relax the tension and buzz in my body. I’m hoping this effect will last. Just wanted to ask you one thing as I recall you mentioning best not to take GABA at the same time as protein – does this also apply to the sub-lingual GABA Calm lozenges or doesn’t it matter as it is ingested through the mouth under the tongue and not with protein in the stomach? Also with Lidtke tryptophan, you mention taking it away from meals, is this best taken mid afternoon and again just before bed and nothing in the morning? Many thanks.
Drew
So glad to hear this! That’s a really great question I don’t have an answer to! I always say to take the aminos away from protein due to competing for absorption with other aminos in the protein being consumed buy this may not be such an issue when they are used sublingually. Won’t you try the GABA calm with and without protein and let me know?
The tryptophan is best taken mid afternoon and again just before bed because serotonin production starts to decline mid afternoon. However many of my clients do well with earlier doses too, based on when they observe the low serotonin symptoms.
Trudy, I have been suffering with severe anxiety and agoraphobia for 23 years. I have tried 23 different medications (SSRI’s) all with severe side effects, including hospitalization. I have been on Ativan for 14 years, and although it worked pretty well for five years, it’s been down hill ever since. I had Lyme disease 6 years ago, and was on long term antibiotics and anti viral medications for 8 months, at which time I decided to stop taking them, due to side effects and was becoming allergic to several other medications. I saw a holistic Doctor recently and he said I have high copper levels and low zinc levels. The zinc levels are just borderline low. I’m taking 25 mg of p-5-p and 100 mg of b6 and am extremely agitated, my anxiety seems worse and I have trouble breathing. I’ve tried cutting back, but it doesn’t seem to help. I’ve also been diagnosed with pyroluria. I bought your book, but to be honest with you, it’s so overwhelming for me with all the different problems I have. I also have very high levels of C reactive Protein (CRP) which is making me extremely anxious because I also have heart issues, which seemed to develop after the Lyme. Is there any way possible you could give me some advice as to where to start. A lot of my doctors don’t agree on the same things and I am desperate. Please help if you can. Thank you, Michele
Michele
I’m sorry to hear how bad things are. I have all my clients start with the basics: real whole food, quality animal protein, eating to control blood sugar, no gluten/caffeine/sugar (CRP can be high if gluten is an issue). You can use my book to do this – just start at the beginning. And then we go through everything on this list https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/60-nutritional-biochemical-causes-of-anxiety/ (the Lyme would need to be addressed).
Benzodiazepines like Ativan can be very problematic for many – here are 2 resources for you https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/benzodiazepines-more-harm-than-good/ and https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/say-no-to-benzodiazepines-for-anxiety-webinar-replay/
I’d connect with a support group like benzobuddies.org but be aware they are not in favor of supplements. I find them to be very helpful for most of my clients.
Can you explain more about GABA being closely related to progesterone? I take progesterone and have noticed whenever I take my 750mg of GABA al9ng with 2 GABA Calm sublingual…I wake up in the a.m. bleeding heavily. By evening time the bleeding is almost gone, but then it’s bedtime and time for me to take GABA again. Then the bleeding starts all over. Lately, I have noticed if I do not take the 750mg I do not bleed, at all. Any explanation as to what this could possibly be?
Tamy
GABA and progesterone are closely related and GABA can raise progesterone levels but this is the first time I’ve heard of this happening. I would recommend talking to your doctor (uterine fibroids?) and stop taking the GABA right away.
I do have some questions for you if you don’t mind (so I can learn) 1) do you have low GABA symptoms (the physical anxiety)? 2) does the 2 x GABA Calm and 750mg GABA reduce the physical anxiety? 3) have you tried less GABA to see if less works as well? 4) does this happen throughout your cycle or only in the latter half (after ovulation)? 5) what 750mg GABA product are you using? 6) what are you progesterone levels like and does anything else lead to this kind of bleeding? and do you have a history of this bleeding or fibroids?
With this kind of bleeding I’d also say to check iron/ferritin levels
I do have fibroids, my OBGYN Ultrasounds them twice a year. However I haven’t had them ultrasound since I started taking progesterone & testosterone. I have never had my GABA levels checked. GABA & Melatonin were recommended to me about 3yrs ago for severe anxiety. I used them in helping get off prescription antianxiety meds. Taking the orange sublingual GABA tabs have never done anything like this, but I recently added the 750mg GABA by Source Naturals. I have hypothroidism and was given liothyronine and it makes it kinda hard to sleep. -I only take the 750mg GABA before bed. Same with the sublingual. Yes, I happen to think GABA has been a miracle for me. I have never had abnormal beeding until I start the 750mg GABA. It’s like I feel the bleeding coming and have to run to bathroom. Every time I stop taking the 750mg GABA the bleeding stops 100%. Since writing my previous post I have stopped taking the 750mg. But, Im very curious as to what might have caused this. Thank you so very much for your help.♡
Tamy
I could help further if I knew all the answers to the questions I posed above (and it would help me too)
1) Yes and I have PTSD
2) Yes, very much so. It also stops me from having panic attacks in my sleep. However, most times when I first fall asleep, I yell…it’s only when taking the GABA. The yell wakes me up but is kinda an unconscious thing. It’s weird.
3) Taking the x2 sublingual GABA works just fine long term. If I take it along with the 750mg I fall right to sleep, almost exactly like Zanax, but do not sleep thru the night. With just the x2 sublingual it takes me a bit longer to calm myself, but I will sleep thru the night…a good 8hrs.
4) Throughout my cycle.
5) Source Naturals
6) The last time I was checked I had very little progesterone and was estrogen dominant. I also close to no testosterone. My dr has progesterone in both a cream & a pill form that I take daily.
7) No history of bleeding. I did have heavy periods that last about 10 days until I started the hormones. I have 3 fibroid cyst, 2 on left ovary and one on the right. Uterus is a little large, but dr says he is not concerned.
8) My iron levels are always good, Im not sure about ferritin…or are they the same thing?:)
Hello Trudy 🙂
Update on GABA Calm! I can’t say I have noticed any difference when taking the GABA Calm with or without protein. I have noticed though that if I’m struggling to sleep and take some during my early morning 2am wakeups it almost prevents me from being able to get back to sleep so wondering if some of the other ingredients in there are causing this, perhaps the Taurine is stimulating although at only 40mg (I take 2), that’s not a huge amount is it? Perhaps I should try just some Source Naturals GABA 750mg for the night time wakeups although my Lidtke Sleep & Mood and Complete are arriving soon so will start experimenting with those (as you suggested in your recent blog post) as serotonin is a big issue for me with the hellish ruminating thoughts and worries in the early hours of the morning preventing me from sleeping. If I have had a shocking night however, I do find if I take 2 x GABA Calm just before getting out of bed it REALLY chills me out with being able to get up and get on with the day whereas usually I’d be raging with anger and frustration due to lack of sleep.
I intend to start working with Jack here in a few weeks where we will address gut, methylation and heavy metal toxicity etc through testing but in the meantime I need some relief from this battle, hence the GABA Calm and Lidtke which having done your questionnaire, are the 2 areas I struggle with. I do however have to be careful ‘tampering’ with serotonin boosting because I could send serotonin sky rocketing and it takes a while to break it down due to my MAO and COMT SNP’s! Dr Rostenberg wisely said, MAO and COMT people can’t let go and oh how true this is in my case!
Any tips on Lidtke dosing and timing would be great and similarly I will keep you posted on my findings and progress..
Many thanks and get well soon!
Drew
Drew
Thanks for update on GABA Calm with and without protein – make sense. It’s likely the tyrosine that is the stimulating factor.
The Lidtke 500mg Tryptophan and Tryptophan Complete info is on this blog https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/tryptophan-500mg-or-tryptophan-complete-lidtke/
Good to hear you’ve found someone to work with!
Hello,
I have a daughter who has been ill with chronic Lyme for at least 11 years. We have been trying to treat it since we found out 5 years ago, without great success. I recently read Dr. Klinghardt’s article about Kryptopyroluria and decided to test my daughter. The problem is, I can’t figure out how to read the test results and the testing company won’t tell me anything. They say I need to go through our doctor, but he is unfamiliar with Pyroluria and not much help! If I give you the numbers, can you explain the results to me?
Thank You,
Cathy N
Cathy
Sorry to hear this. I’m afraid I can’t consult via the blog and I’m really surprised the lab can’t tell you if it’s in or out of range! If they won’t talk to you about it ask your doctor to call on your behalf to get the results. I can share that I typically don’t even do the urine test with clients because of false negatives. I have clients do the questionnaire and pyroluria protocol if they score high enough.
It is worth addressing as per Dr. Klinghart it does seem to be a big factor for finding resolution from Lyme for many people.
Thank you for your reply. We have your book and my daughter scored 28 on the Pyroluria questionaire, so we decided to go ahead and try supplementing. We followed the suggestions in your book and started on 30mg Opti-zinc, 100mg B6 and 1300mg.Eve.Primrose. The first day, my daughter felt noticeable improvement, which is VERY unusual for her, but the following days, she felt MUCH worse. She finally took a detox bath and that seemed to help.
Dr. Klinghardt’s article talks about feeling worse at the beginning of treatment which he attributes to heavy metals being mobilized. I don’t see anything in your literature about this.
Can you comment on if it’s normal to expect a worsening in symptoms, and what we can do to alleviate it?
Trudy
My teenager has chronic lyme. I am working with some amino acids to help her with her anxiety/depression. She has more of the low serotonin symptoms and a few low gaba symptoms.
I just started my daughter on L-Tryptophan, working up to 500mg, she is on 250 right now. She is coming off Kavinace which one of her providers put her on and I dont like her on that,She felt “very out of it” and was having a lot of negative thoughts. So she is on half the dose and will wean to 1/4 the dose this week until she is off.. My provider contacted the company who makes Kavinace and the scientist there told her to start her on Taurine 100mg, working up to 300mg to help with any toxic effects of the tryptophan and as she comes off the kavinace.
Is this similar to her taking Vitamin C which you also say helps with negative side effects? What is the role of taurine to go along with Tryptophan here. They suggested she stay on taurine with Tryptophan. I will keep her on 500mg tryptophan in the evenings. And will also start Gaba calm if needed once she is off the Kavinace compeletely bc I don’t want to do too many things at once. I am not sure if she will need more than the tryptophan, but I imagine the GABA may be helpful too since she has some of the low GABA symptoms.
Thank you
Sharon
I am not familiar with why taurine is being recommended “to help with any toxic effects of the tryptophan”! Taurine acts in a similar way to GABA and is helpful for liver support (and addictions/alcoholism) so I could see that it may well help with coming off Kavinace (which as you know contains phenibut). Perhaps this is what the scientist from the company meant?
They may have been referring to taurine helping with potential kynurenine/quinolinic acid concerns with tryptophan use? If so I’d love to know more because I have yet to see these issues with tryptophan and kynurenine/quinolinic acid provided it’s quality tryptophan like Lidtke. I’d also love to see some references about this if they have anything. I’m going to do some digging myself
Thanks for sharing the feedback on your daughter’s experience on phenibut – sorry to hear about that but I don’t recommend phenibut for this very reason.
Trudy
thank you for the response. I think it supports the negative effects of both those supplements. I also have read from Dr Kelly Brogan that if you are on tryptophan for the longest period of time, meaning over a couple of weeks, you want to balance it out with tyrosine or DL-phenylalanine. What are your thoughts on this. Right now I have her weaning off Phenibut she is at 1/4 capsule and taking 500 mg Tryptophan around 8pm. I want to be sure she has the right support for this to balance it out. I will ask the question that you ask for more info on above to our provider to see what their response is and will let you know. Thank you.
Sharon
There is no one size fits all so I respectfully disagree with this: “if you are on tryptophan for the longest period of time, meaning over a couple of weeks, you want to balance it out with tyrosine or DL-phenylalanine.” I believe this thinking is based on the work of Dr. Marty Hinz. Too many people who are anxious can’t tolerate any tyrosine.
Trudy,
My daughter had the OAT urine test at Great Plains laboratory to check for various markers affecting her health, one of the several things it indicated was elevated Quinolinic and elevated Quinolinic/5-HIAA ratio
Quinolinic acid is derived from tryptophan and is neurotoxic at high levels.and she is currently having a lot of short term memory issues, the results of the test indicated that the high quinolinic acid may cause nerve cell death and brain toxicity.
Sarah has been on 500 mg of tryptophan for several weeks now. We decided against 5HTP bc she already has elevated cortisol levels. She has some sleep issues along with depression and anxiety.
I thought choosing tryptophan would help with these issues. But now worried that its wrong for her due to these elevated levels. She also showed an elevated dopamine level but her serotonin level was < 4.3 it was .39
My question is, what do you do for someone with depression if I cannot give either bc of these results.
I am working with the nurse practitioner at Dr Greenblatts office but wanted to get your opinion if you have seen this happen to anyone else on tryptophan, I dont know if this is what caused the elevated quinolinic but it seems so to me,.
trying to get to the bottom of the depression anxiety related to the gut.
Thank you
Sharon
Sharon
There is no research showing a direct correlation between tryptophan supplementation and elevated quinolinic acid and I have yet to see it be an issue in my practice. I regard the work of Great Plains, Dr Shaw and Dr Greenblatt highly but we do have a professional difference of opinion on this topic. I would love them to do a study or survey on this.
I can’t offer you specific advice for your daughter but I can share that I also do only recommend Lidtke tryptophan. Lidtke have created Tryptophan Complete to address some of these concerns https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/tryptophan-500mg-or-tryptophan-complete-lidtke/ (it provides the co-factors that could potentially prevent issues). Vitamin B6 is one key nutrient that has been documented as being important and it’s one I have all my clients use.
If there are still concerns with using tryptophan we look low GABA anxiety. I also consider a trial of a few weeks on both tryptophan and retest and even a trial on 5-HTP and retest cortisol – all the while monitoring for reduced anxiety and the other low serotonin symptoms, and any adverse symptoms.
Finally we consider other approaches to boost serotonin: like vitamin B6 and zinc; folate and iron and vitamin D (if needed), curcumin, exercise, gut health, sunshine and full spectrum lights etc.
Trudy,
I have been researching this area some over the weeks, and with my daughter having chronic lyme and disruption of the gut flora, she seems to struggle with this pathway and is not processing the tryptophan properly that she was on. I only gave her the Lidke tryptophan only and she also did not respond well to the B6 supplements it made her very fatigued and weak. She is sleeping better right now on melatonin 1.5-2mg an hour or two before bed. She is a dancer so gets lots of exercise, and has been on vit D, B complex and iron all recently. Treating her now for gastritis, so she obviously has some bad gut acid issues that are involved. She has MTHFR 1298 strand, and some autonomic dysregulation issues as well. Just trying to make the right choices that are best for her and wanted to share this. Thank you, Sharon
Here is an excerpt from an article i found and some other links.
Linda J. Dobberstein, Chiropractor, Board Certified in Clinical Nutrition
Accumulating evidence points to the health of the gut flora or microbiome in regulation of serotonin of the “brain-gut axis”. Research published in the Behavior Brain Research journal in January 2015 shows that the gut flora or microbes “talk” to the serotonin pathway and control how tryptophan is processed in this kynurenine pathway. If the system is intact, then serotonin production works appropriately. If the immune system and microbiota of the gut are stressed or imbalanced, then there is less serotonin produced and more damaging neurological metabolites (quinolinic acid) are present. Individuals with Small Intestine Bacteria Overgrowth (SIBO), candida albicans, H. pylori, or Leaky Gut Syndrome will struggle with this pathway. This can lead to common symptoms of brain fog, feeling dopey, depressed, moody, or just not themselves.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25078296
http://www.wellnessresources.com/studies/serotonin_tryptophan_metabolism_and_the_brain_gut_microbiome_axis/
http://www.wellnessresources.com/health/articles/when_ssris_fail_causes_of_depression_nutrition_for_your_brain/