GABA Quickstart program

Drastic reduction in intrusive thoughts, anxiety and fears (and better sleep) with GABA, tryptophan, 5-HTP and the pyroluria protocol

May 6, 2022 By Trudy Scott 29 Comments

It’s not uncommon for an adult woman to have had intrusive thoughts her entire life and not even recognize that they are connected to her anxiety levels. She is often unaware that there is anything she can do to actually ease her anxiety and reduce the bad thoughts (such as fearing horrible things happening to her husband and children). Enter the amino acids: GABA, tryptophan, 5-HTP and the pyroluria protocol (zinc, vitamin B6 and evening primrose oil). They can do all of this and more. Kimberly shared her own experience and success on a blog post about intrusive thoughts and these specific nutrients. Here is her story in her own words:

Oh my goodness, I’m realizing after reading this, that intrusive thoughts are something I’ve had my entire life. As a child, this manifested in thoughts of what might happen to my one stable parent when we were apart. More recently, I feared horrible things happening to my husband or children. Like the author of the original blog wrote, these intrusive thoughts reflect a greater anxiety. But I didn’t realize this until I began experimenting with your protocols.

I first tried GABA when I felt extremely anxious, but not on a regular basis. Next, I added the pyroluria protocol, which did bring some relief to the intrusive thoughts. Fast forward to today, when I also take 5-HTP, tryptophan and GABA regularly and have noticed a drastic reduction in those thoughts/fears. It’s like a miracle.

My fear level is maybe 15% of what it used to be, if that.

I also find that I can use extra GABA at night if I wake up and can’t shut off my mind. It works like a charm to help me get back to sleep. What a blessing to have these amino acids.

I’m a calmer, more serene person than I’ve ever been, without (for the most part) the crippling, irrational fears I used to experience. Thank you, as always, Trudy. You are also a tremendous blessing.

I thanked her for sharing and said how glad I was that she is connecting more and more dots. It’s very common to suddenly realize you’ve had these intrusive thoughts your entire life. With her amazing results, combining all the above nutrients she is a poster child for this approach that I use with my clients. I’m thrilled for her miracle outcome and so very happy for her.

I’m sharing her story here as a new blog so I can provide her with some additional approaches to explore and so you can see how these amino acids and other nutrients have worked for someone else (and get your own insights.) I’m also sharing my feedback on how she approached things.

Additional approaches to her to explore: adjusting what is working for her now

Her fear level is maybe 15% of what it used to be but ideally we want to improve on that by fine-tuning what she is doing and capitalize on what is working. Know this – it’s not unreasonable to expect that to get to zero!

If we were working together this is what I’d suggest (assuming she hasn’t already done this):

Review the low GABA and low serotonin questionnaires and adjust the GABA and/or tryptophan/5-HTP based on any symptoms that remain with a score above zero.
After that, if there are still some troubling low serotonin symptoms experiment with different doses and timings of tryptophan and 5-HTP – some people do better on one vs the other
Also, if there are still some troubling low GABA symptoms, experiment with a few different GABA products. I’ve had folks try up to 5 different products before they find the perfect one for their needs
If she can see the social anxiety and other pyroluria signs remain, we’d adjust zinc, vitamin B6 (and possibly add P5P) and evening primrose oil.

With all of the above, I’d have her do one change at a time and carefully document everything in her food-mood log.

Identifying if the remaining fear/intrusive thoughts are more pronounced in the second half of her cycle

It may simply be a matter of identifying if the remaining fear/intrusive thoughts are more pronounced in the second half of her cycle i.e. after ovulation. As I shared on the blog, one study showed that “women in the ‘early luteal’ phase… had more than three times as many intrusive thoughts.”

She may need to adjust the amino acids up during this period and it may be that over the next 2 months she sees these symptoms resolve with her current approach, as her hormones become balanced. It’s typical to see this in 2-3 months.

My feedback on her approach

Here is my feedback on how she did things and why I love her approach:

She experimented with GABA some of the time – as needed – based on what she was learning from me from blogs, my book and interviews.
She made one change at a time, adding the pyroluria protocol next
Then she added tryptophan and 5-HTP (hopefully one at a time)
And then her use of the amino acids became regular. This last aspect of consistency is a needle mover for so many of my clients.
She now tweaks things and takes extra GABA at night if needed. This may be needed after a tough day or if you’ve been glutened or exposed to insecticides.

I will add that the sequence could have been varied and still have had a similar successful outcome, for example, amino acid consistency from day 1 and then adding the pyroluria protocol (this is what I typically do with clients).

However, it’s my goal to empower women like Kimberly to take charge, learn, make changes, listen to their bodies, learn some more and adjust to see further improvements. It makes me immensely happy when I hear that she is a calmer, more serene person than she’s ever been. I feel confident that she’ll be able to get to zero intrusive thoughts with the tips I shared above.

She may or may not also need to consider other possible root causes of intrusive thoughts: low magnesium, low iron, diet (a low carb/high fat intrusive thoughts case study) and gluten issues.

Psychiatric medication discontinuation syndrome, Lyme disease, mold toxicity, heavy metals, toxins, infections, TBI and trauma can also be factors with intrusive thoughts and anxiety, but with her huge improvement I’d suspect these root causes are unlikely for her.

Resources if you are new to using the amino acids and pyroluria supplements

If you are new to using GABA or tryptophan/5-HTP as a supplement, here is the Amino Acids Mood Questionnaire from The Antianxiety Food Solution (you can see all the low GABA and low serotonin symptoms).

If you suspect low levels of any of the neurotransmitters and do not yet have my book, The Antianxiety Food Solution – How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood, and End Cravings, I highly recommend getting it and reading it before jumping in and using amino acids on your own so you are knowledgeable. And be sure to share it with the team you or your loved one is working with.

There is an entire chapter on the amino acids and they are discussed throughout the book in the sections on gut health, blood sugar control, sugar cravings, self-medicating with alcohol and more.

My book also has an entire chapter on pyroluria (with the protocol and questionnaire). The questionnaire is on the blog too, together with many other related posts (simply search for pyroluria).

The book doesn’t include product names (per the publisher’s request) so this blog, The Antianxiety Food Solution Amino Acid and Pyroluria Supplements, lists the amino acids that I use with my individual clients and those in my group programs.

If, after reading this blog and my book, you don’t feel comfortable figuring things out on your own (i.e. doing the symptoms questionnaire and respective amino acids trials), a good place to get help is the GABA Quickstart Program. This is a paid online/virtual group program where you get my guidance and community support.

If you are a practitioner, join us in The Balancing Neurotransmitters: the Fundamentals program. This is also a paid online/virtual program with an opportunity to interact with me and other practitioners who are also using the amino acids.

Do you experience intrusive thoughts or did you have them in the past? Feel free to describe them if you feel comfortable doing so.

And did you think you’d be able to reduce the horrible intrusive thoughts with a nutritional approach?

What helped reduce them for you? If you used a similar approach, how did it look for you?

If you’re a practitioner, have you found this approach to help reduce intrusive thoughts and ease anxiety in your clients/patients?

If you have questions please share them here too.

Paroxysmal laryngospasm with low GABA physical-tension-type-anxiety: Is GABA powder rubbed on the inside of the cheek a solution?

March 4, 2022 By Trudy Scott 29 Comments

One type of reactive airway obstruction is paroxysmal laryngospasm, which is a rare laryngeal disease in adults. In this condition, the throat is completely closed due to some form of hypersensitivity or a protective laryngeal reflex causing a transient, complete inability to breathe. Paroxysmal laryngospasm onset in patients is often characterized by a sudden and complete inability to breathe, along with voice loss or hoarseness and stridor. Paroxysmal laryngospasm usually lasts from several seconds to several minutes and may be accompanied by obvious causes such as upper respiratory tract infection, emotional agitation or tension, and/or severe coughing.

I shared something similar on Facebook and the fact that this had just happened to me when drinking lemon water and starting to talk too quickly after my last sip. I choked on the lemon water and my vocal cords went into a spasm. I could not breathe and I had a violent coughing fit. It was a terrifying experience! A few dabs of GABA powder inside my cheek helped relax my vocal cords – which are muscles – immediately. I could breathe right away.

I’ve been researching this condition for some time now because I figured out this same solution for a family member who has had this happen about 6 times in the last few years.

The response on Facebook was surprisingly high and I now wonder how common this condition is with those who experience low GABA physical-tension-type-anxiety and if oral GABA powder is a viable solution for more individuals.

The 2020 paper on paroxysmal laryngospasm

The above description comes from this 2020 paper – Paroxysmal Laryngospasm: A Rare Condition That Respiratory Physicians Must Distinguish from Other Diseases with a Chief Complaint of Dyspnea

Let’s review a few terms from the paper:

According to Merriam-Webster, a paroxysm is a fit or attack.
Laryngospasm “(luh-RING-go-spaz-um) is a transient and reversible spasm of the vocal cords that temporarily makes it difficult to speak or breathe”, according to Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic describes dyspnea as follows: “Shortness of breath – known medically as dyspnea – is often described as an intense tightening in the chest, air hunger, difficulty breathing, breathlessness or a feeling of suffocation.”
According to Medscape, stridor is “an abnormal high-pitched sound produced by turbulent airflow through a partially obstructed airway.”) It’s particularly distressing to hear.

So essentially the title of this paper could be translated to something like this: An attack of temporary spasms of the vocal cord that causes difficulty breathing (0ften with a distressing sound of suffocating). I would go as far to say: A terrifying attack ….

One of the objectives of the paper is to create more awareness on “how to identify and address paroxysmal laryngospasm from the perspective of respiratory physicians.” The authors share that otolaryngologists (head and neck surgeons) and anesthesiologists (it happens frequently when undergoing anesthesia) are experts in managing paroxysmal laryngospasm.

They also state it’s rare and generally happens when an individual has gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and share how antireflux therapy i.e. PPIs (proton pump inhibitors) are frequently an effective treatment. My input on this: if it is caused by GERD, address why the GERD is happening and avoid PPIs if possible since they contribute to nutritional deficiencies and osteoporosis.

Hysterical stridor in adult females who are anxious and/or depressed

There is no mention of GABA or addressing spasms in the vocal cords and other muscles in this paper. However, the authors do discuss hysterical stridor as being different from paroxysmal laryngospasm, stating “it has a strong demographic pattern of occurring in young adult females, lasting for minutes to hours, frequently requiring sedation or anxiolytics for treatment, and persisting for years.”

They also share this about hysterical stridor:

Psychological assessment usually reveals multiple sources of life stress, compulsive personality traits, depression, anxiety, maladjustment, or a history of psychosomatic comorbidity. Other psychotherapy interventions, such as antianxiety therapy, depression therapy, sedation therapy, speech therapy, and behavioral therapy, are usually effective.

(note: I’m not thrilled by the term hysterical stridor. The diagnosis of hysteria goes back to the 1880s.)

I’m proposing oral GABA powder be researched as another viable option to address the low GABA anxiety symptoms, the hysterical stridor and the paroxysmal laryngospasm.

Is paroxysmal laryngospasm/hysterical stridor really that rare?

I do wonder if these conditions are really that rare. When I shared my experience on Facebook I had a reasonably big response from people saying it’s happened to them a few times, with some saying it has been happening all their lives. Here are a few of the many examples:

Anita shared this: “I have experienced laryngospasm. The experience is a spasmodic tightening of the airway triggered by ‘swallowing wrong’ for me. I have never experienced laryngospasm aside from that. I do have low GABA symptoms of physical tension and have had intrusive thoughts in the past, stress eating, but have never used ‘wine to relax’ as I am a ‘teetotaler.’ The episodes I’ve experienced have always resolved on their own within a minute or so. Scary feeling – that is for sure! I plan to keep GABA powder on hand now just in case of a future episode.”
Megan shared this: “I have Laryngospasm. I have total throat closure. It feels like forever but I suppose it’s up to 50 seconds. I’ve had it since I was a child and my mum has it too. Food is probably my main trigger, crumbly or syrup type things, a bad cold or even just swallowing wrong. I had a look at the list and I have quite a lot of the low GABA symptoms. I have generalized anxiety, feeling worried/fearful, panic attacks (but they are under control with Zoloft), tense stiff muscles, feeling stressed and burnt out, intrusive and unwanted thoughts and acrophobia.”

One woman felt she had experienced paroxysmal laryngospasm and she had been told it was a panic attack. A few people mentioned a similar condition called vocal cord disorder (often exercised- induced). Many said they had received no diagnosis or help from their doctor.

Interestingly, there are not many papers on “paroxysmal laryngospasm” or “hysterical stridor” so the research and presumably awareness too, seems to be lacking.

Why did I consider GABA for paroxysmal laryngospasm?

You may wonder why I considered GABA when this happened to me. I’ve personally used GABA with success over the years for spasms in my back muscles, rectal muscle spasms/proctalgia fugax, and vagus nerve and coughing/throat spasm episodes. With the additional knowledge I’ve now gained I suspect the latter was a form of laryngospasm.

I’ve also shared how GABA helps ease globus pharyngeus (a lump-in-the-throat sensation that is associated with anxiety and something I experienced in my late 30s).

I’m prone to low GABA physical-tension-type anxiety and have always done really well with oral sublingual GABA.

And of course, when you look at the low GABA symptoms all this makes perfect sense. GABA helps with muscle spasms and provides pain relief when muscles are tight. The vocal cords are muscles and the larynx itself contains many muscles.

In case you’re new to GABA, it is a calming amino acid, used as a supplement, to ease low GABA levels. With low GABA you’ll experience physical-tension and stiff-and-tense-muscles type of anxiety, panic attacks and insomnia. You may feel the need to self-medicate to calm down, often with alcohol but sometimes with carbs and sugary foods.

What GABA did I use and how did I use it?

I dumped some GABA powder on the palm of my hand (with the help of a family member who rushed to my aid). I wet my finger with saliva, dabbed it in the GABA powder and rubbed it on the inside of my cheek. I did this a few times.

I don’t know exactly how much I used in total but estimate it to be around 200 mg GABA. I stopped rubbing it on the inside of my cheek as soon as I felt the muscles relaxing and I was able to breathe easily again. It felt like forever but it probably only lasted 30-60 seconds. I’d assume a more intense paroxysmal laryngospasm may require more GABA.

It was really encouraging how quickly GABA relaxed the muscles and stopped the laryngospasm. It’s also taken away the fear about it happening again.

Resources if you are new to using GABA as a supplement

If you are new to using the the amino acid GABA as a supplement, here is the Amino Acids Mood Questionnaire from The Antianxiety Food Solution (you can see the low GABA and other low neurotransmitter symptoms)

If you suspect low levels of GABA or low serotonin and do not yet have my book, The Antianxiety Food Solution – How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood, and End Cravings, I highly recommend getting it and reading it before jumping in and using amino acids on your own so you are knowledgeable. And be sure to share it with the team you or your loved one is working with.

The book doesn’t include product names (per the publisher’s request) so this blog, The Antianxiety Food Solution Amino Acid and Pyroluria Supplements, lists the GABA products that I use with my individual clients and those in my group programs.

If you don’t feel comfortable reading my book, doing the low GABA symptoms questionnaire and doing trials of GABA on your own, you can get guidance from me in the GABA Quickstart Program.

If you are a practitioner, join us in The Balancing Neurotransmitters: the Fundamentals program. It’s an opportunity to interact with me and other practitioners who are also using the amino acids.

Have you experienced paroxysmal laryngospasm? And do you have the low GABA physical-tension-type-anxiety symptoms? What else is a trigger for you?

If you’ve already been using GABA with success, have you noticed a reduction in the paroxysmal laryngospasm episodes?

Have you ever used GABA in the way I did to stop an episode quickly?

Have you received a diagnosis and if yes, what diagnosis?

If you’re a practitioner please share what you have seen?

Feel free to ask your questions here too.

How much GABA should I use for my anxiety? It depends on your unique needs (and there is an extremely large variation in dosing)

February 25, 2022 By Trudy Scott 29 Comments

GABA is a calming amino acid, used as a supplement, to ease low GABA levels. With low GABA you’ll experience physical-tension and stiff-and-tense-muscles type of anxiety, panic attacks and insomnia. You may feel the need to self-medicate to calm down, often with alcohol but sometimes with carbs and sugary foods. GABA also helps with muscle spasms and provides pain relief when muscles are tight.

One of the most common questions I get from individuals who are excited to hear about the benefits of GABA but are totally new to using this amino acid is: “How much GABA should I use for my anxiety?” Even individuals who may be familiar with GABA and have even experimented with it themselves and are seeing some benefits may also have this question.

Most are not aware of the extremely large variations in dosing that may work for different individuals. Today I’ll share some examples to illustrate both the wonderful benefits and this range of dosing which can be as much as a 1000x to 2000x variation in some instances!

Syd gets sleep and body anxiety benefits with just 1.5 mg to 3 mg GABA

As you can see in this first example, Syd gets sleep and body anxiety benefits with just 1.5 mg to 3 mg GABA. She shared this on a recent blog post where I discussed how using too much GABA can cause a niacin-like flushing sensation

I think it’s useful to note that some, like me, start out with tiny doses and still get benefits with no side effects. I take around 1.5 mg to 3 mg GABA at a time and it works for me! Really helps me sleep at night.

I also take approximately 1.5mg if I feel body anxiety. I divide a melt-able 25mg tablet into 8ths or less. (Very approximate, of course. Sometimes it’s just crumbs!)

Right now, anything higher and I’m a wet noodle the next day, meaning I feel super depleted and can hardly stand up. But, no niacin flush-like symptoms.

I appreciate her sharing and I’m so glad she found her ideal dose. As you can see it’s really really low. We call folks like Syd “pixie dust” people because they do really well with tiny tiny doses. It also shows that some folks get flushed with too much GABA and some don’t. Syd just feels depleted.

In case you’re wondering which product Syd is using, it’s the Kal 25 mg GABA, which she breaks apart.

To give this perspective, a typical starting dose is 125mg GABA for adults and half that for children. I share more below on this and how to use the symptoms questionnaires and do a trial.

Christina’s agoraphobic client was able to leave the house with 3000 mg GABA

A colleague, Christina Veselak, MS, LMFT, CN shared this feedback about her client who had agoraphobia i.e. fear of outdoor spaces:

I once had a profoundly anxious, agoraphobic client who I sent home with instructions to trial GABA until she either got relief from her anxiety or an adverse reaction. She came back a few days later to say that she had arrived at 3000 mg of GABA in the morning as her ideal dose.

That dose allowed her not only to leave her bedroom but also leave her house, socialize and babysit her hyperactive grandsons!

Most of my other clients could not tolerate anything near to that dose without getting an adverse reaction but it was perfect for her.

This really adds perspective to the range of doses that folks may respond to. This dosage is 1000x higher than Syd’s maximum dose and 2000x higher than her lowest dose!

Let’s address this question: How much GABA should I use for my anxiety?

The answer is this – it depends on your unique needs and biochemistry. I know it’s not the answer you (and almost everyone else too) probably want to hear but there really is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to GABA and the other amino acids.

The best way to determine if you may have low GABA and may benefit from using GABA is to look at the low GABA symptoms, rate them on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being worst, do a trial of GABA and rate the symptoms again right afterwards (in the next 2 to 30 minutes).

Here are the symptoms.

From there you continue to adjust up (or down) over the next few weeks to find your ideal dose. If you go too high you may experience an uncomfortable tingling niacin-like flush.

I can share this: for GABA, 125mg is a typical starting dose for adults that I use with my clients. Half that or less is a good ballpark for starting a trial for children. As with all the amino acids, they are always best used sublingually and taken away from protein.

Below is an example from someone who figured out 1-3 of the 125 mg GABA Calm product was ideal for her own needs.

Melissa is much calmer, sleeps well and stopped craving sweets with 125 mg to 375 mg GABA Calm a day

Melissa started using Source Naturals GABA Calm in anticipation of holiday travel and holiday gatherings and shared how much she benefited:

I have been taking 1-3 per day for two weeks. I’m glad I bought it before traveling home for Christmas – I was cool as a cucumber at the airport and was much calmer when visiting family and friends compared to last year!

The true test of its efficacy will be in two weeks when the semester starts. For now, I notice a general calmness and am sleeping well.

An unexpected result was that I stopped craving sweets after about a week of taking it!

And how wonderful for her! And we have much appreciation for her sharing her success.

These results at this dosage are pretty typical for the majority of my clients. Of course there may need to be adjustments seasonally (possibly needing less after the holidays and closer to spring) or more around her period or more with added stresses in her life.

You can read more about the GABA Calm product she used here (you can find it in my online supplement store too).

Resources if you are new to using GABA as a supplement

If you don’t feel comfortable reading my book, doing the low GABA symptoms questionnaire and doing trials of GABA on your own, you can get guidance from me in the GABA Quickstart Program.

If you are a practitioner, join us in The Balancing Neurotransmitters: the Fundamentals program. AS you’ve learned today, there are many nuances and best practices when using the amino acids. And it’s an opportunity to interact with me and other practitioners who are also using the amino acids.

What have you found to be your ideal dose of GABA? And how has it helped you?

What dose did you start with and did you go too high and then have to back down again to get to your ideal dose? (be sure to share which product worked for you too)

Are you surprised to learn about this huge variation in dosing GABA? And if yes do you feel inspired to experiment with your current dosing?

If you’re a practitioner have you seen these variations?

Feel free to ask your questions here too.