kids

The Lidtke tryptophan 100mg chewable product has been out of stock for close to a year and it’s now back, hence this blog post. This product has been a firm favorite of mine for many years and I’ve used it successfully with children and adults with signs of low serotonin. If you’re new to tryptophan, it’s an amino acid that is a precursor or raw material for the production of your feel-good neurotransmitter called serotonin.

I’ve used this product in the past with children who are anxious, worried, raging, having problems sleeping and craving sugar and carbs. I’ve also used it with “pixie dust” clients who do well with a small dose and prefer a chewable form of tryptophan. And I often recommend clients use it to do the initial one-off trial to figure out if low serotonin is the issue (and before moving on to a typical starting dose of 500mg tryptophan twice a day).

In this blog you’ll see the label of the newly formulated tryptophan 100mg chewable and some of the many advantages of tryptophan as a low-dose chewable. You’ll also see some feedback on the previous formulation, a success story with a young girl and my personal experience too.

The newly formulated Lidtke L-Tryptophan Chewable

Here is the new label for the Lidtke L-Tryptophan 100mg Chewable. This product has been a firm favorite of mine for many years and the formulation has shifted over the years.

This formulation still contains 100mg tryptophan and a different sweetener – luo han guo, also known as monk fruit. It’s a zero-calorie natural sweetener that does not affect blood sugar. Monk fruit does belong to the gourd family and would need to be avoided if there are allergies to these foods (such as cucumbers, melons, zucchini etc).  Also, some individuals do not like the aftertaste of monk fruit.

It does contain flavors – maple and vanillin – which may be problematic for sensitive individuals. Acacia gum (or gum arabic) is low FODMAP and typically well tolerated, but may cause bloating for some.

The chewable has not been available for about a year so this is very welcome news.

Chewable tryptophan for a young girl with anxiety, rage, sleep issues and strong cravings

As I mentioned I’ve been using chewable tryptophan with success for many years. I often share the success story of a young girl with anxiety, rage, sleep issues and strong cravings for candies in documentaries and summit interviews and – and how addressing low serotonin with a chewable tryptophan quickly helped:

So sitting in my office with this young girl and her mom, we started to talk about the sweets and the candies and the need to give up the candies. She was fuming with me. She was sitting in a swivel chair. She turned her back on me and didn’t want to talk about having to give up candy at all.

I said, “Look, let’s not even talk about that, but would you take this chewable tryptophan here? And we’ll talk about it in a second.” I gave her 100 mg of the chewable tryptophan and continued discussing things with her mom.  She had no idea what it was going to do or how it would make her feel.

Within five minutes she turned her chair back, looked at me and she said, smilingly, “Yes, let’s do it. I can give up the candy.” She was smiling and she was happy.

So long story short, with this young girl, we started her on [chewable] tryptophan [and it turned things around quickly].

You can read her entire story here on the blog –  Rage, anxiety, cravings & insomnia in 11-year old girl with RAD/reactive attachment disorder: chewable tryptophan turns things around (she also went gluten-free and addressed low iron levels and the change was transformative.)

Some of the many advantages of tryptophan as a low-dose chewable

Here are some of the many advantages of tryptophan as a low-dose chewable:

• The low dose is suitable for sensitive adults and pixie-dust folks (i.e. a small amount goes a long way)
• It can be easily broken apart if an even lower dose works well
• It’s pleasant tasting
• It’s easy to have available to use on the go when traveling or out and about
• The dose dose and taste is suitable for children and kids who are picky eaters
• The dose dose and taste is suitable for older adults with dementia or Alzheimer’s, adults with special needs or Parkinson’s
• One less capsule to swallow and more pleasant that tryptophan powder on the tongue
• A good tool for doing the initial one-off trial to confirm low serotonin symptoms before embarking on titrating up to a higher dose of tryptophan

My personal experience with chewable tryptophan

Personally, I have used tryptophan over the years with much success. It’s helped me with sleep issues, the worry type of ruminating anxiety and PMS symptoms.

I also used it when I was grieving after my mom passed away and found it particularly helpful a few months after her passing when I’d start to feel more sad after dinner and go searching for sugar as a pick-up. It worked well because serotonin takes a dip later afternoon/evening.

Most of the time I’ve used 500mg and above – capsules opened and powder.

However I like to try what I recommend (if possible) so I have tried a few bottles of the previous formulation of the chewable tryptophan. It worked well and the taste and texture was pleasant. But because I do better on a higher dose I was needing to chew too many!

I have yet to try this new formulation myself but will report back as soon as I have had a chance to do so – on the taste, the texture and the effectiveness.

Positive feedback on the previous chewable tryptophan product

Until I get feedback on the new formulation, here is some general feedback from individuals in the community.

Jean is a practitioner who uses it herself and with patients:

It works within 15 minutes to stop looping thoughts/anxiety and the dose isn’t too sedating during the day. I never find it too sweet and wouldn’t let the taste keep me from such rapid relief.

I like the 100 mg chewable because it only has tryptophan and I didn’t want the other ingredients in the [Lidtke tryptophan] Complete for my needs.

I’ve had patients do well with tryptophan with the 100 mg chewable and others with the higher dose capsule.

Kelly likes the low 100mg dose compared to the 500mg capsules:

I purchased the adult pills and they were too strong. I was groggy in the morning.

Erin is also a practitioner and mom:

I have used this [the chewable tryptophan 100mg] with my 8 year old when he’s in a rage or showing signs of excessive worry and it works great! So glad it’s coming back. I recommend it to clients all the time.

Ali is also happy the chewable is coming back:

Great news!! I love the chewable and I prefer 100 mg early evening for anxiety and sleep. Sometimes 200mg but not often.

I appreciate them all sharing and hope to get updates from them when they try the new formulation.

Negative feedback on the new tryptophan chewable formulation

Update: June 14, 2025

Unfortunately, since publishing this blog and sharing on Facebook, the negative feedback has been coming in fast and furiously. Here is some of what people are sharing:

• Melissa: “Love this company. I like that it’s chewable but it’s a large tablet and flavor is awful. Tastes like when you put maple syrup on a burnt pancake to try and cover up the burnt . I will finish the bottle though. I wish there were other chewable options, like GABA calm’s orange flavor.“
• PS: “Revolting. Aftertaste like artificial sweetener. Smoother texture, last longer. Made me suspicious they were fake and I spat it out.“
• Tamar: “I recently bought a few bottles of the maple sugar chewable. Taste is quite sweet and artificial, IMO. I don’t like chewing them because the product gets jammed in my teeth and stays there. I’ve been letting them dissolve, which takes a very long time.”

And these are comments from this blog:

• Erin: “I was so excited to get this back, especially for my 8 year old son who has symptoms of ADHD rage. However, the new flavor is bitter and gets stuck in our teeth and now I can’t get him to take it!”
• Nikki: “I got these about two weeks ago…. Truthfully I think it tastes horrible but that’s just me. Just unpleasant. Kind of sour and stale. They smell amazing but you get one in your mouth and it’s so hard to chew and swallow.” 
• Tara: “The new formulation of the Lidtke does taste horrible. Initially I thought oh this smells lovely, tried to have my daughter take it and she said ick mom. So I said ok let me try it and ICK was right, the sweetener was gross and it did have a stale taste. So unfortunate as I had hope for this to help my daughter dealing with a lot of fears, worry, upset stomach and negative self talk at 9 yo and rage and sugar cravings.”
  

As of now I am NOT recommending this product.

The good news is that Nikki emailed Lidtke and shared this: “I just got an email back from Lidtke. Her name was Jessica and she stated: So, I’ve talked to the owner and let him know how many people are complaining about this new formula. He told me he was not aware it was changed and we are having a new batch made using the old formula that everyone loves. Going to take a month maybe a little more but we are definitely having this fixed.”

Additional resources when you are new to using tryptophan and other amino acids as supplements

As always, I use the symptoms questionnaire to figure out if low serotonin or other neurotransmitter imbalances may be an issue.

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 practitioner/health 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, gluten, blood sugar control (this is covered in an entire chapter too), sugar cravings, anxiety and mood issues.

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 (if you have low GABA symptoms). This is a paid online/virtual group program where you get my guidance and community support.

We are also offering the Serotonin Quickstart Program, a paid online/virtual group program where you get my guidance and community support during 5 LIVE Q&A calls.

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.

Wrapping up and your feedback

Now I’d love to hear from you – have you used the chewable tryptophan with success in the past? And how has it helped you or a loved one?

(once you try the new formulation I’d love to hear your feedback on taste, texture and effectiveness)

If you’d like to get on the notification list for the next Serotonin Quickstart Program (a paid online/virtual group program where you get my guidance and community support during 5 LIVE Q&A calls), please do so here.

If you’re a practitioner have you used chewable tryptophan with your clients/patients?

Feel free to share and ask your questions below.