pain

How best to use the amino acid DPA for easing heart-ache, weepiness, comfort eating and a compulsive desire for food

May 17, 2019 By Trudy Scott 6 Comments

DPA (d-phenylalanine) is an amino acid that destroys the enzyme that breaks down endorphins. Endorphins are feel-good chemicals that you experience with an endorphin rush when you go for a run or when someone gives you a big hug, when you show kindness to someone or an individual does something nice for you.

Taking the amino acid, DPA, as a supplement helps to raise your endorphins and helps when you feel weepy and overly emotional AND reduces the need to self-medicate with treats as a reward or for comfort. This amino acid is a favorite with so many of my clients and community because it makes them feel so lovely.

My recommendation has always been to chew the DPA capsule for the best effects and to get results quickly (in 2-5 minutes) but I’ve now changed my recommendation. Instead of chewing the whole capsule I now recommend opening the capsule into your mouth.

New DPA recommendation – open the capsule instead of chewing it

I’ve updated the Antianxiety Food Solution Amino Acid and Pyroluria Supplements blog as follows:

I used to recommend simply chewing the capsule to get the quickest and best effects and this worked well when it was produced in a gelatin capsule. Now it’s made with a cellulose capsule and chewing doesn’t work at all well, so opening the capsule (or just biting off the top) and tipping the powder into your mouth works best.

When it was in a gelatin capsule, the warmth of the mouth dissolved the gelatin and you could eat the capsule together with the DPA. With the cellulose capsule, chewing it leas to much of the DPA getting partially stuck in the chewed capsule, which is not very pleasant to chew and swallow. The DPA is simply much more palatable and effective when it’s opened up into the mouth, rather than chewed. There is one caveat – the taste of the DPA itself – but if you’ve been chewing it you’ll be fine opening the capsule going forward.

My favorite DPA product is Lidtke Endorphigen. It contains 500mg and a tiny amount of vitamin B2 and vitamin B6.

You’ll notice the bottle says: “Maintain healthy endorphin levels to ease minor pain.” Physical pain relief is one of the side-benefits of DPA, but you could easily replace this statement.

Results for weepiness and a deep heart-ache, and the taste of DPA

Missy shares how DPA helps her deep heart-ache sort of feeling:

I have found I was using this product incorrectly. If you are feeling fine, you do not feel much of anything from it. But today I was weepy and felt that deep, heart-ache sort of feeling. I chewed 1000 mgs (2 capsules) and it DID help lift that awful feeling within 15 minutes.

Notice that she said if you’re feeling fine you don’t feel much at all. This is true of all the amino acids – they only make a difference when you need them.

Missy chewed the capsule but with the new cellulose capsule it’s much more palatable when it’s opened up into the mouth. She also reported what about half my clients say:

Tastes like slightly bitter dark chocolate. 🙂

The remainder of my clients don’t like the taste at all, although many say the taste grows on them. I’ve always been in the dark chocolate camp and find it quite pleasant tasting.

If you have a really hard time with the taste of the DPA, you can mix it with a small amount of GABA powder (assuming low GABA is also an issue) or inositol powder (if low serotonin and obsessions and ruminations are also an issue) as both of these are naturally quite sweet.

Results for a compulsive desire for food

Nanner finds that opening a capsule into her mouth gets rid of the compulsive desire for food:

It really helps! Whenever I notice I am opening cupboards when I cannot possibly be really hungry, I open one capsule and pour it into my mouth, let it dissolve. I like the taste! The compulsive desire for food goes away, and I am able to re-focus my attention and get on with my day. Amazing! Now, I just need to form a new habit and remember to DO IT!!! Lol

Take note how quickly this works for her. She is actually opening cupboards and on the prowl for a treat or reward, recognizes this and has some DPA and viola, she no longer needs the sweet comfort she was seeking. In an ideal world she would be taking DPA a few times a day until she has good levels of endorphins. In this instance there would be no cupboard prowling. But as you can see, it can be used on-demand with excellent results.

DPA, glutamine, GABA, tryptophan (or 5-HTP) and tyrosine are ALL powerful for eliminating sugar cravings – is it low endorphins?

The individual amino acids DPA, glutamine, GABA, tryptophan (or 5-HTP) and tyrosine are ALL powerful for eliminating sugar cravings, often within 5 minutes. It seems that this wonderful benefit – over and above the anxiety-reducing and mood-boosting benefits – is often overlooked or poorly understood.

If you’re not certain if your cravings are comfort/reward cravings the best way to figure it which neurotransmitter deficiency is affecting your sugar cravings is to do the amino acid mood questionnaire and also review the list on this blog for further clarification: The individual amino acids glutamine, GABA, tryptophan (or 5-HTP), DPA and tyrosine are powerful for eliminating sugar cravings, often within 5 minutes

The big clue with low endorphins is that you may also feel weepy, overly emotional and sometimes experience physical pain. The emotional connection to the treat – be it chocolate or ice-cream or cookies – feels very real and very strong too and you can’t imagine having to give up this treat you clearly deserve.

Resources for you related to this blog

Here is one paper, which discusses how DPA inhibits or breaks down enkephalins (endorphins are closely related compounds) and as a result helps with depression and pain, and acts as an anti-inflammatory. This paper, discusses beta-endorphins and the reward mechanism and how they can induce euphoria, reduce pain and ease addictions and distress. Despite that fact that this is discussed in the context of drugs and alcohol, more and more research is showing parallels between drug and food cravings.

Here is the amino acid questionnaire

You can find the DPA and other amino acid products I use with my clients here.

As always, thanks for sharing your feedback and questions on my facebook page and in all the blog comments. It allows me to write blogs like this and share your own feedback and experiences.

I have to say that I agree with Sandra’s sentiments and so do most of my clients:

Honestly I think the whole world needs this!

Do let us know if DPA has helped you with reducing weepiness, comfort/reward eating?

Has it also helped with easing physical pain too?

And have you noticed DPA works best when opened up onto your tongue? And are you in the dark chocolate camp and find it quite pleasant tasting?

Additional Anxiety Resources Click on each image to learn more

Gut bacteria, pain and anxiety connections: Klebsiella and ankylosing spondylitis

December 28, 2018 By Trudy Scott 10 Comments

We know about the gut-brain connection where the health of our microbiome impacts how anxious or depressed we feel, but we often forget that there is a gut-pain connection too and how addressing dysbiosis and bad bacteria in the gut can have far-reaching benefits.

An old work friend recently reached out asking for help for her husband who had been diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, ulcerative colitis and gluten sensitivity, and was not seeing results with conventional treatment. I did some digging for them and a colleague mentioned that they had addressed Klebsiella when they discovered that her husband had genes predisposing him to ankylosing spondylitis. Read on to see what I’ve learned.

Klebsiella as a precursor to ankylosing spondylitis

The paper shared with me: The relationship between Klebsiella infection and ankylosing spondylitis, discusses the HLA-B27 gene and the Klebsiella connection:

Klebsiella-reactive arthritis is the precursor stage occurring in the early and active phases of ankylosing spondylitis.

Let’s learn more about Klebsiella, ankylosing spondylitis, the anxiety connection and prevalence, the role of neuro-inflammation and genes, the problems of a high carb diet and the role the amino acids GABA, tryptophan and DPA play in pain and anxiety relief and being able to quit the carbs easily, plus provide sleep support.

In case you’re not familiar with Klebsiella, this excellent FX Medicine article describes it as follows:

Klebsiella pneumoniae (KP) is a type of gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria that can cause different types of infections ranging from pneumonia (lung), blood infections (septicaemia), wound or surgical infections, urinary tract infections, small intestinal bowel overgrowth (SIBO), ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and meningitis (brain).

Ankylosing spondylitis is an inflammatory disease of the spine

In case you’re not familiar with the condition ankylosing spondylitis (pronounced like this) the Mayo Clinic site provides this summary:

Ankylosing spondylitis is an inflammatory disease that, over time, can cause some of the vertebrae in your spine to fuse. This fusing makes the spine less flexible and can result in a hunched-forward posture. If ribs are affected, it can be difficult to breathe deeply.

Ankylosing spondylitis affects men more often than women. Signs and symptoms typically begin in early adulthood. Inflammation also can occur in other parts of your body – most commonly, your eyes.

They say there is no cure and the treatments include pain medications and physical therapy to ease symptoms (and surgery in some cases).

I’m all for physical therapy but you’ll notice there is no mention of gut health or Klebsiella. This is why we have to keep searching for root causes – and work with a functional medicine practitioner – no matter what the health condition, be it ankylosing spondylitis or anything else.

Prevalence of anxiety in ankylosing spondylitis

As with most physical conditions there is a connection with anxiety. This paper: Prevalence of psychological disorders, sleep disturbance and stressful life events and their relationships with disease parameters in Chinese patients with ankylosing spondylitis reports that

AS [ankylosing spondylitis] patients had more severe psychological disorders, sleep disturbance, and stressful life events.

Prevalence of anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance was 31.6%, 59.3%, and 31.0% respectively.

We have to ask ourselves if we have anxiety, depression and insomnia because of the pain being experienced or because of one or more of the root causes that contribute to both pain and anxiety.

Microbiota disturbance, neuro-inflammation, and anxiety

Often the research focuses on the former but we know that there is Evidence for interplay among antibacterial-induced gut microbiota disturbance, neuro-inflammation, and anxiety in mice. In this 2018 animal study treatment with lactobacilli suppresses this neuro-inflammation.

Ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn’s disease, genes and a high carb diet

The above FX Medicine article shares the connection between ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, as well as the genetic susceptibility, together with the problems of a high carb diet:

Genetically susceptible people, such as those who have the HLA-B27 allelotypes and consume a high starch/carbohydrate diet, can trigger a growth in Klebsiella in the bowel, the starch becoming a main food supply for the Klebsiella.

The amino acids for pain, carb addition, anxiety and insomnia

The amino acids come into the picture again, helping to ease the pain, provide precursors for neurotransmitter production until the microbiome is balanced, and eliminate carbohydrate cravings so they can be given up without willpower.

As always figuring out your own imbalance and doing an amino acid trial is key. Here is a summary of how they may help in this instance, assuming you have low levels of GABA, serotonin and/or endorphins:

GABA helps with stress eating of carbs, eases physical anxiety, eases some pain.
Tryptophan helps with afternoon and evening carb cravings, eases mental worry-type anxiety and depression, and also eases some pain. Both GABA and tryptophan help with insomnia.
DPA boosts endorphins providing acupuncture-like pain relief and provides the emotional comfort that starchy treats often do.

The FX Medicine article has treatment and prevention tips for you to share with your functional medicine doctor, who will be able to run a functional stool test such as the GI-MAP offered by Diagnostic Solutions Lab.

Just because there are these gut bacteria, pain, anxiety, Klebsiella and ankylosing spondylitis connections, it doesn’t necessarily mean everyone with ankylosing spondylitis has Klebsiella or that everyone who has Klebsiella will go on to develop ankylosing spondylitis (as stated above) or even that everyone with ankylosing spondylitis will have anxiety. I’m simply connecting some dots so you can start to think outside the box.

I’d love to hear what has worked for you or a loved one with ankylosing spondylitis and/or if you’ve seen elevated Klebsiella on your stool test or have the genetic predisposition?

Have the amino acids and a low-carb diet helped the healing process and eased some of your anxiety while addressing the underlying Klebsiella infection?

My iPhone was zapping me with EMFs even when on airplane mode – affecting my sleep, and making me agitated and fatigued

September 7, 2018 By Trudy Scott 13 Comments

I recently got a new iPhone 6 and after having it for a good few weeks I discovered it had been zapping me with EMFs (electromagnetic fields) even when it was on airplane mode.

It was affecting my sleep, making me twitchy and agitated, leaving me feeling exhausted and more jet-lagged than usual (I had just travelled to the USA and then back to Australia) and making my right arm/mouse arm “thick” and slow when working on my PC. I have a feeling it played a role in my worsening lower back pain too!

I was NOT happy! I was actually fuming!

I have my phone on airplane mode most of time because in the last 6 months I’ve discovered I have some degree of EHS or electromagnetic hypersensitivity. This is a very real condition and many people are not even aware that EMFs may be playing a role in their symptoms.

This abstract summarizes EHS well: Characteristics of perceived electromagnetic hypersensitivity in the general population

Health problems evoked in the presence of electrical equipment is a concern, calling for better understanding for characteristics of electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) in the general population.

The present study investigated demographics, lifestyle factors, frequency and duration, coping strategies, proportion meeting clinical criteria for intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (EMF) and comorbidity. Using data from a large-scale population-based questionnaire study, we investigated persons with self-reported (n = 91) EHS in comparison to referents (n = 3,250).

Middle age, female sex and poor perceived health was found to be associated with EHS. More than 50% in the EHS group reported having EMF-related symptoms more often than once a week, and the mean number of years experiencing EHS was 10.5. More than half of the EHS group reported that their symptoms started after a high-dose or long-term EMF exposure, that they actively tried to avoid EMF sources and that they mostly could affect the EMF environment. A minority of the EHS group had sought medical attention, been diagnosed by a physician or received treatment.

Exhaustion syndrome, anxiety disorder, back/joint/muscle disorder, depression, functional somatic syndrome and migraine were comorbid with EHS.

The results provide ground for future study of these characteristic features being risk factors for development of EHS and or consequences of EHS.

Fortunately, I used my Cornet meter and figured out something was up. Unfortunately, it took me some time to connect the dots. I figured I wasn’t feeling that great because of my recent trip and spending time sitting in planes and being exposed to so much WiFi in airports, planes, hotels, and conference rooms. I also drive a keyless car for 4 hours! Also, when you’re in the midst of this type of thing you’re kind of slow in figuring things out!

I’m going to share the lessons I learned so they can help you prevent something similar.

Lesson #1: When you toggle airplane mode off it via the swipe up feature it also activates Bluetooth and WiFi. BUT when you turn on airplane mode when using the swipe up feature, both Bluetooth and Wifi stay on unless you turn them off first in settings! This must be the default for new iPhones (and may even reset back to this with a software upgrade).

A: Airplane mode off (blue color plane) and Wifi is on and Bluetooth is on

B: Airplane mode on (orange color plane) and yet Bluetooth and WiFi is still on – this is not good if you’re using your phone next to your bed or in a car or close to your body

C: Airplane mode on (orange color plane) and Bluetooth and WiFi is off (they have a line through them) – make sure it’s like this when it’s next to your bed or in a car or close to your body

Lesson #2: Watch to see if 3G goes back to 4G when you toggle airplane mode on and off. I have changed my phone from 4G to 3G in settings in order to reduce EMF exposure when my phone is on. If you don’t know how to do this: settings/cellular/cellular data options – enable 4G toggle. Some folks are saying the airplane mode toggle reactivates 4G. I’m guessing it’s specific to the phone version as it’s not an issue on my phone.

Lesson #3: When you get a new phone or any new device, check everything and even if it’s not new, upgrades to software may change things.

Lesson #4: Distance is your friend when it comes to EMFs. I believe this impacted me more because I thought the iPhone was safely in airplane mode and not emitting EMFs. I had it close to me: in my handbag during the day when out and about, on my side-table next to my head at night, on my desk near me during the day, and in my money-belt right over my belly on the plane for 15 hours flying back!

Lesson #5: Trust your gut if you feel something is off and keep searching for a solution. I knew something was off and was prowling around trying to find what WiFi had been turned on in our home and looking for new hotspots in the area (I recently blogged about how a WiFi modem with a public hotspot caused seizures, vertigo, headaches, insomnia and heart palpitations in a woman with a history of West Nile virus)

Lesson #6: Get a meter so you can be proactive and actually measure this stuff. My Cornet meter is awesome! I’m still a newbie at this but when I see red flashing lights I know I’m onto something.

I owe much appreciation to Nick Pineault, author of The Non-Tinfoil Guide to EMFs (my Amazon link) for his amazing ElectrosmogRx practitioner training. I’ve learned so much about how EMFs are impacting our health and want to share this with you because I truly believe it’s a big player when you have ongoing anxiety, insomnia, pain, brain fog and with more serious health concerns too.

I even got to see Nick at the event I attended in the USA and got a signed copy of his excellent book!

When I shared this story on Facebook it was received with much interest and two people shared similar issues. One person said this:

Since I’ve moved I’ve been using my iPhone 6 as an alarm and getting disrupted sleep every night! Time for change!

And then shared this a few days later:

I want to report that I definitely slept better without my iPhone in the room last night!.

Someone else shared this:

Since getting the iPhone 6 I have been experiencing an overactive brain when trying to sleep plus heart palpitations. I usually sleep so well and turn off my thoughts and relax with no problems. I just thought it was a culmination of work, stress deadlines and hormones.

Too often I hear comments like this: “it’s all around us – what are we supposed to do?!” There is so much we can do!

Once I made the simple change of making sure the Bluetooth and WiFi stayed off when I toggled airplane mode on, my sleep improved, the twitchiness and agitation abated, my exhaustion ramped down and my slow mouse arm started to work normally again. My back pain is slowly but surely easing too.

As a nutritionist I always use everything at my disposal and so I’ve also used GABA for my back pain and tryptophan for the agitation and sleep issues and plenty of rosemary essential oil, together with grounding/earthing on a daily basis.

Thank goodness for my Qlink too! I’d probably have been feeling much worse had I not been wearing it 24 hours a day.

My wish now is for more folks to take this seriously!

Do you use your iPhone (or other smart phone) as an alarm without switching to airplane mode? Have you checked if Bluetooth and WiFi is off when you do switch to airplane mode?

And has disrupted sleep or other issues like anxiety, agitation, heart palpitations, pain issues, brain fog or fatigue resolved when making these very simple changes?

I’d love some feedback if you have a smart phone other than an iPhone – to share what happens on your phone and how you addressed it.

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

August 23, 2018 By Trudy Scott 1 Comment

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 oral rinse reduces burning mouth pain

March 2, 2018 By Trudy Scott 41 Comments

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.

How much GABA should I use and which GABA product is best?

December 8, 2017 By Trudy Scott 33 Comments

The most common question I get about GABA (gamma-amino butyric acid) is the one about the blood-brain barrier and does it even work (it certainly does – read here for information on this one).

The next most common question I get about GABA is this one:

How much GABA should I use and which GABA product is best?

This exact question was actually asked of me a number of times last week after I published: Herbal therapy is equivalent to rifaximin for the treatment of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). In this blog I share about my trials of using sublingual GABA for the visceral pain and muscle tension in my gut caused by the bloating symptoms of SIBO.

There is no simple answer! It requires a blog post to provide a good answer because we are all unique, have different needs and these needs can even differ at different times depending on the issue and what is going on in our lives at the moment.

Let’s first do a quick recap of GABA (gamma-amino butyric acid) in case this is new to you. GABA is a calming amino acid that can be used as a supplement to raise GABA levels (GABA is also a neurotransmitter. It’s one of the amino acids I use most frequently with my anxious clients (together with tryptophan). GABA helps with the physical anxiety and tension, as well as panic attacks. New research shows it also helps with inhibition of unwanted thoughts and may also offer gut protection after alcohol consumption. It also helps with stiff and tense muscles and muscle pain and spasms.

How I have benefited from GABA

Here is a quick summary of how I’ve benefited from GABA supplements. I use this information to inform my use of GABA to help with the visceral pain I now experience due to my SIBO (more on that below).

If you have never used GABA or if you’ve used it once or twice, reading this should give you a clue as to why there is no one answer and how we need to use a trial approach to figure out what is best for each situation.

This also illustrates that there is no one size fits all for everyone and even for the same person under different situations.

The anxiety and panic attacks I experienced 15 years ago:
1. I used 1-2 GABA Calm three times a day and a combination GABA product at night. GABA Calm contains 125mg GABA and the GABA product contains 200mg GABA. My anxiety eased and my panic attacks stopped in a few days, giving me immediate relief and hope while I started to address all the other root causes like gluten sensitivity, adrenal issues, low zinc, gut health, low vitamin B6 and more
2. The doses of GABA I used for my anxiety and panic attacks are typical amounts my clients benefit from and I would not have someone start on 500mg.
3. If someone is a “pixie-dust” person and very sensitive I’d have them start with a pinch/dab or ¼ of 125 mg GABA Calm.

The “ice-pick” headaches on the top of the skull that I discovered were caused by neck spasms:
1. Physical therapy, high doses of GABA and high doses of magnesium were essential.
2. Because of the low doses of GABA I had used for my anxiety years before this, I started with low doses of GABA increasing slowly from 200mg up to 1000mg GABA. This higher amount worked for me at this time for this injury.

Throat spasms and the loss of my voice due to vagus nerve issues caused by a terrifying plane ride:
1. Based on my prior ice-pick headache experience I now knew I could tolerate higher doses and started with 500mg GABA and used more as needed.
2. I must have been really low in GABA because I was actually able to use upwards of 5 (and sometime more) doses of 500mg a day and not feel too wiped out, even during the day.
3. That’s a lot of GABA for me – as I mentioned above 125mg to 250mg used to be enough for the anxiety I experienced 15 years ago.
4. I write more about all this here: Vagus nerve rehab with GABA, breathing, humming, gargling and key nutrients (with videos to demonstrate immediate effects when using GABA sublingually)

Rectal spasms/proctalgia fugax. These seem to be related to SIBO/IBS and I still experience these from time to time.
1. I have found that 250mg to 500mg GABA opened onto my tongue works best for me for this particular muscle spasm.
2. Again, it eases the spasms and pain in a few minutes. I write more about this here: How GABA eases agonizing rectal pain and spasms in under 2 minutes

A back injury in August causing severe muscle spasms and pain.
1. Again, based on my previous experiences using GABA, right after my fall I started taking 1000mg of GABA powder every few hours (held in my mouth for 1-2 minutes) and then reduced it to 2 or 3 times a day as needed.
2. I share more in this blog: Acupuncture boosts GABA to reduce back pain and oral GABA further reduces the pain
3. In the above blog you can also read some research about the mechanism of how GABA supplements ease inflammation and tracheal spasms associated with asthma.

Visceral pain caused by SIBO.
1. My SIBO is really well-controlled with diet but I’ve been having pain, bloating and insomnia while doing this herbal SIBO protocol. I suspect the cellulose in one of the herbal products is causing this bloating and pain after dinner. It was getting so bad it was keeping me awake (this is typical when I am accidently exposed to problematic foods and get a flare-up).
2. SIBO patients can have visceral hypersensitivity where their pain can be due to the pressure of the gas that is produced and the muscles in the digestive system actually contracting against this pressure.
3. It got me thinking about how effective GABA is for relieving muscle tension and how much it’s helped me in the past. I also use GABA with my clients all the time for relief of their physical anxiety and stiff and tense muscles. There are GABA receptors all over the gut and I recently discovered that GABA is important for motility.
4. Over the last 2 weeks I’ve trialed 300mg GABA (opened on to the tongue) a few times to ease the pain and pressure and it’s been amazing at how much it’s helped and how quickly it’s eased the pain. I’ve used it as soon as I notice the bloating starting and it GABA helps me sleep too (as does the tryptophan I’ve also added). I suspect I could safely double this dose in the evening and may do this if the lower dose isn’t enough some evenings. I’ve also used it some days the next morning when I wake with the bloated ache in my belly.

How much should I use and which GABA product is best?

I have a blog post listing the products I use with clients: The Antianxiety Food Solution Amino Acid and Pyroluria Supplements

Always read the precautions (there is a link on the above blog) and do the amino acid questionnaire (the link is also on the above blog) before starting a trial. I also recommend reading the amino acids chapter in my book The Antianxiety Food Solution so you are a well-informed savvy consumer.

If you’re doing a trial for anxiety and panic attacks:

If you can use tyrosine the Source Naturals GABA Calm product is the one I use with most of my anxious clients.
The other GABA products listed on the supplements blog need to be opened onto the tongue and started with a low dose (100-200mg is a good starting dose) and increase based on symptom relief. More can often be used at night, especially if sleep is also an issue – sometimes up to 500mg.

If you have SIBO/IBS and are doing a trial for visceral pain:

I’d suggest NOT starting with the Source Naturals GABA Calm because the sugar alcohols can be problematic for some individuals. Or if you do, be aware that it may not help and may make things worse in the short-term. Personally, I have not found this product to be an issue with my SIBO and I have very few clients report an issue.
The other GABA products listed on the supplements blog need to be opened onto the tongue and started with a low dose and increased based on symptom relief.
For a client totally new to GABA I’d start with 100-200mg in the evening and also increase slowly over a few weeks based on symptom relief, up to 500-1000mg.
For early morning belly pain I’d start a client on 100-200mg because too much in the day can make you feel tired.

If you have other pain issues:

For a client totally new to GABA I’d start with 100-200mg in the evening and increase slowly over a few weeks based on symptom relief, up to 500-1000mg. Depending on the pain more may often be needed and higher doses can often be tolerated during the day.
Keep in mind that pain can have any many root causes and it may be more than low just GABA or may not be due to low GABA at all. Other factors to consider include but are not limited to: low serotonin, low magnesium, low endorphins, inflammation, structural damage, low omega-3s, gluten issues, Lyme disease etc. Physical therapy and acupuncture are wonderful approaches to include too.

As you can see from my experiences above it’s a matter of doing trials to find the ideal amount for you for your particular situation.

If you’ve used GABA supplements for anxiety, visceral pain or other muscles spasms I’d love to hear from you.

This GABA-pain connection is not well recognized and I’d love to have more people know about this as a possible option. The more we share our experiences the more we all learn.

If you plan a trial similar to any of the above I’d also love to hear your questions and feedback.