tryptophan

Imposter syndrome and neurotransmitter support: I feel like the person I’m supposed to become

February 26, 2021 By Trudy Scott 9 Comments

imposter syndrome and neurotransmitter support

A newly qualified nutritionist posted wonderful feedback on a blog post on imposter syndrome and low serotonin with tryptophan as one possible solution. She shared how neurotransmitter support with tryptophan, tyrosine and GABA was her solution, eliminating her imposter syndrome and social awkwardness in 2 weeks. Here is the feedback Yo shared on the blog:

Thanks for your work on neurotransmitters, Trudy. I am a fan. I had suffered BADLY from imposter syndrome at the end of my nutrition degree and I felt socially awkward in so many outings and situations. My anxiety and stress were through the roof! VERY bad sleep, stressed and my digestion was very poor.

Fast forward to a year later after addressing my sleep (no. 1 priority); stress levels; diet; loads of minerals; vitamin supplementation – my health started to shift for the better, but I still had the imposter syndrome hanging over my head.

What really tipped the balance was the supplementation of tyrosine, tryptophan & GABA. The imposter syndrome seemed to have vanished within two weeks. And it was in your blogs that had pointed out clues to the amino acids I was needing to supplement.

I feel like the person I’m supposed to become and I can’t thank you enough for the amazing work you’ve been doing. I will definitely be following your journey, learning more about these neurotransmitters, and sharing this information so that others can benefit from it. Thank you, thank you!

I thanked Yo for her kind words and for sharing this wonderful outcome. I always say we all deserve to feel our absolute best so I love that she says “I feel like the person I’m supposed to become”!

Addressing neurotransmitter imbalances with targeted amino acids

I also congratulated her on doing the foundational work first. As she discovered, even with all that in place, we often still have to address neurotransmitter imbalances with targeted amino acids too. With regards to imposter syndrome and the amino acids she used:

Using tryptophan to address low serotonin eases worry, rumination, anxiety, negative self-talk, self-doubt and and not feeling capable – all of which we’d typically associate with imposter syndrome
Using tyrosine to address low dopamine results in more motivation and better focus so you are more likely to finish tasks (and therefore feel more confident and capable). Many folks report a feeling of calm focus with tyrosine too
Using GABA to address low GABA eases physical tension and overwhelm and helps stop unwanted thoughts.

A 2-week turnaround is fabulous and means she found the right combination of amino acids and ideal doses for her unique needs right away. I’ve seen results like this in 2 weeks but doing a new amino acid trial each week would usually take at least 3 weeks. I suspect her results were so fast because of the foundational work that was in place.

I typically start with amino acids trials on day one of working with someone, while we are working on diet, sleep, stress – this would have led to her feeling like the person she was meant to become much sooner and would have helped with sleep, stress and dietary changes too. Her approach worked but it took longer to get results.

Questions I still have about the amino acid trials

I have these questions I posed to Yo and hope to hear back as I feel these answers may be helpful as you navigate your own challenges with imposter syndrome:

Did she do a trial of one amino acid at a time (my preferred approach so you know exactly what effects each one has)?
Or did she start taking all 3 amino acids at once and why?
What doses were ideal for her unique needs and how quickly did she find the ideal doses
Is she continuing with a maintenance dose?
Also, since she mentioned social awkwardness I have to wonder if the pyroluria protocol would be of added value (if any of the social awkwardness still remains)? This protocol helps to make neurotransmitters.

I’ll report back once I get Yo’s feedback.

If you’re new to imposter syndrome

If you’re new to imposter syndrome, here is a definition from Intellectual Self-doubt and How to Get Out of It:

People with imposter syndrome often feel like they are not as capable or adequate as others perceive or evaluate them to be. The signs and symptoms are feelings of phoniness, self-doubt, and inability to take credit for one’s accomplishments. It is a form of intellectual self-doubt. Those with imposter syndrome are often intelligent and high achievers – like many academics, pharmacists, and professional students. On one hand, imposter syndrome provides motivation to persevere. On the other hand, you over prepare and overwork.

This author shares a link to the Clance Imposter Scale. This is a self-assessment of imposter syndrome, developed by Dr. Pauline Rose Clance and Dr. Suzanne Imes (who worked together and coined the term “Impostor Phenomenon”.).

This paper reports that

Imposter syndrome is common among early career nurse researchers and often has a considerable impact on those affected. It can cause various problems, including anxiety, self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy, and therefore has significant potential to adversely affect personal and professional development.

You can also read more about imposter syndrome on my previous blog post on this topic – Imposter syndrome and low serotonin: is tryptophan the solution? and the Harvard Business review definition:

Imposter syndrome can be defined as a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success. ‘Imposters’ suffer from chronic self-doubt and a sense of intellectual fraudulence that override any feelings of success or external proof of their competence.

The numbers of papers on imposter syndrome are increasing but there is still no mention of biochemistry or neurotransmitters so these amino acid success stories are adding to the body of knowledge. (I would love to get them published as case studies so if you can help please do let me know.)

I love hearing life-changing stories like this and I am sharing it here to inspire and offer hope! I also love that Yo is such a fan now and wants to pay it forward by sharing this information with clients so I also shared my amino acid practitioner training.

Is imposter syndrome new to you? And is this concept of addressing imposter syndrome with amino acids new to you? If you have a question we would appreciate hearing:

#1 How you describe your imposter syndrome and how it impacts your life

#2 How you score on the Clance Imposter Scale (and which aspects bother you the most)

#3 What symptoms you have on the Amino Acid Questionnaire in the low serotonin, low catecholamine and low GABA sections.

If you already know about imposter syndrome and have found a solution with the amino acids please do share your success story so we can all learn from each other, as well as inspire and offer hope. We would appreciate hearing:

#A How you described your imposter syndrome and how it impacted your life

#B How you scored on the Clance Imposter Scale before and after using amino acids (and which aspects bothered you the most)

#C What symptoms you had on the Amino Acid Questionnaire in the low serotonin, low catecholamine and low GABA sections (before and after using the amino acids)

#D Which amino acids were most helpful and how much of each amino acid helped you

#E If you’ve also had CBT (cognitive behavior therapy) and how it helped too

(if you feel more comfortable sharing some of this anonymously feel free to use a nickname or your initials only when commenting – I’m aware that there is a stigma to admitting this in the corporate world, as a health professional and as an entrepreneur)

Feel free to post your questions and feedback in the comments below.

Tryptophan for my teenager: she laughs and smiles, her OCD and anxiety has lessened, and she is more goal oriented and focused on school.

February 19, 2021 By Trudy Scott 29 Comments

A mom posted wonderful feedback on a recent blog post on ADHD and 5-HTP, sharing how how tryptophan has helped her daughter in ways that didn’t even realize were an issue. She was shocked to see so many improvements and she called it a miracle experience. Here is the feedback Kathy shared:

We had a “miracle” experience with adding L-Tryptophan 300mg at bedtime for my teenager. I was shocked to see how much it improved my child, especially in ways that I didn’t even realize were an issue.

The results were like my teenager coming out of a fog, and also like my child was when she was younger.

She became more engaged with the family and did a lot less isolating.

She suddenly had interest in activities she had never pursued before. For instance, she wanted to start playing team sports after having played nothing for years. She wanted to do family game night! Before, we couldn’t force her to do it, and now it was her idea.

Her thoughts seemed to quiet down and were more organized.

Her OCD [obsessive compulsive disorder] and anxiety symptoms lessened.

She became more goal oriented and focused on school.

She laughs and smiles more!

We were most shocked because what we thought was normal teenage development was actually depression that we had no idea was there.

Tryptophan has been the most effective supplement we have ever used, and we have used a lot. We experimented with the dose until we ended up on 3 at bedtime. The brand we used was the Lidtke L-Tryptophan.

This did not cure her ADD [attention deficit disorder], but definitely improved her executive functioning. We tried GABA and saw no improvement with that. We have tinkered with L-Tyrosine, but haven’t been able to get on a steady dose of it yet to see if it will also help.

Thank you for giving us the idea to try!

I thanked Kathy for sharing the wonderful results her daughter has experienced with the Lidtke Tryptophan and how happy I was for both of them! I love all the surprise benefits she saw and appreciate this feedback: “This has been the most effective supplement we have ever used, and we have used a lot.” I hear this a lot – tryptophan and GABA are game-changers for so many of my clients.

I have these questions I posed to this mom and hope to hear back as I feel these answers may be helpful for other parents and practitioners who work with children and teens:

Did she use 3 x chewable 100mg tryptophan or did they open the 500mg capsule
What did the trial look like for them to end up with 300mg at night?
What made her decide to trial tryptophan instead of 5-HTP?
What made you decide to even trial tryptophan – was it her daughter’s anxiety and OCD?
Was her daughter willing to trial tryptophan initially or was there resistance?

I’ll report back once I get Kathy’s feedback.

Updated Feb 26, 2021: Kathy’s additional feedback

I read all your blog articles and listened to some of your talks. I made a chart of symptoms and then decided to try GABA Calm first.

Since that didn’t help, the next logical choice for us was Tryptophan. My daughter has a lot of anxiety, intrusive thoughts and other OCD symptoms. The reason I didn’t trial the 5HTP first was because my daughter has some PTSD like startle responses, and since you said it isn’t good if you have high cortisol, I just made the guess that she might due to her startle response.

With the Lidtke brand, we used the [500mg] capsules and I did not open them up. My teen would not have gone for that because she already takes a lot of supplements and medication because she is being treated for Lyme and Bartonella. She is cooperative with taking all the supplements/medication. We started at 1 capsule a night for probably 5 days and saw no difference, then went to two for another 5 days, and then landed on 3 when we noticed the dramatic change.

Even her LLMD [Lyme literate MD] was shocked at how differently she interacted with her in our last appointment.

Normal teenage development or really depression?

I also have to wonder how many other parents would say this after addressing low serotonin levels in their daughters and/or sons: “We were most shocked because what we thought was normal teenage development was actually depression that we had no idea was there.” I suspect the number would be high, especially given the growing incidence of anxiety and depression in teens.

Also, according to the ADAA/Anxiety and Depression Association of America “80 percent of kids with a diagnosable anxiety disorder and 60 percent of kids with diagnosable depression are not getting treatment.”

Nutrition and nutrients like tryptophan have a huge role to play because, according to a 2017 Medscape article, psychotherapy, antidepressants, or a combination of the two show no significant differences in outcomes or remission at 5-year follow-up and most children experience relapse.

Now that Kathy has seen these wonderful changes in her daughter, I’d love to know – if she could go back in time – what questions would she have asked her anxious and depressed daughter so she could help her with solutions sooner?

And what would she suggest to other parents to be looking out for in order to identify anxiety and depression in their children (who often cannot adequately articulate that they do feel anxious and/or depressed)?

If you’re new to tryptophan and low serotonin symptoms

In case you’re new to tryptophan, it is an amino acid that is used as a supplement to support low levels of serotonin. With low serotonin we the worry-in-your-head and ruminating type of anxiety, panic attacks and phobias, lack of confidence, depression, negativity, imposter syndrome, PMS, irritability, anger issues, insomnia and afternoon/evening cravings.

My thoughts on addressing the ADD/inattention issues

Here are my thoughts for her as a starting point for helping to address her daughter’s residual ADD/inattention symptoms:

When someone does well with tryptophan at night, we often trial 5-HTP in the day too. As I shared in a recent blog, this mom shared how 5-HTP melts helped with ADHD symptoms one of her adopted kids was experiencing. She also called it a miracle!
A tyrosine trial may also be worth considering because low catecholamines lead to poor focus and feelings of calm focus are reported with tyrosine. However we also see low energy, low motivation and depression with low catecholamines which no longer seem to be an issue – so I’m not sure if tyrosine would help.
L-theanine may work better than the GABA they tried. Research shows it helps with cognitive function specifically improvements in verbal fluency (especially letter fluency) and improvements in executive function (planning, multi-tasking etc).
With inattention issues it’s also key to look at low blood sugar, gluten and sugar consumption, low iron, low zinc and low omega-3s.
If there was hyperactivity with the inattention then we’d look at salicylates in the diet as they can cause behaviour issues. This doesn’t seem to be the issue but a big clue would be red cheeks and ears that are not from the heat.
Consider the Ayurvedic herb Bacopa monnieri which has been shown to improve “visual perception, impulsivity, and attention” in children and adults.
Consider the herb saffron (Crocus sativus) which has “memory-enhancing and antidepressant effects” and has been shown to be as effective as Methylphenidate/Ritalin.

I love hearing heartwarming stories like this and I am sharing it here to inspire and offer hope!

Please do share your success story on the blog so we can all learn from each other, as well as inspire and offer hope.

How has tryptophan helped you or your child? What has helped with inattention?

Feel free to post your questions and feedback in the comments below.

The effect of emotional freedom technique on nurses’ stress, anxiety, and burnout levels during the pandemic

February 12, 2021 By Trudy Scott 4 Comments

Nurses who are working with patients during this pandemic “are particularly vulnerable to emotions such as fear and anxiety, due to fatigue, discomfort, and helplessness related to their high intensity work.” A new paper published Dec 2020, The effect of Emotional Freedom Techniques on nurses’ stress, anxiety, and burnout levels during the COVID-19 pandemic: A randomized controlled trial reports the benefits of just one online session of EFT (emotional freedom technique) or tapping.

As this paper mentions, “The basic principle of EFT is to send activating and deactivating signals to the brain by stimulating points on the skin that have distinctive electrical properties, usually by tapping on them.”

The study participants were shown a picture of the acupressure points and shown how to “gently tap on them using their index and middle fingers. After this demonstration, the participants followed the basic steps of an EFT session, following the researcher’s example:

Identify an anxiety-evoking issue and determine the SUD level [the SUD is a subjective unit of distress ranging from 0 to 10 with 10 being most severe]
Creating a personal acceptance and reminder statement in the general form of “I accept myself despite this ……….”
Tapping seven times on each acupressure point
After tapping these points, the affirmation/reminder statement is repeated.
A sequence of physical movements and vocalizations called “The Nine Gamut Procedure” is carried out.
Steps 3 and 4 are repeated.
Another SUD rating is given [in other words how they felt afterwards on a scale of 0 to 10]

The study conclusion is as follows: “A single online group EFT session reduced stress, anxiety, and burnout levels in nurses treating COVID-19.” You can read the full study here and see the picture of the acupressure points.

This is a powerful intervention for nurses, other healthcare and frontline workers – and anyone dealing with anxiety, stress and burnout!

Tapping leads to psychological and physiological improvements

As well as psychological improvements, tapping also leads to physiological improvements. In a 2019 study, “after a 4-day training workshop on tapping, the researchers reported that happiness increased by 31% and the following declines in psychological symptoms in 203 participants were reported:

anxiety (-40%)
depression (-35%)
posttraumatic stress disorder (-32%)
pain (-57%) and
cravings (-74%)

I find it fascinating that EFT/tapping leads to physiological improvements too. In this same 2019 study these changes were reported:

resting heart rate (-8%)
salivary cortisol (-37%)
systolic blood pressure (-6%) and diastolic blood pressure (-8%)
heart rate variability and heart coherence
salivary immunoglobulin A (SigA) (+113%)

Combining tapping with nutritional approaches for easing anxiety

As I mention in the above blog, I have great success with amino acids like GABA, tryptophan and glutamine to provide quick anxiety-relief, end the overwhelm and stop the carb cravings for my clients. So until recently, I hadn’t really felt the need to look into tapping.

However, I believe we need to use everything at our disposal. We also respond differently to different approaches and what may work for one person may not work as well for someone else.

I love that EFT/emotional freedom technique/tapping compliments the dietary/nutritional/biochemical approach I use with my clients for helping to ease anxiety, overwhelm and stress.

Ideally these nurses (and you and anyone who is stressed or anxious) could could use tapping/EFT and combine it with nutritional support for possibly even more benefits:

Use targeted amino acids such as tryptophan or 5-HTP for the low serotonin worry-in-your-head anxiety where folks may also experience fears, panic attacks, ruminations, phobias, insomnia, PMS, anger, irritability and cravings; and GABA for the low GABA physical-anxiety that also includes muscle tension, overwhelm, insomnia and the need to self-medicate with alcohol to calm down
DPA (d-phenylalanine), also an amino acid, boosts endorphins (in a similar way to acupuncture) and helps my clients who are experiencing weepiness, pain and are big comfort/reward eaters. I blog about this here: DPA for weepiness, pain and comfort and reward eating)

In April last year I blogged about nutritional and lifestyle approaches after reading a very somber and eye-opening article in the New York Times titled: The Psychological Trauma That Awaits Our Doctors and Nurses. You can read about B vitamins, melatonin, nature and more on this blog here.

EFT/tapping resources

If you’re new to EFT/tapping and would like to learn more, the 13th Annual Tapping World Summit airs online starting Feb 22, 2021:

This is a great introductory video from summit host Nick Ortner (register to watch it and get access to the summit)
Here is the main summit registration page

Nick has also written a best-selling book “The Tapping Solution: A Revolutionary System for Stress-Free Living” (my Amazon link)

Are you a nurse or other frontline worker who has used EFT with success?

Do you use both with success: EFT and the amino acids like GABA, tryptophan, 5-HTP, theanine or glutamine? What about EFT and dietary changes like no gluten, no sugar and no caffeine?

I also want to give a shoutout to all the nurses and other frontline workers who are doing so much during this pandemic. We appreciate you!

ADHD: 5-HTP melts have been a miracle for one of my adopted kids

January 15, 2021 By Trudy Scott 46 Comments

A mom in my community responded to an ADHD blog sharing how 5-HTP melts have been a miracle for one of her adopted children – after one week! 5-HTP is not where I typically start with ADHD so I quizzed her to get more details and then went looking for the research to understand the mechanisms. This blog shares her rationale for using 5-HTP, the truly wonderful results her son experienced, some of the research and some possible serotonin/dopamine mechanisms. This is what she posted:

5-HTP melts have been a miracle for one of my adopted kids. He had lots of trauma and off the charts ADHD. 5-HTP is better than methylphenidate (Ritalin) and we are now weaning off the non-stimulants.

Just 80mg 5-HTP in the morning is all he needs. He was super ADHD, he had a para (teacher’s aide) in public school for years to keep him on track and this year at a school for ADHD the teachers were complaining that he was never on task.

Now after a week it has changed his life. I am so thankful for the anxiety summit. Thank you Trudy

This is truly wonderful to hear! I responded saying how thrilled I was to hear the impact it was having and asked why this mom decided to try 5-HTP? This amino acid, which is a serotonin precursor, is not typically my first choice for alleviating ADHD symptoms. I consider low GABA (and using GABA) or low catecholamines (and using tyrosine), together with dietary changes, blood sugar control, and assessing for low zinc, low iron and low omega-3s – as a starting point.

I wanted to know if he had low serotonin symptoms such as the worry, ruminating, and obsessive type of anxiety which could have possibly been driving the ADHD symptoms? Were there any other symptoms that were a clue that low serotonin may be a factor: insomnia (with fatigue the next day impacting focus) or sugar cravings in the afternoon/evening (causing blood sugar swings affecting focus and mood)?

Why she used 5-HTP and which low serotonin symptoms he had

This was her response about why she used 5-HTP and which low serotonin symptoms he had:

We have tried all the amino acids over the years. I tried 5-HTP this time because SSRIs were the only class of medication he has not tried. I thought maybe it was worth a try and I also found this study: Comparative study of efficacy of 1-5-hydroxytryptophan and fluoxetine in patients presenting with first depressive episode (where the therapeutic efficacy of 5-HTP was considered as equal to that of the SSRI fluoxetine).

As for cravings or insomnia: he is a kid who loves sugar so I’m not sure if it’s a craving or typical. He takes 0.3mg of melatonin each night because guanfacine, the non-stimulant, prevents the production of melatonin.

She also mentioned that she has followed me for years and that DPA, an endorphin-boosting amino acid, works for her. She is a dietitian and shares my handouts and blog posts with her clients, so she clearly felt comfortable experimenting with the amino acids with her son.

5-HTP products and dosing

I also asked which product they were using and how she landed at 80mg. She wanted a fast-acting supplement that would dissolve in his mouth and purchased Natrol 5-HTP:

They are 100mg but we are breaking off a little because he was falling asleep in class.

I reminded her that 5-HTP (or tryptophan) is typically best used late afternoon and evening so if someone is falling asleep in the day I’d switch to bedtime dosing. If he needs it during the day for the ADHD symptoms then reducing the dose is the smart thing to do.

I love the sublingual/melt aspect of this product for quick results and because children do so well with a product that tastes pleasant.

However, I do not recommend this particular product because of very mixed ingredients information online. I have not seen the bottle of the actual product used but some of the online information states the product is gluten-free and soy-free and yet other information states it does contains gluten and soy. In some places they state it contains sucralose and an artificial flavor and in other places you see xylitol and natural flavor. This is all rather concerning. I’ll update this section as soon as I can confirm.

What does this mean for this mom? Now that she has figured out that 5-HTP helps her son, it’s best to find a better quality product so as not to cause other problems.

There are two chewable products in my online supplement store that come close to this product:

Serotrex Chewable: Two chewables contain 200mg theanine and 60mg 5-HTP. This could be used in the day or at night.
Designs for Health Insomnitol Chewables: Two chewables contain 10mg vitamin B6, 500mg inositol, 200mg theanine, 100mg 5-HTP and 3mg melatonin. This would need to be used at night instead.

Both of these contain theanine. Research shows that theanine reduces anxiety and improves cognition via “improvements in verbal fluency (especially letter fluency) and improvements in executive function (planning, multi-tasking etc).”

The research on 5-HTP and tryptophan for ADHD

This paper, The effects of 5-hydroxytryptophan on attention and central serotonin neurochemistry in the rhesus macaque, shares that

Individuals with depression and anxiety typically experience impaired executive function and emotional cognition, symptoms that are generally studied by examining disruptions in attention.

This study used 5-HTP as an intramuscular injection, rather than using it orally but the authors did report the following:

Our findings provide unique causal and mechanistic evidence suggesting that enhancing central serotonergic function results in categorically distinct changes in fundamental cognitive operations such as attention.

This paper, Does serotonin deficit mediate susceptibility to ADHD? summarizes the role of serotonin in ADHD, the interplay with dopamine and the use of oral tryptophan (a serotonin precursor similar to 5-HTP):

A chronic deficit of serotonin at the synapse may trigger symptoms of childhood ADHD (developmentally inappropriate levels of hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention).
Studies from animal models of ADHD indicate intimate interplay between serotonin and dopaminergic neurotransmission.
Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs)…as non-stimulant drugs acting on the serotonin system are … clinically effective.
Oral administration of l-tryptophan, the amino acid precursor of serotonin, significantly alleviates ADHD symptoms.
Serotoninergic gene variants are associated with increased risk of ADHD.

I appreciate this mom for giving me permission to share here on the blog so we can inspire hope (and I wish for more and more improvements for this young boy):

My son is a 10-year old RAD (reactive attachment disorder) kid that was meth exposed and adopted at 3 years old. 5-HTP has worked so well. He has not thrown a fit in a month. Before fits were a daily occurrence. This might give hope to other parents.

Have you found that 5-HTP (or tryptophan) helps/helped you or your child with ADHD symptoms? If yes, do you feel the ADHD was caused in part because of anxiety and/or fear and/or feeling inadequate and/or perfectionism and/or poor sleep (all signs of low serotonin)? Or were the main symptoms poor focus, low energy, low motivation and depression caused by low catecholamines/low dopamine? Or a mixture of both?

If you’re a practitioner working with children or adults with ADHD, have you had good results with 5-HTP or tryptophan?

Please do share in the comments below.

Gelatin triggers Enid’s anxiety in 2 weeks but also lowers her high blood sugar

December 4, 2020 By Trudy Scott 42 Comments

gelatin anxiety blood sugar

Are you aware that collagen and gelatin lower serotonin and may increase your anxiety and depression and worsen sleep? I blogged about this in 2017 and how susceptible individuals who are prone to low serotonin need to be aware of this and use 5-HTP or tryptophan to counter these effects. (You can read that blog here: Collagen and gelatin lower serotonin: does this increase your anxiety and depression?)

I’m sharing an example today from one of the many comments on the above blog as a reminder or in case this is new to you. It’s not well-recognized as being an issue even amongst practitioners and producers of collagen. This is also one of my most commented-on blogs so it’s clearly a big issue. And gelatin and collagen continue to become more and more popular.

As a reminder, gelatin is derived from collagen: when collagen breaks down, it becomes gelatin. Also, collagen and gelatin are an excellent source of these amino acids: proline, glycine, glutamine and arginine, but they do not contain the amino acid tryptophan, so they have the potential to lower serotonin levels.

Tryptophan-depletion studies have been done for years – using a tryptophan-deficient amino acid mixture – as a way to study the relationship between low serotonin and depression.

More recently, collagen and gelatin are being used in these tryptophan-depletion studies because they do not contain the amino acid tryptophan. This paper, Pharmacokinetics of acute tryptophan depletion using a gelatin-based protein in male and female Wistar rats, summarizes what we find in a number of studies that use gelatin for the purpose of lowering serotonin levels (in order to study the relationship between serotonin and mood issues):

The essential amino acid tryptophan is the precursor of the neurotransmitter serotonin. By depleting the body of tryptophan, brain tryptophan and serotonin levels are temporarily reduced.

What does this mean? If you consume gelatin or collagen, you end up depleting the body of tryptophan and serotonin levels are reduced for a short time. This can cause the classic low serotonin symptoms of anxiety, worry, panic attacks, fears, phobias, insomnia, PMS, afternoon and evening carb cravings, TMJ, PMS and even anger issues and obsessions/ruminations.

For Enid, adding gelatin to her weight-loss shake powder triggered the anxiety she used to experience:

I wanted to give you a sincere thanks for all the work you’ve done on this blog and for studying collagen and serotonin. I have been taking quite a bit of gelatin because I started a medically supervised weight-loss program a month ago and was adding the shake powder to gelatin to thicken it. I have a long history of anxiety but it has been better for several years. However, I have been really concerned because my heart hurts with anxiety like I used to have. So your article and the follow up comments have helped me since I would have continued to eat a lot of it But now I will stop. So thank you.

Edid also shared how the gelatin she was consuming lowered her blood sugar in 2 weeks:

What’s interesting is in 2 weeks of being on the diet and eating a lot of gelatin my glucose went from 190 (which is diabetes) to 113 which is perfectly normal. I’ve read that collagen lowers blood sugar. So hopefully it will stay down even after stopping eating gelatin.

I found it very interesting to learn about Enid’s lowered glucose and that it went down so much in just 2 weeks.

So I went looking into the research and found this paper, Therapeutic effects of marine collagen peptides on Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and primary hypertension, stating that marine collagen “significantly reduced levels of fasting blood glucose.” The study concluded that marine collagen:

may benefit glucose and lipid metabolism, insulin sensitivity, renal function and hypertension management in Chinese patients with T2DM [type 2 diabetes] and hypertension.

This research is new to me and is a good reason to continue with gelatin or collagen and address why it’s causing her anxiety to ramp again after just 2 weeks.

My message in this blog post – Collagen and gelatin lower serotonin: does this increase your anxiety and depression? – is not to stop gelatin or collagen, but rather help you to figure out if your consumption of collagen or gelatin is causing your anxiety, depression or insomnia (or other low serotonin symptoms), or making it worse.

Once you have made this connection then you need to figure out what the mechanism is. The fact that the consumption of collagen and gelatin lower serotonin is one possible factor for susceptible folks. The easiest way to figure out if it is low serotonin for you is to do a trial of tryptophan or 5-HTP while continuing to consume gelatin or collagen and see if your new symptoms resolve. (You can read more about that here: Tryptophan for the worry-in-your-head and ruminating type of anxiety)

I would love your feedback. Do you use gelatin or collagen regularly i.e. daily or weekly? And why do you use it? How do you use it and what benefits do you notice?

Have you noticed an increase in anxiety or worsening of mood or any of the other low serotonin symptoms? Do you take tryptophan or 5-HTP to offset the fact that gelatin or collagen doesn’t contain any tryptophan and does that help?

Have you done the off/on test with collagen/gelatin and tryptophan or 5-HTP – and what was the outcome?

Have you found collagen or gelatin helped to lower your high glucose levels?

Feel free to post your questions here too.

ADHD and psychiatric meds in children/teens on the rise, and benzodiazepine use increases mortality in adults (including suicide)

October 7, 2020 By Trudy Scott Leave a Comment

Registration for my Anxiety Summit 6: Toxins/Meds/Infections is now open and in the spirit of continuing to share valuable snippets leading up to the summit, here goes for today.

(If you’ve already registered I do hope you find these snippets of value and they help you figure out more about which interviews to tune into first. If you’re only hearing about the summit for the first time, you can register here)

Today I want to highlight some aspects from two of the interviews on psychiatric medications.

In the interview Psychiatric Medications in Children and Teens with Dr. Nicole Beurkens, we discuss these results from a 2019 paper:

Our study indicates that the rate of presentation to child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinics is increasing, and rates of diagnosis and initiation of psychiatry drugs are high among the presented children.
The prevalence of ADHD shows an increase in males and females in our country, and psychiatric polypharmacy has reached significant rates.

Polypharmacy means concurrent use of multiple medications by a patient. The fact that psychiatric polypharmacy is increasing in children and adolescents is most concerning. There are safer solutions that address the root causes of ADHD, anxiety and depression.

Here is what we cover in this interview:

Increasing ADHD, anti-anxiety, SSRI and antipsychotic meds and discontinuation syndrome
Disparities in BIPOC communities;
Psychiatric side effects of acne, constipation and asthma medications
Nutritional psychiatry/targeted nutrients/gut, sleep, movement, screen time and play

In the interview SSRIs, Benzodiazepines, Alcohol and Amino acids with Dr. Hyla Cass, she shares how benzodiazepines (a class of antianxiety medications that include Xanax, Ativan, Valium and others) are:

strongly associated with all cause mortality, including suicide (even when used for short durations of treatment
the cause of many accidents even if taken the previous day

Here is what we cover in this interview:

SSRI and benzodiazepine side-effects
Discontinuation syndrome, pre-taper protocols and tapering
The harmful effects of alcohol and the impacts on sleep
The dangers of combining alcohol with benzodiazepines, and the risks of antabuse (commonly used in alcohol addiction treatment plans)
GABA, tryptophan, 5-HTP, glutamine, DPA, CBD and key nutrient co-factors for medication taper, alcohol addiction, carb cravings and anxiety

Dr. Nicole Beurkens’ interview is focused on children and adolescents, and Dr. Hyla Cass’ interview is focused on adults but both are invaluable resources if you want to learn more about psychiatric medications, discontinuation syndrome, tapering and addressing the root-causes with nutritional other non-medication solutions.

Other related medication interviews of interest would be:

GABA and Tryptophan vs Meds for Hormone Balance – one of my 3 interviews (I also cover the birth control pill and more about using the amino acids)
Benzodiazepines: Short-Term Benefits, Long-Term Harms – Catherine M. Pittman, PhD, HSPP
5-HTP: Anxiety, Depression, Insomnia and Liver Protection – Michael Murray, ND (he shares studies comparing 5-HTP to SSRIs)
Neuropsychiatric Toxicity from Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics – Lisa Bloomquist
Your Brain on Food: Anxiety, OCD and PTSD – Uma Naidoo, MD, PCP (she also shares studies comparing psychiatric meds to NAC and inositol)

In case you missed the first few emails about the summit … as you know, anxiety can be related to your daily life experiences BUT it can also be triggered by:

foods you eat and what you drink (like wheat, oxalates, alcohol and more)
environmental toxins (like lead, plastics, fragrances, insecticides, fluoride and more)
many types of medications (like the benzos/SSRIs, birth control pill, acne medication, fluoroquinolone antibiotics and more) and/or
chronic infections (like Lyme disease, PANDAS, parasites, candida and more).

Once you identify the root causes and understand anxiety’s mechanisms you can support the liver/gallbladder, detox, address infections, implement targeted and supportive solutions, and get relief!

This is my 6th Anxiety Summit, featuring all new topics and the latest research related to anxiety and toxins, medications and infections.

Over the course of the next 6 weeks you’ll be seeing frequent emails from me with snippets and highlights from various interviews – like this one. I do hope you continue to enjoy them and get excited about the summit! Please do share if you know someone who has anxiety!

You’ve heard me say the Anxiety Summit has been called “a bouquet of hope!” My wish for you is that this summit is your bouquet of hope!

I hope you’ll join me and these incredible speakers, be enlightened and find YOUR solutions!

Here’s to no more anxiety and you feeling on top of the world again!

If you’re already familiar with some of this information and practice some of this already please share how it’s helped you. That way we can all learn.

If you’d like to ask a question, please post in the comments below.

I’d also love to hear from you once you’ve listened to this interview. Please do come back and comment about some of the highlights of this interview and what changes you plan to make.

Even if you already receive my newsletters and signed up some time ago to be notified about the upcoming Anxiety Summit 6, you will still need to register at the new link here, because Health Talks Online is doing the production and backend work for me.

If you don’t register you won’t get access to the daily summit emails with all the interviews.

You will however, continue to get these emails from me.

This is my 6th Anxiety Summit and it is all new content!

The content is research-based and practical, and is geared to anxious individuals who are health-savvy and to practitioners who work with anxious individuals.

If you are totally new to functional medicine and nutritional solutions for anxiety, you will still learn so much so just take in what you can and know you’ll get all this eventually.