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.
Hi I have a question regarding the tryptophan complete. My son is on 40 mg prozac for depression and anxiety. Years ago I tried to wean him off the prozac under doctor guidance and supplementing with Complete. At the time I did not realize he was positive for the A1298C and C677T mthfr gene. We were several weeks in and he had several bad breakdowns. I had thought he waa having difficulty with the prozac withdrawal but in light of the fact he is mthfr I am wondering if it was the larger dose of folic acid that could have caused it. Wondering if anyone else encountered this?
Tracy
It’s possible but sometimes it’s difficult to know if it’s due to discontinuation syndrome from the taper, tapering too fast, or not enough tryptophan as the medication is tapered down (or missing supportive nutrients like zinc, B6, melatonin, niacinamide etc) or too much methyfolate or even too little. I discuss too much methylfolate with with Dr. Ben Lynch on a prior Anxiety Summit – How Methylfolate can make you Feel Worse and even Cause Anxiety, and What to do about it https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/anxiety-summit-methylfolate-anxiety/
I do hope he’s doing better now. Was he able to finally taper and how quickly did he taper?
Is this what you’d recommend for an adult who awakens in anxiety? It’s typically about a 6 or 7 out of 10 upon waking. Sleep is short, generally about 5 hours and it varies between waking with it or perhaps from it, and having onset of the anxiety (a horrible feeling in the chest) come a few seconds after waking.
Thomas
Waking with a feeling of dread or doom is common with low serotonin. If the “horrible feeling in the chest” is physical I’d suspect low GABA and if it’s an adrenalin-like rush/surge I’d suspect high cortisol. It could be one or all of the above.
Trials of tryptophan/5-HTP and/or GABA would help figure it out (we also look at the symptoms list for each to give us further clues https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/amino-acids-mood-questionnaire-from-the-antianxiety-food-solution/).
When high cortisol is suspected we do adrenal salivary testing and use Seriphos (https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/seriphos-original-formula-anxiety-insomnia-cortisol/) and other ways to support the adrenals (including figuring out the root cause of adrenal issues).
Keep in mind that it’s never just the supplements and we are always also addressing diet (real food, quality animal protein, no gluten/sugar/caffeine), gut health, eating for blood sugar control, optimizing sleep, removing toxins, addressing infections like Lyme, addressing other nutritional deficiencies etc. If you are new to all this my book “The Antianxiety Food Solution” is a great place to start. More here https://www.everywomanover29.com/store/aafsbook.html
All this applies to adults and teens.
Ok, thank you Trudy — I’ll investigate those links.
Ordered your book — will research and try what you recommend. Actually my wife has some GABA so I’ll knock down a few of those tonight… Thank you.
Good evening, I have a 17-year-old daughter and a 16-year-old son. My daughter suffers from anxiety and minor panic attacks I believe. My son has attention and focus issues at school, he’s on organized after numerous attempts at getting on track. He seems unmotivated and unable to express how he’s feeling. When asked how he’s feeling he says great. I’m a doctor of Oriental medicine. I’ve tried different things. I’m hoping you could help
Dana
When I hear “anxiety and minor panic attacks” I think low serotonin and low GABA if there is also physical tension. When I hear “attention and focus issues at school, he’s only organized after numerous attempts at getting on track. He seems unmotivated and unable to express how he’s feeling” I think low catecholamines. The depression with low catecholamines is a blah kind of depression so some folks can’t express how they feel. Teens also have a hard time articulating that they are depressed because it’s new to them. Over the years I have found that in general males tend to under-report too.
I would look at the symptoms questionnaire with them and do trials (one at a time) with the respective amino acids.
I’m sure you’re aware it’s never just the supplements and we are always also addressing diet (real food, quality animal protein, no gluten/sugar/caffeine), gut health, eating for blood sugar control, optimizing sleep, removing toxins, addressing infections like Lyme, addressing other nutritional deficiencies etc.
If the amino acids are new to you I have an entire chapter on this in my book “The Antianxiety Food Solution.” More here https://www.everywomanover29.com/store/aafsbook.html And if you would like to incorporate this into your work you will find my practitioner training to be very helpful. More information here https://www.anxietynutritioninstitute.com/balancingneurotransmitters/
As you may know it can be challenging working with family members so referring them to a colleague may be better.
My son has Aspergers and OCD. Waiting for parent’s response to your questions on their usage of tryptophan. I am hoping to help with the OCD more.
Gisela
I have just received an update from Kathy and am waiting for clarification. I’ll update the blog when I do. But keep in mind that dosing is very unique to each individual. There is no one-size-fits-all and we use the trial approach to find what works for each person.
Keep in mind it’s never just the supplements and we are always also addressing diet (no gluten/sugar/caffeine), gut health, eating for blood sugar control, optimizing sleep, removing toxins, addressing infections like Lyme (and strep when we see OCD), addressing adrenal issues and other nutritional deficiencies etc. If you are new to all this my book “The Antianxiety Food Solution” is a great place to start. More here https://www.everywomanover29.com/store/aafsbook.html
For information specific to ASD, Julie Matthews’ work is excellent. She has a book “Nourishing Hope for Autism” and is co-author of this paper: Nutritional and Dietary Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/nutritional-and-dietary-intervention-for-autism-spectrum-disorder-a-new-study/
Hi there,
Thank you for all the wonderful information! My son is 18 and on 40mg of Prozac . He takes no other medications. Do you think the Tryptophan would be an ok addition? Or would it be contraindicated? I want him to try it, just not sure. Thank you very much.
Andrea
There is the potential of serotonin syndrome with SSRIs such as Prozac and tryptophan so best would be to work with a good practitioner to help guide you and always discuss with the prescribing doctor. This blog is about tapering but you may find it helpful https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/taper-from-antidepressant-tryptophan-amino-acids/
Keep in mind that it’s never just the supplements and we are always also addressing diet (no gluten/sugar/caffeine), gut health, eating for blood sugar control, optimizing sleep, removing toxins, addressing infections like Lyme, addressing adrenal issues and other nutritional deficiencies etc. If you are new to all this my book “The Antianxiety Food Solution” is a great place to start. More here https://www.everywomanover29.com/store/aafsbook.html
I was always told 5 HTP wasn’t good for teenagers. Is tryptophan safe for a 16 year old? She has anxiety, some depression. I really don’t want her on prescription drugs but I want her to be safe and feeling better.
Dana
I am always cautious with 5-HTP (for all ages) if someone has high cortisol. I blogged about this here – 5-HTP can raise salivary cortisol: does this cause a “wired-tired” feeling? https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/5-htp-can-raise-salivary-cortisol-does-this-cause-a-wired-tired-feeling/
I’m curious where you read or who said 5-HTP wasn’t good for teens?
I typically start with tryptophan for this reason and we do a trial based on low serotonin symptoms. I have used tryptophan with teens with great success but it’s never just the supplements and we are always also addressing diet (no gluten/sugar/caffeine), gut health, eating for blood sugar control, optimizing sleep, removing toxins, addressing infections like Lyme, addressing adrenal issues and other nutritional deficiencies etc. If you are new to all this my book “The Antianxiety Food Solution” is a great place to start.
You say “she has anxiety, some depression” so as far as neurotransmitter support goes we would to look into low serotonin, low GABA and low catecholamines. These are the symptoms to we use to determine where to start (https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/amino-acids-mood-questionnaire-from-the-antianxiety-food-solution/) and we trial one amino acid at a time.
Thank you so much for this information. I enjoyed your talk on The Adrenal Solutions and how you mentioned natural remedies to address anxiety. I want to find out more information and want to try using these natural remedies.
Maggie
Welcome to the community! Continue read the blogs and tuning in to my other summit interviews (I always share new information and recent research). For the foundations and an entire chapter on the amino acids check out my book “The Antianxiety Food Solution.” More here https://www.everywomanover29.com/store/aafsbook.html If you find you need more guidance my online group programs may be of help.
Following…curious as to the mother’s future responses to your questions Trudy. Thanks so much for this information on Tryptophan.
Dear Trudy, You have been such an important help to me over the years.
I have very low serotonin .. very low! I also was taking Collegen every day in my morning smoothie. I read your article recently which suggested that Collegen could be a factor in my low serotonin, and suggested that Trypptophan might help. I’ve stopped Collegen for about a month now, and will see if it helps my serotonin numbers. But i LOVE Collegen for so many other things. I’m hoping maybe Tryptophan is the answer. What would you suggest?
Cecilia Fasano
Cecilia
Yes for susceptible individuals collagen and gelatin can lower serotonin and increase anxiety/depression/insomnia. This is the blog you refer to: in Collagen and gelatin lower serotonin: does this increase your anxiety and depression? https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/collagen-gelatin-lower-serotonin-increase-anxiety-depression/ In this blog I recommend using tryptophan or 5-HTP if this is happening.
Keep in mind I don’t use urinary neurotransmitter testing (I assume this is the test you refer too) as it’s not always accurate but use the symptoms instead. That being said if you do a test again please do share if you see a shift in serotonin level (which should correlate with a change in symptoms – if the test is accurately reporting).
The tryptophan->serotonin conversion helps everyone, of whatever age. That is why “Potatoes, Not Prozac” became so popular a couple decades back. Although I prefer tryptophan over dosing my body with a carb rush!
The other thing that is important is melatonin. Increasing serotonin means the brain has enough to use for making melatonin. But for us oldsters, tryptophan may not be enough, in which case supplemental melatonin in small amounts (typically 1-5mg) will do wonders for that deep sleep all of us need.
Ed
I have never used the “Potatoes, Not Prozac” approach with clients but am very familiar with it
Yes for some tryptophan is enough to convert to melatonin and I always start there. And then for others we needed to add melatonin for deep sleep. It’s also wonderful for TBI recovery, neuroprotection and added anxiety support.
The interest in melatonin is growing with the COVID research too – Pineal hormone melatonin as an adjuvant treatment for COVID‑19 (Review) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33576451/
My two daughters both take various supplements for anxiety, OCD, insomnia, also Hashimotos treatment with FT3 via 120mg (Armour); with my oldest daughter’s anxiety she has tested via (blood test) slightly high in the early morning hours for cortisol, she is on the second bottle of Seriphos as needed; GABA by Enzymatic Therapy; Mg Complex by Bioptimizers; she experiences a great deal of anxiety/panic about worrisome events, that may likely convert to body aches etc.
My younger daughter is trying to overcome a late diagnosis of scoliosis (due to a chiropractor that either is incompetent or accidentally on purpose). He had been ignoring scoliosis tightness while telling me it is just “ordinary tightness” that he is adjusted monthly for 5 years. As result she had extreme body posture changes that were due to curvature of the spine. Unfortunately, the lawyers in this area have deep pockets that prevent us from seeking any legal actions against the chiropractor for medical malpractice. She has been taking 2 Tryptophans by Lidtke, 2 20mg CBD (x3 per day) by Sunsoil, she also has a soft brace, and visits Meilus Muscle 1X a week for adjustments (so far, a collective reduction (via natural treatments) of 10 degrees, leaving slightly over 30 degrees remaining), she is 23 yrs old. refuses to visit a surgeon until surgery is out of the question.
Dawn
Re your your older daughter Seriphos is excellent for lowering high cortisol but I do find salivary cortisol to be more accurate. When I hear “anxiety/panic about worrisome events, that may likely convert to body aches” I think low serotonin and would trial tryptophan unless the GABA is resolving the symptoms.
Sorry to hear about your younger daughter – tryptophan and CBD do help with pain and so does GABA. Working with a functional medicine practitioner may help as there seems to be neuroendocrine, zinc imbalances and connective tissue issues with scoliosis. This paper explains some of this: Biochemistry of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21874761/ Give the connective tissue and zinc issues I would also look into pyroluria. I blog about pyroluria and pectus excavatum (https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/pectus-excavatum-and-pyroluria-is-there-a-connection/) and there may well be common mechanisms.
In an earlier response on one of your blogs you mentioned that vitamin C negates the psychotropic [neurotransmitter] effects of aminos when taken together. Or maybe I misunderstood what you were saying. Can you provide more information about this phenomenon? Because this apparently is an issue for me, I’d like to know more about this.
Do you have any references, citations, studies, digital handouts or other information that talks about this? I’m especially curious about the biochemical interactions that cause this and how far apart, time-wise, do these need to be taken to avoid an unwanted reaction between the two. Does the interaction happen in the gut, in the blood, or in the tissues? Any additional information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for all that you do!
Michael
Yes that is correct. We use vitamin C to counter any adverse effects someone experiences. It also negates any benefits they get too. So if tryptophan or other amino acids are working to reduce symptoms it’s always best is to take them away from vitamin C (a few hours works fine).
The proposed mechanisms may be related to the following: anti-histamine, anti-allergy, reducing oxidative stress and/or “toxin” removal.
Has this vitamin C effect been clinically studied or is it just anecdotal as far as information available? What is the source of this information about the effects of the interaction between C and aminos?
Your list of proposed mechanisms wasn’t helpful because there is no way for me to correlate this to specific interactions between C and aminos. I’m looking for more clarity if you can help.
Hi Trudy,
Thank you so much for all your wonderful articles. I used Tryptophan years ago (10+ so I can’t remember the exact brand) and it gave me horrendous waking nightmares and I had to stop after 2 nights because of the increased stress from the nightmares. Is this a typical reaction to Tryptophan? I have no idea how many carbs I was eating or other supplements I was taking at the time because it was so long ago but as soon as I stopped taking it the nightmares stopped. I haven’t been able to find any articles on your site regarding nightmares with amino acid supplementation, so it might just be me (or the particular combination of circumstances at the time). Any tips or suggestions regarding nightmares with Tryptophan? I’ve started GABA recently and had a wonderful response so I’d like to try Tryptophan again to tackle the low-serotonin type of anxiety that remains. Thank you for any advice you can provide 🙂 -Kelly
Kelly
This is not something I see with tryptophan. I have clients trial much less tryptophan if they are willing or trial 5-HTP instead. Quality of the tryptophan may be a factor too and I recommend Lidtke. Also some folks simply do better on 5-HTP.
Low B6 can cause poor dream recall and nightmares https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/vitamin-b6-improves-dream-recall-which-can-be-used-to-monitor-vitamin-b6-status/
Thank you so much for this interesting article. For a very anxious 11year old exhibiting symptoms of both low GABA and low serotonin is it best to start with 125mg GABA Calm and increase to 250mg if there’s no change or should one address both at the same time with the GABA and 100mg Trytophan? Many thanks for your interesting work .
Hello! This blog post is very interesting and gives me great hope. I am eager to start trying this with my tween daughter who presents very similar to this mom’s daughter. I am confused though as to what amount she actually landed on with the Lidtke L-Tryptophan? Trudy, you asked her if she used 3 x chewable 100mg tryptophan or did they open the 500mg capsule? She mentioned that she used the 500mg capsule, but did not open it. She said that she started with 1 and trialed it for 5 days with little effect, then went to 2 and trialed that for another 5 days and then went on to 3 capsules per night when she noticed positive effects. So by my calculation, that would be 1500mg per night, not the 300mg that was initially mentioned. Am I missing something? Looking forward to your response Trudy, would like to know if it’s 300mg or 1500mg, will make a difference to those of us who may wish to try this. Thank you!
Kerri
From her original comment on the blog I understood it to be 300mg per night and from her follow-up reply I understand it to 1500mg per night (because I know the Lidtke Tryptophan capsules only come in 500mg). I have not had confirmation on the latter yet BUT it doesn’t really matter either way as the final dose that worked for her daughter was unique to her own biochemistry and needs.
What this does illustrate is that for one teen/tween (or adult) any of the following may work: 300mg chewables OR 300mg from a 500mg capsule that has been opened OR 1500mg swallowed capsules OR some other variation/combination. This is what doing the trial is all about – starting low and increasing to find the ideal amount.
If you are new to the amino acids (and other anxiety nutrition solutions like gluten/sugar/caffeine removal, blood sugar control, gut health, pyroluria etc) my book “The Antianxiety Food Solution” is a great place to start. More here https://www.everywomanover29.com/store/aafsbook.html
My online group programs are helpful if you have questions and need guidance
Thanks Trudy, yes I agree, it is really dependent on each person as to how much (or little) they require to make some difference. I have found some of the Lidtke L-Tryptophan chewable tablets (maple vanilla flavour) online and would like to order them – they come in a 200mg dosage. Would it be okay to start with the 200mg? Also, does the effect of these last throughout the next day I’m curious, as it’s being given at night? I give my daughter melatonin to help her fall asleep, would these be taking the place of the melatonin? Thank you!
Yes Kerri,
this was exactly my thoughts.
Hi Trudy,
I guess what I wanted to know was is there a limit you would go up to? The ones I’m trying with my 15 year old are 300mg, since reading this I’ve increased from 1 to 2 and after a week will go up to 3….how far realistically can you go up in respect of dose. In the meantime I’ll wait for a miracle to happen. She suffers with anxiety and depression and is currently not attending school. She’s on propranolol for anxiety but is there anything you could recommend in place of this prescription drug. I tried 5-HTP (which works for me) but then read 5-HTP doesn’t work well with prescription drugs.
And is there anything else you would recommend, we do focus a lot on her diet.
Many thanks in anticipation
Nicola
Hi Trudy,
Have your book and been following for awhile. Just found out my 8 year old granddaughter has OCD with intrusive thoughts, crying and some nightmares. Is 8 too young for tryptophan?
Thank you
Marilyn
I’ve seen success with tryptophan and inositol with children this age. But don’t forget the dietary changes too – go back to the sections on gluten/sugar/caffeine removal and blood sugar control. With nightmares we also always consider pyroluria too so go back to that chapter.
With OCD it’s also important to rule out strep/PANDAS/PANS. More on that here https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/kid-not-crazy-panspandas-awareness-day-2017/
Hi
My 14yr old daughter is refusing to go to school. She isn’t sleeping well and waking up with a feeling of dread. She is becoming increasingly isolated and is also refusing take part in any sporting activities that she used to love. She hides herself under the bedclothes and can’t explain how she feels. She just says that everything makes her feel sad. I have read your article and wonder if you can offer any advice. Many thanks.