{"id":11814,"date":"2024-09-06T14:00:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-06T21:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.everywomanover29.com\/blog\/?p=11814"},"modified":"2024-09-06T09:34:11","modified_gmt":"2024-09-06T16:34:11","slug":"im-anxious-about-gaba-side-effects-and-feel-like-adding-a-bit-of-tryptophan-before-increasing-gaba-to-avoid-overdoing-it-with-either-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.everywomanover29.com\/blog\/im-anxious-about-gaba-side-effects-and-feel-like-adding-a-bit-of-tryptophan-before-increasing-gaba-to-avoid-overdoing-it-with-either-one\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m anxious about GABA side effects and feel like adding a bit of tryptophan before increasing GABA (to avoid overdoing it with either one)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"gaba<\/p>\n

I have symptoms from both low GABA and low serotonin on your questionnaire. So I suspect I need to supplement with both. The main issues I have (anxiety, panic) are common to both deficiencies. I took a trial dose of 1 Gaba Calm and it seemed to help a bit. Should one continue increasing the dose of GABA or introduce some tryptophan next?<\/p>\n

I am trying to avoid GABA side effects because now that I read your last post on tingling etc (which would be a huge trigger for me), I\u2019m anxious about that.<\/p>\n

I feel like adding a bit of tryptophan before increasing GABA and going up like that, one at a time. Versus going higher and higher with GABA since the symptoms are on both lists – in order to avoid overdoing it with one .<\/p>\n

Does that make sense or do you still recommend doing one at a time (I just read on one of your blog posts that one should try one amino acid first before introducing another one)? Thank you!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Liz asked this great question on one of the blogs where I discuss how there can be an extremely large variation in dosing for GABA and how too much can cause a niacin-like flush and tingling.<\/p>\n

Her concerns are very valid – especially for someone who is anxious – but I still recommend doing a trial of just one amino acid before introducing another. In today\u2019s blog I share why this is my recommendation and why sometimes there is an exception to this recommendation (and how best to implement it).<\/p>\n

My recommendation and her results<\/h2>\n

Liz is correct, I do always recommend doing a trial of one amino acid at a time before introducing the next one. I confirmed that this is still my recommendation and also reminded her that when \u201cone GABA Calm seems to help a bit<\/em>\u201d it\u2019s a positive sign. When I hear this it\u2019s a big clue that you are on track and the next step is to continue to increase the GABA to determine if you\u2019ll get even better results. I told her we are looking for a wow effect in a few days to weeks.<\/p>\n

In case you\u2019re wondering, she did increase just the GABA (without adding tryptophan) and shared “I\u2019ve now increased to 2 GABA Calms and it helps a lot!<\/em>”<\/p>\n

With this kind of result she may decide to stay with just 2 GABA Calm or she may decide to increase yet again if this amount hasn\u2019t substantially reduced her low GABA symptoms of physical tension, anxious thoughts, self-medicating with sugar or alcohol to relax, feelings of panic, pain etc. You can see all the low GABA symptoms here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

As always, I also reminded her what when you are new to the amino acids and other anxiety nutrition solutions like eating real whole food, quality animal protein, fermented foods, organic produce, healthy fats, gluten\/sugar\/caffeine removal, eating for blood sugar control, addressing gut health and pyroluria, my book \u201cThe Antianxiety Food Solution<\/a>\u201d is a great place to start. It\u2019s a comprehensive approach \u2013 amino acids AND diet.<\/p>\n

She has \u201cbeen eating organic, gluten-free, whole foods for 10+ yrs\u201d <\/em>(this is a wonderful foundation). However the stress of the last few years has really gotten to her and she has been meaning to get my book to get some help with amino acids. Hopefully she now has a\u00a0 copy!<\/p>\n

Why do I recommend doing a trial of one amino acid at a time before introducing the next one?<\/h2>\n

As she mentioned, she has overlaps with low GABA and low serotonin symptoms: \u201canxiety, panic.\u201d <\/em>This is not uncommon. Although they do differ – with low GABA it\u2019s more physical and with low serotonin it\u2019s more mental – it can often be challenging to figure out which neurotransmitter imbalance is the issue. Doing a trial of one of the amino acids and seeing\/feeling the results provides the answer.<\/p>\n

In this case, Liz discovered all or some of her anxiety was caused by low GABA levels. I say some, because it can be due to both low GABA and low serotonin. Once she has a good baseline of GABA and assuming she still has some lingering anxiety symptoms (and other low serotonin symptoms like PMS, anger, low mood, afternoon cravings etc – see them all here<\/a>), she would then trial tryptophan without changing GABA dosing.<\/p>\n

Laying in the tryptophan (after doing an initial trial) would help Liz know that low serotonin is also an issue for her.<\/p>\n

And it would have all been challenging to figure out what was doing what had she done some GABA and some tryptophan and then more GABA and then more tryptophan.<\/p>\n

Too much GABA and the adverse effects<\/h2>\n

Liz was understandably concerned about potential adverse effects of using too much GABA after reading this blog post: How much GABA should I use for my anxiety? It depends on your unique needs (and there is an extremely large variation in dosing)<\/a>.<\/em> (This is the blog she commented on)<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also published these blogs with similar messages:<\/p>\n