Is 200 mg a day of 5-HTP too much for me??

Question

Last night I took my first dose of 5-HTP before bedtime on an empty stomach, today I woke up very foggy & dizzy..I felt like I was going to pass out & it was bad enough to make me actually go home from work sick. I have severe anxiety & I was trying this as an alternative to SSRI's & benzos but it gave me more of a panic attack & forced me to end up taking a Xanax to control it. I am 5'2 & 110 lbs, could this be too much for me? I just want off of SSRI's & to conquer my panic attacks for good. Please any info is greatly appreciated!!

Answer 1

I also went through this same thing. I bought 100mg pills of 5 HTP to stop my panic/anxiety attacks. I took one 100mg pill and within 40 mins i was in a full blown panic attack. I never took another pill for a month and half, the panic attacks subsided in occurence and severity but there was still anxiety, muscle tension in chest and stomach, back ache, pounding racing heart at times, and difficulty breathing. 4 days ago , I bought a lower dose, 50 mg 5 htp, i took 1 pill on an empty stomach 3 days ago and i just had gas and stomach discomfort, 2nd day same thing, 3rd day i took one on an empty stomach , waited an hour and then had eggs , orange juice and toast for breakfast, i finished about 85% of the meal when i suddenly felt my heart race and shortness of breath,. i was going into a panic attack after not going into one in quite a while. Im sure this is because of the 5 htp and possibly the combination of the htp and eggs (protein) was too much i dont know. But now im scared to try another pill cuz i HATE HATE HATE panic/anxiety attacks.

Im like you too,. i DONT want to go on any SSRI because of the horrible side effects and withdrawals, I have benzos but only a few because doctors do not want to prescribe too much cuz of its addictive properties.

There are OTHER natural products that you can use such as kava kava, l tyrosin, ALA, and others, i am thinking about trying them out but also scared now cuz im thinking they too might cause a panic attack.

if you want to talk to me more about this feel free to email or message me.

good luck

-b-

Answer 2

yes, it could be too much.  I would only take 1 a day