Finally had a decent nights sleep!!

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cookiebaker

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Joined
Jul 26, 2022
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DX FIBRO
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07/2022
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WI
I know several of you take different supplements to help with various things related to fibro.. and I have started trying a few of the more common ones for myself.. just to see if there is any difference - for me. (I am well aware that everyone is different and can react differently to things)

Tried GABA about a month ago.. really did not seem to do much for me.. maybe it is the form I tried, or perhaps the dosage, i dunno..

Tried 1 capsule of 5-HTP (50mg) last night - taken about 30 mins before bed time... and had the best nights sleep I have had in a VERY long time. Fell asleep reasonably quickly - within 30 minutes. I did have to get up once to use the bathroom, but crawled right back into bed and fell right to sleep again.. highly unusual for me these days.

it is my understanding the 5-HTP and GABA together are supposed to be even better for improving sleep quality.. so...

Does anyone else use these two supplements either separately or together? and if so, in what dosages? when do you take and how often? Just trying to get a feel for how/when these are typically used.
 
Hi cookiebaker - how good to hear that! 👐

Of course it's "normal" and common to recommend and to try L-tryptophan or 5-HTP for serotonin/sleep. Just I tolerated neither (5-HTP also at 50mg), even once I was using GABA (at the moment 3x0.3g in the evenings, 1x0.6g each in morning and "mid"day). The 2016 study you're probably referring to found best to use GABA 10x the amount of 5-HTP. So in your case you could carry on with the 50mg 5-HTP for a week or so, then slowly add GABA in 50mg increments, aiming at 500mg. But of course the varieties are endless - you could experiment with 5-HTP alone first, or start GABA at 500mg immediately and then decrease.
If I didn't know, I could add 200mg 5-HTP to the 2.1g GABA. Or 10mg 5-HTP to the 3x0.3g I take in the evenings. That might be interesting, actually, as I still have some (expired some time this year), and opening and re-encapsulating probably won't be too difficult. Maybe I could tolerate a 5th of a capsule.... (However I didn't even tolerate the smallest bit of melatonin I could manage to partition.)

Their original study was done on caffeine treated fruit flies, their next on mice and rats. Nothing else on pubmed.
So if we're not fruit flies or rodents we'll need to try for ourselves which ratio is best, let alone which amount....
 
Thanks, Jay.. and i know you have tried so many things in so many combos to find the right balance for you.

This morning I am wondering if that good nights sleep was just a fluke, or what.. was up until a little after 1 this morning (daylight savings ended early this morn- 2-ish - so I did get that "extra" hour, but still) and took me a while to fall asleep.. placebo effect, maybe?
Altho, yesterday was a bad arthritis day - kinda chilly, rainy, and generally crappy out, and my right knee was really bothering me, too, so that could also have been a factor.

I dunno, gonna keep trying and see how things go. I do realize that it can take a bit of time for the full effects, so yeah..

(However I didn't even tolerate the smallest bit of melatonin I could manage to partition.)
and that is the thing.. it is not actually "taking" melatonin, it is giving your body the extra tools it needs to make its own. Might be worth a shot at a small dose..... but then again.. it is your body and you know it better than anyone.
So if we're not fruit flies or rodents we'll need to try for ourselves which ratio is best, let alone which amount....
I am game to be a guinea pig, LOL 😉
 
so, last night was a decent sleep again.. possibly from lack of the night before? I refrained from napping all day so I would be tired enough.

only day 3 at this point, so time will tell..
 
5htp was recommended to me so I have the bottle but I haven't tried it yet. Looking forward to hearing if you had another good night's sleep, cookiebaker!
 
5htp was recommended to me so I have the bottle but I haven't tried it yet. Looking forward to hearing if you had another good night's sleep, cookiebaker!
Hi Cutiegirl! Yes, actually, last night was a pretty good night, so that is two in a row! Just about bed time here again, so hoping to make it 3 in a row.
Yesterday was a lot of running around.. had to get drivers license renewed, and ended up having to go to three different stores instead of just the 2 i had planned on - got plenty of walking in at least, LOL
Was pretty worn out by the time i got home and that was just the morning! was home by 12:30.. just in time for some lunch and a bit of relaxation before getting into doing the laundry i had put off on Sunday (my normal laundry day every week) washed bedding instead of clothing on Sunday.

Today was mostly a relaxation/self care kind of day.. still hoping to sleep well tonight tho.
 
and Yay! another good night.

taking about 30-45 mins before "bedtime" seems to be working pretty well for me. gives it a little time to start working.
 
and last night was an OK night... not great, but not bad either...
had a little trouble falling asleep - putting that off to the neck & right shoulder being more painful than usual..
once I fell asleep, i stayed asleep, so that is good.
 
still sleeping reasonably well at this point.. which is definitely a plus.

not perfect every night, but far better than i had been getting in the past, so I am going to count the 5-HTP as a winner - for me, anyway.
 
This is great news. How much 5-HTP are you taking? Are you taking it throughout the day or only at night?
 
This is great news. How much 5-HTP are you taking? Are you taking it throughout the day or only at night?
the bottle i bought is a 50mg capsule, brand is Now,, and I only take it once a day, about a half hour before bedtime.
i picked mine up locally.. there is a shop only a couple miles away that carries all sorts of supplements, so very convenient for me.
 
An old note of mine said for sleep we often need to start with 50 or 100, then if necessary increase that by 50mg every 3 days to up to 300mg, 30-45' before bedtime.
Very interesting I found that one 2000 study found it can make you more awake first and then sleepy.
For depression, weight loss, headache or fibromyalgia to start with 3x50mg for 2 weeks. Then slowly increase in the evenings for sleep, then the other doses to 100mg, if tolerated and no effect yet.

I'm still game to praps a 5th trial starting with a fraction of the 50mg. However at the moment an antihistamine for the side effects of jab #3 is greatly improving my sleep, I think together with the jab itself. Also found a note on antihistamines helping sleep, but don't seem to read that often.
 
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