Thread: 5-htp

hmm... interesting, I just read up more in the Yuschak book about it and he says that unless it's a really large dose of B6 it shouldn't matter if you take it. How much B6 is in the supplements you've been taking Astrius?

The 5-HTP supplement I have is only 100mg of 5-HTP and nothing else. I haven't tried supplementing B6 with it (although, like you mentioned Astrius, I do have it in my body from the foods I eat), but so far just taking 5-HTP alone has made a noticable difference in my final REM periods and the vividness of the dreams during that time...

i take 5htp everyday during the day and before bed and i dont notice much of a difference, i guess my dreams are more vivid thats all though

I tell you..I've been taking it this last week. I've seen such a major improvement in my dream recall due to the rebound effect. Its amazing how much its changed but I hope it doesnt loose its effect. I think I'll take a week on and off due to I dont want that to happen.

Yeah I tried to WILD after I woke up from it (4-5 hours) no luck. But I think its a good possible way to WILD. The dream I woke up from was so vivid and fresh in my mind I'm usually able to re-enter the dream when it's that fresh and clear!

cheers!

This is weird to me. I've seen 5-HTP come up repeatedly in regards to inducing dream vividness, etc. I took it for quite some time as a natural anti-depressant -b/c supposedly it can be used for that - without knowing it was supposed to increase dream vividness, recall, etc. In the meantime, I did not notice any difference in my dreams, which leads me to wonder - is the effect people experience with 5-HTP on the dreams a real effect or a placebo effect?

I very much doubt that it's a placebo effect.
At what time were you taking 5-HTP?
For it to work successfully then you'd be taking it before bedtime, as it has a reasonably quick peak plasma time and half life.
If you're taking it during the day, the effects will have all but worn off by the time you get to bed. Whilst if you take it prior to sleep, you'll find that it will supress your REM for the first 3-4 hours of the night, and you'll have a nice long intense period of REM in the morning, due to REM rebound.

Look at it this way, if you have a few strong drinks in the morning, would you still expect to be feeling the effects by midnight?
Obviously not. It's the same with many supplements. It's just as important to research the peak plasma times and half life of what you are taking. That way you can focus the effects of the supplements in the timescale that will be benificial for your dreaming practices.

well i just looked at my 5htp. 100mg pill has 10mg b6.
Bought them for Lucid Dreaming REM Bounce.
I had one last night. About 10pm. Had a nice sleep (after a restless week).
But didn't recall any dreams at all

Originally Posted by Lizard King

However, due to how vivid the dreams are, it's nearly impossible to realize you are dreaming.

I suffer from this problem as well tho I don't take 5-htp (it seemed to kill my recall instead of help it).

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Originally Posted by Zimmerman

Has anyone experimented with taking 5-HTP, the precursor to serotonin? I first heard of it in Thomas Yuschak's book and that's where I got most of the information in this post. If taken at the beginning of the night it will suppress REM in the first few hours of the night and give you REM rebound and vivid dreams for the last hours of your sleep. It has a short elimination half-life and also works well if you do WBTB or WBTB with supplements.

I've personally taken a few times and ended up with very vivid, long dreams at the end of the night. I would recommend giving it a try as it's not expensive and I just got it off the shelf at my local Rite-Aid. Another thing I've noticed, and this isn't so much for dreaming as sleeping in general, is that on nights where I can only get a few hours of sleep (have to work early the next morning, etc) I can take the 5-HTP and feel very rested the next day due to extra deep, restorative sleep.

Also, don't take this with B6 because it won't cross the blood brain barrier, just catalyzing in your stomach instead.

Not expensive? The stuff is incredibly costly!

I really like 5HTP. I started taking it about two weeks ago and tried a 100mg tablet before going to sleep. After about 90 minutes I would wake up with my heart pounding in my ears and a firework display behind my eyelids. I felt like I had drunk about six Red Bulls which was odd as I thought 5HTP was supposed to give you a good nights sleep! I cut the dose back until I was taking a quarter of a tab (25mg) and found that indeed I got a nice deep sleep during the first four hours followed by some long, vivid non-lucids and some short lucid dreams during the REM period.