Hi all, long time lurker here, decided to join up finally 
As someone who has been suffering with depression for just over 2 years now, I have taken an interest in natural anti-depressants in a bid to stop my dependence (or “crutch”, rather) on fluoxetine (aka Prozac).
I have seen references to Gingko Biloba and St Johns Wort among others, but having tried to utilise them in place of fluoxetine had rather unpleasant results.
Recently, I’ve seen a few internet articles claiming that 5-HTP to be one of the most potent naturally occurring ant-depressants yet.
Has anybody had any experience with 5-HTP, ranging from mood swings to full-blown bipolar?
Thanks BBB. Guess I’ll stick to the drugs for the time being but may try tapering off and going for something natural later on.
I’m mainly concerned about articles I’ve read stating that long-term use of DRIs can shut down the body’s dopamine production completely - I’ve not heard anything similar regarding serotonin, but it’s no great stretch of the imagination (for the uneducated!) to think it possible.
[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
5HTP is a serotonin precursor. It will help with sleep (though too much can make you daytime-drowsy), but may help with depression if your depression is serotonin-related (which I assume yours is since you are on an SSRI), but don’t count on it.
Extremely low dose ketamin (a ‘horse tranquiliser’) has also shown to be an extremely potent anti-depressant, believe it or not, though I don’t suggest you score any from your dealer.
BBB[/quote]
I used a fair amount of ketamine in my younger days…strictly for recreation. I distinctly remember losing the ability to move parts of my body, and it being hilarious.
Never again.
/hijack
Just realised that I had been taking 5-HTP in the form of tryptophan tablets to aid sleep! Duh!
Well, at least I now know it’s good for relaxing / sleep aid and not so much good as a natural AD!