5-HTP after taking Efexor

December 1, 2007

Hi everyone,

My name is Susan and I'm a newbie Long story short...after the birth of my

son (16 years ago) I began the long journey of taking antipdepressants,

anti-anxiety meds, and sleeping pills. My most recent meds were 37.5 mgs. of

Effexor (after weaning myself down from 150 mgs.) and 25 mgs. of Seroquel at

night to sleep. I've been off of both since last Sunday (HOORAY!!) and will

NEVER take another type of this medication again. After doing tons of research

I've decided to begin taking 5-HTP, but I'm unsure as to when I can begin taking

it. Everything I'm reading says to wait until the meds are completely out of my

system before I begin taking the 5-HTP. Well, I'm thinking that since I was on

such a low dosage of the Effexor and now I'm off of it completely, I should be

able to take 100-300 mgs. of 5-HTP without a problem. What do you think? My

doctor doesn't " believe " in any natural products and won't help me with this

one. I'm more concerned about insomnia than any depression or anxiety. I've

tried some other herbal remedies for sleep, but none seem to do anything. I've

heard such wonderful things about 5-HTP, so I'm REALLY wanting to try it. Just

a little leary that I'll increase my serotonin too much if I don't wait a long

time after quitting the Effexor. Thanks so much for any advice!

Peace,

Susan

December 2, 2007

Susan,

The half life of Effexor is 5 hours, for Seroquel it is 6 hours. That means

that if you took 37.5 mgs, 1/2 of that would be gone in 5 hours which would

leave 18.75. Half of that would be gone in the next 5 hours leaving 9.37. And

so it continues. Do the math until you get to zero to see how long you will

still have the drugs in your system. The problem is not simply getting the drugs

gone, but getting your body and metabolism back to normal.

Also, withdrawal symptoms can still hit you at any point for a good while. So be

prepared for that. When my son quit Effexor, it took about 6 months to get his

sleep normal.

Taking 5-HTP is fine but I would like to suggest that you try and break the

habit of thinking that a " pill " of any sort is the answer to sleep. Rather

instead focus on good health habits - healthy eating, avoiding sugars and high

carbohydrate foods, avoiding alcohol, eating 3-5 meals on fairly consistent

schedule each day. Eat sufficient proteins and fats. Exercise and get sunshine.

Drink fresh water. It helps to have dinner before 8 and nothing thereafter.

There are tons of things on the web that help sleep including a hot bath just

before bed, turning the thermostat down a bit, going to bed on routine allowing

enough time to ensure at least 8-9 hours sleep, turning all lights and TVs off ,

aroma therapies help.

Good luck

Mary

-

Susan Thomas

Saturday, December 01, 2007 7:05 AM