5HTP and Melatonin

jaydee

Member
I currently take 200mg of 5HTP daily. I want to add 3mg of Melatonine before bed.

Does anyone know if these two can be taken together? Do I need to lower the 5HTP dose?
 
They can definatly be taken together. Just go by how you feel waking up, if the dose is too high you'll feel groggier then you like. You could also add Gaba and/or valerian to that for a great sleep/relaxation stack.
 
I agree with bigstabile. Valerian also helps a lot. Stacking them would be safe and effective IMO.
 
newequation said:
No, thats not how melatonin works. Even a three mg pill is overkill.
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i agree, 3 mg is a bit much. it has too long of a half life so i wake up feeling groggy everytime i take melatonin. i like theanine a couple hours before bed and tryptophan .5-1 hour before. works great in my experiences!
 
newequation said:
No, thats not how melatonin works. Even a three mg pill is overkill.
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When I say "low dose" I mean .25 mg and work upwards. I don't understand why people start taking 1, 3 or 5 mg tablets when they have no idea how it will effect them.

Personally, I've always found buying 1mg tablets and then breaking them into quarters is plenty without leaving any residual grogginess the next day.
 
yeahright said:
When I say "low dose" I mean .25 mg and work upwards. I don't understand why people start taking 1, 3 or 5 mg tablets when they have no idea how it will effect them.

Personally, I've always found buying 1mg tablets and then breaking them into quarters is plenty without leaving any residual grogginess the next day.
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thats interesting... i dont know why i never thought to do that. i think a low dose such as .25-.5mg would have done me much better. good thinking there yeahright!
 
Agree with reduced dosing.

0.5 is ample for me, otherwise i get what ive coined the melatoning hangover :fool2:
 
i bought the 3 mg pills.. i took two for the first time and it didnt do anything. I actualy slept poorly that night (which i do most nights) but otc sleep never seem to work on me
 
i may be wrong but melatonin in higher doses has an almost reverse effect. i took 3mg one night then another 3mg an hour later and i was awake all night. i started breaking the caps into little peices(no idea how much but less then 1 mg) and it works much better.
here is a MIT study about .3mg--->Invalid Link Removed
ill look for more
 
when you think about it melatonin could be almost as cheap as water. 1.95 a bottle online for 3mg caps, broken into little .3mg = 10 nights per cap X 100 caps per bottle = 1000 nights per 1.95!! not a bad deal. i love sleeping
 
WannaBeHulk said:
i agree, 3 mg is a bit much. it has too long of a half life so i wake up feeling groggy everytime i take melatonin. i like theanine a couple hours before bed and tryptophan .5-1 hour before. works great in my experiences!
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There are much lower doses available, like the 3 mcg tablets from Trader Joe's.
 
Glad this got bumped. The MIT article is great. I was one of those people that just thought it didnt work that well, when I was really overdosing on 3mg tabs.

As far as 5-HTP and Melatonin mixed you may be over doing it. 5-htp converts to serotonin for sure. But I read in a magazine that it converts to serotonin AND melatonin.
I have not found an online article to support this but if you are really going to mix them may be something to look further into.
 
awesome, thx for all of the info. Great thread.
I used to take 3mg Melatonin, but shall try less as suggested.
And about 5-HTP, I take 100mg before bed.
Is it okay to take during the day also? I heard it helps you sleep etc, curbs cravings...
 
From personal experience, I would not take melatonin any more than what has been suggested in this thread. And it DOES need to by cycled... after prolonged use, it can cause depression a little... I'm not sure how, but it has been documented and when I have not cycled it, this has happend to me every time. When I stopped taking it I felt much better... so tread lightly... like .25 mg for only 2 weeks lightly.
 
Draikaiden said:
...

As far as 5-HTP and Melatonin mixed you may be over doing it. 5-htp converts to serotonin for sure. But I read in a magazine that it converts to serotonin AND melatonin....
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Serotonin is infact an intermediate result in the synthesis of melatonin from L-Tryptophan. More precisely, L-Tryptophan is metabolized into 5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) via the enzymatic action of tryptophan hydroxylase. 5-HTP is enzymatically converted to Serotonin by aromatic-l-amino-acid decarboxylase. In the pineal gland, Serotonin is acetylated via serotonin-n-acetyltransferase to N-acetylserotonin, the rate-limiting step in melatonin synthesis. Finally, N-acetylserotonin is methylated by hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase to melatonin.
 
Right that makes sense.

If you do melatonin exogenase you could limit that pathway which will cause depression. Risky. Do, do 5HTP don't do melatonin.

Thanks USPlabs - best post I've seen from Strategic.
 
jaydee said:
I currently take 200mg of 5HTP daily. I want to add 3mg of Melatonine before bed.

Does anyone know if these two can be taken together? Do I need to lower the 5HTP dose?
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I've taken both together and seen no bad side effects. I asked my doctor about the dosing of melatonin and he said he's instructed patients to take upwards of 15 mg of melatonin. If you check drugs.com or just do a search for drug interactions, you can see what exactly 5-htp interacts with. I believe you aren't allowed to take 5-htp when taking common anti depressants like trazodone and topamax. If I am correct, 5-htp when mixed with these drugs could cause serotonin syndrome.
 
theface said:
... I asked my doctor about the dosing of melatonin and he said he's instructed patients to take upwards of 15 mg of melatonin....
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Doses like that are quite large for melatonin, and are usually recommended for therapeutic purposes. Otherwise, regular doses range from about 500mcg or less to about 3mg or so. With melatonin, more is certainly not better!
 
strategicmove said:
Doses like that are quite large for melatonin, and are usually recommended for therapeutic purposes. Otherwise, regular doses range from about 500mcg or less to about 3mg or so. With melatonin, more is certainly not better!
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Agreed, I was using his statemt to ease any fears of overdosing.
 
I only take Melatonin when Im working Midnight shifts and during the winter months. Seems to keep me in a better mood during those brutally boring months of January, Feb and March.
 
Just ask the pharmacist when your there. That is what they are there for. I can tell you they will say it is ok and if you take too much you will just pee it out
 
I take substantial doses of melatonin at night and have for years. Not addicted to it, nor do I have any sides from it. On the contrary, I feel pretty good on it. Pretty sure my pineal gland is fine and dandy. IMO, the melatonin that doesn't bind to the appropriate receptors is used as an antioxidant.

5-htp I only take when I feel depression coming on...usually in the dead of winter. I have found that taking it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach get the most bang for the buck seratonin-wise. 50-100mg is more than enough for me, particularly used in combination with 50mg P-5-P. This combo definitely has a kick to it...in a good way.

I would be way more cautious of overdosing 5-HTP than melatonin.
 
i used melatonin to enhance sleep, 1mg, headache in the morning and still get up at the same time.
i don't have problem fall asleep, but i have problem for waking too early.

but if i use it for jetlag, no headache, good sleep, good drug for that.
 
I never had an issue. taken 500mg of 5htp and 3mg of Melatonin. I've still been taking Melatonin, but I no longer taking 5htp do to taking St. Johns Wart.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't chronic supplementation of 5-HTP be suppressive to endogenous production?

Or does it not operate on that kind of feedback loop?
 
WannaBeHulk said:
i agree, 3 mg is a bit much. it has too long of a half life so i wake up feeling groggy everytime i take melatonin. i like theanine a couple hours before bed and tryptophan .5-1 hour before. works great in my experiences!
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how long of a half-life does melatonin have?
 
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