|
Anchovie
n00b


Registered: 03/04/20
Posts: 33
Last seen: 5 months, 23 days
|
Increase serotonin levels
#26589928 - 04/09/20 11:41 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
Has anyone had success with increasing your serotonin levels with supplements (beyond healthy diet and exercise)?
I just ordered griffonia seed extract (5-HTP) to try out. It's supposed to help with sleep too, but I wonder if it will make you trip more, longer, etc.
|
DJ Ed
Mushroom Engineer


Registered: 09/04/16
Posts: 2,326
Loc: UK
Last seen: 1 month, 28 days
|
Re: Increase serotonin levels [Re: Anchovie]
#26589947 - 04/10/20 12:04 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
I used to take 5-http supplements after mdma to try and reduce the come down. To be honest never noticed any benefit,though to be fair my come downs could have been worse without.
-------------------- “It’s like when you see a mountain lion,” he suggested. “If you run, it will chase you. So you must stand your ground.” Michael Pollan: How To Change Your Mind “The problem is not to find the answer, it’s to face the answer.” Terence McKenna

|
The Blind Ass
Bodhi



Registered: 08/16/16
Posts: 26,657
Loc: The Primordial Mind
|
Re: Increase serotonin levels [Re: DJ Ed]
#26589954 - 04/10/20 12:10 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
Data is not favorable, last time I checked, but that was in 2015ish.
-------------------- Give me Liberty caps -or- give me Death caps
|
Northerner
splelling chceker


Registered: 07/29/12
Posts: 14,141
Loc: FNQ
Last seen: 17 minutes, 33 seconds
|
|
Serotonin does not work alone as a mood enhancer naturally, it is part of of a group of of endogenous substances that are all related that work in concert. There are supplements that try and mimic this combination, with limited results, but more effectively than just taking 5htp alone.
Worth a try though. Probably won't hurt you.
--------------------
The nearest we ever come to knowing truth is when we are witness to paradox.
|
The Blind Ass
Bodhi



Registered: 08/16/16
Posts: 26,657
Loc: The Primordial Mind
|
Re: Increase serotonin levels [Re: Northerner]
#26590042 - 04/10/20 01:59 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
Pretty sure constantly smiling does a better job at making you feel better than that supplement.
Laughing definitely does.
-------------------- Give me Liberty caps -or- give me Death caps
|
LittleBoard
Stranger

Registered: 03/08/20
Posts: 147
Last seen: 8 months, 26 days
|
|
I think it works in case you have an actual deficiency in serotonin. Normal people simply do not have that and the whole depression is a chemical imbalance thing is something the pharma industry told people to sell their drugs to them.
The only real scenario is when you have depleted your serotonin with MDMA because then a) its gone for a while and b) making new serotonin is also blocked by some mechanism. The 5-htp gets made into serotonin regardless and so you can refill it days before your body would be able to on its own. Long term I would not take it either because there's something about it not being great for the heart.If you really want to take it, don't do it longer than 14 days. Weird and half lucid dreams have been a side effect for me too.
Edited by LittleBoard (04/10/20 05:20 AM)
|
The Blind Ass
Bodhi



Registered: 08/16/16
Posts: 26,657
Loc: The Primordial Mind
|
Re: Increase serotonin levels [Re: LittleBoard]
#26590390 - 04/10/20 07:30 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
You admit to MDMA induced chemical imbalance, but not Clinical Depression.

Work this one out yourself
-------------------- Give me Liberty caps -or- give me Death caps
|
Anchovie
n00b


Registered: 03/04/20
Posts: 33
Last seen: 5 months, 23 days
|
|
I'm a perfectly healthy, active, happy, and non-depressed person. Just curious if you could increase serotonin to activate more of the effects of psilocybin. It may not work or be how that works at all, but figured someone may have some anecdotal evidence.
|
DJ Ed
Mushroom Engineer


Registered: 09/04/16
Posts: 2,326
Loc: UK
Last seen: 1 month, 28 days
|
Re: Increase serotonin levels [Re: Anchovie]
#26590693 - 04/10/20 10:05 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
Psilocin, the active compound, not psilocybin, works on the same 5ht-2a receptors that serotonin does. So if anything, I’d expect that by increasing your serotonin levels, there’s more chance those same receptors are blocked by the extra serotonin....
Just a thought......
-------------------- “It’s like when you see a mountain lion,” he suggested. “If you run, it will chase you. So you must stand your ground.” Michael Pollan: How To Change Your Mind “The problem is not to find the answer, it’s to face the answer.” Terence McKenna

|
dbreeze
Stranger
Registered: 06/03/19
Posts: 312
|
Re: Increase serotonin levels [Re: DJ Ed]
#26590744 - 04/10/20 10:28 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
DJ Ed said: Psilocin, the active compound, not psilocybin, works on the same 5ht-2a receptors that serotonin does. So if anything, I’d expect that by increasing your serotonin levels, there’s more chance those same receptors are blocked by the extra serotonin....
Just a thought......
Yeh i know nothing scientifically but i would think there would be a competition between the 2 hitting the same receptors so it may actually decrease the trip...again no science backing that up but kinda makes sense
|
Anchovie
n00b


Registered: 03/04/20
Posts: 33
Last seen: 5 months, 23 days
|
Re: Increase serotonin levels [Re: dbreeze]
#26590904 - 04/10/20 11:48 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
Ok, that makes sense. I'll have to look at some medical journals for this. I wasn't sure if they used the same receptors or if psilocin used serotonin as the receptors
|
DJ Ed
Mushroom Engineer


Registered: 09/04/16
Posts: 2,326
Loc: UK
Last seen: 1 month, 28 days
|
Re: Increase serotonin levels [Re: Anchovie]
#26591130 - 04/10/20 01:41 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
No they’re the same receptors. Hence all the ongoing debate about; “ can I trip while I’m on SSRIs?”
Google on “5HT-2a” receptors
-------------------- “It’s like when you see a mountain lion,” he suggested. “If you run, it will chase you. So you must stand your ground.” Michael Pollan: How To Change Your Mind “The problem is not to find the answer, it’s to face the answer.” Terence McKenna

|
dbreeze
Stranger
Registered: 06/03/19
Posts: 312
|
Re: Increase serotonin levels [Re: DJ Ed]
#26591161 - 04/10/20 01:59 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
yeh ssri's and other anti psychotics that hit the same receptors deffinitly reduce trips
|
openmind
curious


Registered: 08/03/07
Posts: 13,866
|
Re: Increase serotonin levels [Re: Northerner]
#26591172 - 04/10/20 02:03 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
Anchovie said: ...Just curious if you could increase serotonin to activate more of the effects of psilocybin....
Having high or low levels of serotonin will not really influence the psychedelic effects. That's not how psychedelics "work". Having a higher "level" of serotonin will not do anything in regards to increasing the effects or creating a stronger trip.
It sounds like you are thinking that psilocin works by "releasing" serotonin like MDMA, psilocin and the classic psychedelics do not work like that.
Psychedelics do not have any impact on serotonin "levels". There are merely serotonergic agonists. They have affinity for serotonin receptors but their mechanism of action is not like that of MDMA.
Quote:
Northerner said: Serotonin does not work alone as a mood enhancer naturally, it is part of of a group of of endogenous substances that are all related that work in concert. There are supplements that try and mimic this combination, with limited results, but more effectively than just taking 5htp alone.
Worth a try though. Probably won't hurt you.
^and this.
Serotonin works in tandem/in balance/interacts with other neurotransmitters.
I honestly have always felt that taking 5-htp doesn't really do a whole lot of anything at all. Just another one of those things that's repeated online. The morning after rolling, if someone offers me a pill of 5htp I won't turn it down, doesn't hurt, but I really feel that it doesn't do much of anything.
When one takes 5htp, from what I understand 5htp is metabolized in a way where the serotonin it metabolizes into ends up peripherally/through out the blood stream & through out body and not in the brain. And serotonin can not cross the blood-brain barrier, so very little to almost none of the serotonin that the 5htp metabolizes into makes it into the brain. Most of the serotonin ends up in the blood and through out the body, where I assume monoamine oxidase would come into play and will break it down.
I kinda recall tryptophan being a much better serotonin pre-cursor...but even then, serotonin works in tandem/in balance with other neurotransmitters, I don't think "boosting serotonin" is as simple as taking a single pre-cursor/supplement like 5htp or tryptophan.
If I was trying to restore/boost neurotransmitters (which is not needed from the use of psychedelics and won't have any dramatic influence on the effects of psychedelics) I'd consider a regimen of something like tryptophan, mucuna pruriens/L-dopa, green tea/green tea extract, super dark chocolate/cacao, and a healthy diet and some physical activity.
-OM
.
--------------------
|
Anchovie
n00b


Registered: 03/04/20
Posts: 33
Last seen: 5 months, 23 days
|
Re: Increase serotonin levels [Re: openmind]
#26591245 - 04/10/20 02:38 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
Thanks OM.
I already eat a healthy diet high in L-tryptophan as well as weight lifting. I figure most "supplements" don't do much and just come out in your urine anyway, but thought I'd ask the community that's been doing this longer than I!
|
Psion
Sage
Registered: 09/11/18
Posts: 1,288
Last seen: 3 days, 15 hours
|
Re: Increase serotonin levels [Re: Anchovie]
#26591308 - 04/10/20 03:13 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
yeah, tried the 5-htp thing and didn't really notice much difference, except maaaaaybe a slight improvement in color saturation (brighter colors in art) and that's about it. oh, and a nasty case of the runs whenever i took it. not worth it. didn't really improve my dreams much either, which is the entire point i was trying to take it - to help with lucid dreaming.
not really sure if L-tryptophan is any better for dream clarity/vividness or the like, or lucid dreaming, or if there's any other good suggestions. melatonin doesn't seem to do much either. i already sleep perfectly fine, and get 8-10 hours sleep every night. i admittingly do wake up 1-3 times a night, usually to use the restroom, but falling back asleep is extremely easy for me, and i wake up refreshed in the morning.
so far my only few near successes at lucid dreaming have all been taking nothing at all within the last couple weeks, and not even trying to do anything, after like 20 years of on and off attempts. <_<
|
Anchovie
n00b


Registered: 03/04/20
Posts: 33
Last seen: 5 months, 23 days
|
Re: Increase serotonin levels [Re: Psion]
#26591346 - 04/10/20 03:29 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
I already have lucid dreams every single night. It can be good and bad...
|
Psion
Sage
Registered: 09/11/18
Posts: 1,288
Last seen: 3 days, 15 hours
|
Re: Increase serotonin levels [Re: Anchovie]
#26591361 - 04/10/20 03:37 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
so can life. doesn't mean it aint worth the effort.
|
Kernel Flanders
Stranger

Registered: 04/08/20
Posts: 22
Last seen: 3 years, 9 months
|
Re: Increase serotonin levels [Re: Psion]
#26591895 - 04/10/20 07:19 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
|
|
DMT + vape
|
|