Just to say, I did not mean to be overly aggressive or combative with you @Rb26dett . We are all in this together and I am absolutely not looking for arguments or ill-feeling through my participation on PH. I am very sorry for everything that you and anyone else who has ended up here is going through, so if my earlier posts didn’t give that impression, I do apologise.
So now for the update (some good, some not so good). I have taken 50mg of 5htp at 10pm for the past four nights (Tues, Weds, Thurs, Fri), as well as at 10am on Thursday and Friday. I am writing this on Saturday afternoon, having not taken a daytime dose today, for future readers.
I got very satisfying sleep on Tues and Weds, waking up between sleep cycles, but getting back to sleep with ease, and I also felt incredible when I took it on Thursday daytime. Very positive, singing to myself all day, lots of energy, work went fast and well. However, my body temperature was also quite high (everyone in my office was in at least a sweater and I was sitting in a t-shirt), I felt like my heart was beating a little faster or harder (I took my pulse and it was normal) at times and I had a bit of an energy crash in the afternoon. I actually think that crash and the heart rate was also heavily related to caffeine as I had three coffees that day. Sleep on Thursday night was not so satisfying, I didn’t get to sleep quite as easily and when I woke around 6.30, I did not get back to sleep for the final cycle I had slept the nights before. Friday daytime I still took it again and a couple of hours later felt quite a high body temperature and faster heart rate, as well as some elevated underarm odor and edginess. I felt like I was having adverse effects, though I also think that some paranoia I had after popping the tablet (based on the warnings here) probably contributed to my feeling. And again, this seemed to come on most after drinking a bulletproof coffee. By the mid afternoon I was feeling much better and more positive, so I do think that the combination of 5htp and caffeine is not ideal. Last night (Friday) I got better sleep than Thursday (in part I think because the worse night of rest the night before meant I went to bed pretty tired) but still woke up earlier than I would like.
So there is definitely some rough and smooth with this. It certainly seems that the daytime dosage contributed to the nighttime dosage not having the same beneficial effect, meaning I am likely to only pursue this as a sleep aid going forward, if I do continue. I have decided to take a few days off of it.
However, something I did not mention before is that it does seem to have resulted in some pretty impressive gains in terms of nocturnal erections and morning wood. I took a cialis on Monday (I don’t take it regularly, but while sorting through some supps just popped one, because I think it is good to take cialis / viagra every now and then to get the blood flowing down there). So when I noticed some increased activity on Wednesday morning (not a full erection, but engorged with blood unlike I am used to these days) I didn’t want to attribute it to the 5HTP, in case it was due to the cialis. However, that morning activity has continued, and in fact got better and better each morning. In my experience with cialis, it lasts two days, so I am well clear of that now. And this morning I actually had morning wood to the extent that even after I got up to pee, it persisted, and I masturbated twice within the space of about half an hour this morning (like old times), producing more than my new standard dribble of semen, too. So that is EXTREMELY positive.
However, I do feel like my heart is beating a little harder and faster (though, I also feel like this could be me being ultra sensitive, seeking out adverse side effects – certainly my pulse remains very normal).
Either way, I have resolved to take a little break from it for a few days. I was intending to start a two week tribulus cycle on Monday, so I might even wait till after that. If/when I do return to use, I think I will stick with just 50mg at night, and likely every other night to begin with, and see if I can get back that very nice sleep I had on Tuesday and Wednesday.
