Dosages of DHEA and 5-HTP

[Guest searching]

I'm fairly new to the natural approach to helping with my OCD but hopefully you guys can answer some of my questions. I've been reading every post on this board for the past several weeks and have been trying the vitamin approach to helping with my OCD. Things are going well but I don't want to take too much or too little for that matter. For the past three years I have been trying behavior therapy with books like Brain Lock and the only thing that seems to happen is my anxiety goes through the roof. So far with the vitamin approach I have seen some major breakthroughs and haven't experienced any spikes in anxiety. My biggest question is regarding DHEA, 5-HTP, and GABA. I've been taking 50MG of DHEA (25MG in the morning and 25MG before bed). Is that enough or is that too much? As far as the 5-HTP goes I've been taking 150MG a day (50MG in the morning, 50MG at lunch, and 50MG before bed). I'm doing this in conjunction with 1,000MG of Inositol, 200MG of Niacinamide, 150MG of B6, 200MG of B6 and 200MCG of B12. I'm not taking GABA and any insight would be helpful.

[Claire]

Welcome Searching!

 

Chemar in particular is the expert on supplements for OCD symptoms here.

 

Others like Jennifer and Heather have had more luck with detoxing for heavy metals and reducing possible yeast which contributes to the OCD-type symptoms. (Chemar has done this too). That process is much much longer though. The DAN/Environmental Doctor visit and fatty acid and heavy metal detox threads here cover a diagnotistic and remedial approach that seems to be applicable for both OCD symptoms and tics. However, the supplements do seem to be different for each--again Chemar can clarify.

 

I know that Chemar likes St. John's wort also, but says you must be careful taking it in combination with 5HTP.

 

Sometimes she takes a few days to check in, sometimes not, but she is excellent at responding, so definitely keep checking back in!

 

I myself am still in learning mode for my son, and can't help much directly. The one thing I can add is that fatty acids seem to show great promise with the impulse control issues affecting both. One can assess this by experimenting with flaxseed oil, fish oil or cod liver oil, or one can have a fatty acid evaluation done. Our insurance covered all this testing.

 

Good luck to you--we are all full of hope here, based on the successes of others here!

 

Claire

[Chemar]

Hi Searching and welcome!

 

My son had extremely troublesome OCD and has found the MOST benefit from 5HTP

He is 14yo, and weighs about 145lb so that is a factor in doseage.

 

He takes only 50mg 5HTP at night...this BTW is the recommended doseage on the bottle. i have heard of some who take more, but we started at the single dose and it had such a dramatic effect that their was no need to increase.

 

He also takes St John's Wort (one capsule, 300mg=9mg hypericin) in the mornings

 

We do this combination as that was our physician's recommendation...but, especially as you are taking a higher dose of 5HTP, you want to be v ery careful as you can spike seratonin too high and that can bring a whole bunch of new problems. That is why one should NEVER take 5HTP or SJW when on precription meds like the SSRIs(paxil, prozac,zoloft,luvox etc)

 

here is the iHerb info on 5HTP...as you will see, they suggest 100-300mg per day...so you fall into their recommended range

http://community.healthgate.com/GetContent...d=/tnp/pg000141

 

and St John's Wort

http://community.healthgate.com/GetContent...d=/tnp/pg000919

 

 

I dont give my son DHEA only because I avoid giving him hormones because of his youth and puberty...so I dont want to mess with his endocrine system.

I have heard it is good for depression, but havent heard reports re OCD for it

Here is the iHerb info

http://community.healthgate.com/GetContent...d=/tnp/pg000497

 

He takes 500mg Insositol daily too...it is the twinLabs brand enhanced with VitB6

I know Bonnie also recommends Inositol for OCD

Here's the iHerb link

http://community.healthgate.com/GetContent...d=/tnp/pg000671

 

We recently added GABA, as, although it isnt specifically recommended for OCD, it does help re anxiety

he takes the NOW brand, 500mg

http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshelf/subs...5,10027,00.html

 

I also recommend Methionine (also comes as SAM-e, but this can be pricey)

My son takes 500mg, only when needed(which these days is hardly ever ) along with B6 and B12, which must be taken with it

It is recommended for depression and mood swings.

 

I should point out that in conjunction to these, my son also takes a bunch of other supps that are recommended for Tourette Syndrome and general health and immune system boosting.

 

All the best to you...keep us posted on how you are doing........by the way...the iHerb encyclopedia of supps and conditions is an EXCELLENT resource

http://www.iherb.com/health.html

[monkeygirl]

That's alot of DHEA to take. How old are you?

[Guest searching]

Guys thanks for the info it's been very nice to know that their are others out there suffering.

 

monkeygirl, I'm 32 and weigh around 175 lbs. Considering the alarm in your post I haven't taken any more DHEA.

[Chemar]

this is what iHerb says re the correct doseage for DHEA

 

A typical therapeutic dosage of DHEA is 50 to 200 mg daily, although some studies used dosages above and below this range. .

 

Physicians sometimes check DHEA levels and adjust the daily dose to achieve blood levels of 20 to 30 nmol/L.

 

being a hormone, you may notice a reaction to dramatically stopping it after taking such a higher dose for a while, and so you may want to just stick with a lower dose of say 50 or 100mg a day.......

 

I always try to start a supp at the lowest dose and then move up gradually if necessary.....it is amazing how often the minimum dose does the job!