Source Naturals L-Tryptophan, for Mood, Relaxation, and Sleep*, 500mg - 120 Tablets

The following is JUST my story: Years ago when I couldn't sleep, my mom gave me one of these to help me sleep. I was so impressed with them, and took them very seldom when I couldn't fall asleep on my own, which was rare at that time. Then it was off the market for years. I was pleasantly surprised to see it was available again. I was taking zzzSleep by Nyquil, which is actually an antihistamine, and not all comfortable with an unnatural compound, trying to remove the tranquilizers that would leave me so tired the next day I couldn't wake up. I also didn't like the feeling I would/could become dependent on them. I take enough meds without taking any more than I have to, and have never liked taking ANY of them and have fought it every step of the way. (Of course, and PLEASE, you should always check with your doctor before discontinuuing any meds quickly-especially with tranks, as I have known people that are cursed with seizures for the rest of their life when they suddenly stop taking xanax, for instance.) While I still have my RX for tranquilizers, I have not needed them since I started taking these at bedtime, nor needed the tranks for any panic attacks, as I haven't had any. I started by taking just half of one with my other stuff, and slowly worked myself off of the other as prescribed by my doctor. I currently just take one tablet at bedtime, and I'm asleep within 15 minutes of laying my head on the pillow. I wake up refreshed, and not waking up in the middle of the night. The bottle suggests you take three tablets, which I suggest you work yourself up to and listen to your body always to tell you if something is wrong, and always just change one thing at a time when it comes to meds. However, this is what I DID, I'm not a doctor. I highly recommend this product and am so grateful it's available, and has allowed me to drop not one, but two synthetic, unnatural, compounds with side effects, in exchange for a naturallly occuring, sometimes depleted, and very helpful amino acid. This amino acid helps a number of things to work properly in your body, and I know of no side effects from taking this in addition to what your system produces. Believe me, if any one were going to feel side effects, it would be me. I have the weirdest chemical makeup and intolerance to anything, not going into all that here, but after three weeks with these, I would suspect something would have reared its head. I feel better than I have in years. The daily pain I endure is lessened to a some extent, (any amount of THAT I'll take thanks to my breaking, broken spine)-probably because I'm taking less unnatural chemicals and getting a better nights sleep. Going to sleep at 11pm verses 3 am-getting up at 7am, makes sense to me anyway. (Note: I took tranquilizers at the minimum dosage I could get away with for seven years prior to this stuff to help me sleep-I now take NONE! I was also having TERRIBLE and frightening night paralysis where I stopped breathing and could not move almost every night, from too many depressants in my system. After three weeks I'm pretty sure any "placebo" effect, etc. would have worn off too.) I tend to ramble, so I'm done now.

EMS: Eosinophilia-Myalgia Syndrome, ostensibly the reason L-tryptophan was taken off the US market in the 1990s, was found to be limited to ONE factory in Japan cranking the stuff out in industrial-sized batches, but the FDA saw to it that Americans couldn't use anyone else's product either... until how recently I don't know.As a physician, an Osteopath with background in anatomy/physiology and nutrition, and operational experience as a US Army Flight Surgeon, I'm very familiar with sleep aids (aka sedative-hypnotic drugs) and their side-effects. When flying multi-million dollar machines, I had to ground our pilots for 3 days if they took so much as a single benadryl as its effects on cognition and fine motor control were well-documented. We used some Halcion, but even that had some untoward effects not the least of which was tolerance.Fast forward a couple decades and we're now hearing that the most popular sleeping pill should be taken in HALF of the dose it's been sold at for over ten years.Melatonin isn't always a "safe" agent either. Some people report dizziness, "hangover," headache, fatigue.Is anything safe? Exercise helps. Ruling out Obstructive Sleep Apnea is important, forget alcohol, a night-cap will only have you awake in a couple hours at most staring at the ceiling.As a sometimes insomniac myself, I know all too well the side effects of many of these agents first-hand and really missed taking tryptophan. Until recently.I bought a bottle of this about a month ago and started taking it off and on for a week. Nothing earth-shattering, but I found that I was experiencing deeper sleep and more vivid dreams than I could recall having in years. The key, I've found, is to take this shortly before retiring to bed, an hour or two before, so it has time to metabolize into 5-HT and its metabolites which facilitate sleep. As with ANY agent, you're better off if you take it for a short period of time and give yourself a break, but hey, it's a natural, essential amino acid, right? But how often would you need to eat something like turkey or milk - and how much - to get a half or a whole gram of just L-TRP? A lot. Too much.I've also taken it with melatonin and don't notice any untoward side effects or better sleep either way so I'll stick with this for a while.Start low, go slow, titrate to effect.And sleep.