Amino acids and mental health

I use a small cocktail of amino acids now. I haven’t always. It’s a rather new addition to my supplement regime. I’m exclusively using inhibitory amino acids, as when I tried excitatory amino acids I had bad reactions. Besides the story I just linked to I also tried SAMe and had a real nightmare of a time as well. SAMe is a combination excitatory amino acid which is often used as an antidepressant. I was using it as prescribed by a orthomolecular doctor for having high histamine which it is supposed to correct. It backfired big time.

I did much more research on amino acids before adding the inhibitory ones and it seems they are helping greatly. My new doctor, another orthomolecular, holistic and energy healing psychiatrist recommended a couple I wasn’t taking. I am now sleeping 9 hours a night. They seem to be helping.

A good place to begin a study of amino acids is here.

It’s possible to be tested for optimal levels of amino acids, but I personally found that test useless and the doctor who did that supplemented me with a broad based amino acid product that included excitatory amino acids. For now I will stick with the inhibitory and calming aminos.

When I met my newest doctor I was taking GABA, Tryptophan and D-Phenylalanine. GABA receptors are what benzo’s mess with and I’ve talked to a few people who have withdrawn relatively painlessly from benzos by using GABA. It’s not a sure thing though. Many people seem to feel nothing when they take GABA. Tryptophan is used both for sleep and depression but can rarely cause agitation so needs to be used with caution. It very obviously helps me fall asleep.

D-Phenylalanine must be differentiated from L-Phenylalanine and DL-Phenylalanine, both of which are excitatory. The D-Phenylalanine I take because it causes release of endorphins. It’s cut the pain of my endometriosis in half. No joke. I have gone from writhing in a ball of pain for 24 – 48 hours to being able to essentially ignore the pain. I still take ibuprofen. But prior to the D-Phenylalanine it wasn’t enough and I had tried every other non-addictive pain medication out there. Actually I did even try a stuff like hydrocodone to no effect. I suffer a lot of pain, so discovering D-Phenylalanine was a great relief. A profound relief that makes me want to cry. Endometriosis is no picnic.

Then I met my new doctor. She said I tested very low in Taurine, which she uses as a sort of mood stabilizer. I take that three times a day. I take the rest all at bedtime with melatonin. I take all of them on an empty stomach to optimize absorption. If you take them with food, especially protein they get lost in digestion.

The last amino acid I take is N-acetyl-cysteine which was also recommended by my new doctor. It raises glutathione which helps by doing a gentle detox. I was taking products called Immunocal and Protect which are basically the same thing. They are both whey protein products that deliver cysteine for the same purpose—raising glutathione, but they are outrageously expensive. The people who sell Immunocal and Protect claim plain old N-acetyl-cysteine does not absorb and therefore does not raise glutathione. The product I take is called CysNAC and has complimentary nutrients that allow it to absorb. It seems to be working. In the past if I’ve stopped Immunocal I’ve felt the difference and since I made the switch to the much cheaper CysNAC I feel fine.

Oh, I also take Theanine, another inhibitory amino acid that is often taken for anxiety. I had some on hand that I wasn’t taking and my doctor said it was a good thing to add on. I’ve spoken to many people who find it very soothing when they have anxiety attacks. I just take it at night with the rest of my amino cocktail. And like I said I’m sleeping 9 hours a night now with no hangover and that is after about 3 months of 2 to 3 hours of sleep a night.

I’m hardly recovered. I have a few good days here and there, but I’m so toxic I literally feel poisoned much of the time. Barely able to move. It’s been like that the last couple of days again. It turns out I tested high in mercury too. The glutathione helps detox that too, as well as the psych meds and enviromental toxins that I’m sensitive to. I also take Milk Thistle to help detox.

It feels good to be sleeping again, but I really wish it was accompanied by feeling rested. It’s possible I’m trending towards that as I’m certainly not as out of it as I was when I thought I was quitting the blog just about three weeks ago and I’ve had a string of pretty good days in there too—days in which I was able to leave the house, drive and be social—even if for only a couple of hours before exhaustion set in. That’s much better than being exhausted from the moment I wake and not being able to get out of bed. So, yeah, I’m tentatively hoping I’m trending towards more energy and I suppose it seems I am. I’m also tentatively hoping I’ve found a doctor who can really help and again, I’m thinking I have.

For a post on other supplements see here. I don’t take exactly those supplements anymore but it’s an example of a somewhat typical orthomolecular regime.