Creating this post as a warning to people with bipolar

Some people have advised the vitamin 5-HTP for depression. DO NOT TAKE THIS. IT WILL SEND YOU INTO A FULL BLOWN MANIC EPISODE. I understand this post might give some stupid people an idea on how to induce mania but I think it's more important to warn people who care about their health then protect reckless immature people. I ended up in the hospital and so did someone else I know. It will make you not just manic but psychotic. Sorry I just thought this was something really important that all people with psychiatric issues to know about. It probably would be good for people who only have a major depressive disorder.

To my understanding and in my experience 5-HTP acts like SSRIs so it makes sense that it could induce mania. I think the take home message is dont take things like this unless your psych is OK with it and is aware of your diagnosis. And if you are taking it and feel unwell then you need to let a professional know ASAP

Cracked

On the other side it could help people like me with major depressive disorder were NOTHING can pull me out of this horrible depression that seems to last years. I would agree there are those who are very sensitive to mania, and should never try this,and I am not, Ive had two hypomanic episodes in 41 years. So I would be shocked if this did anything to me, and Ill be honest, Im going to try it.

I wasn't even aware of this vitamin. I don't respond to SSRIs at all, so maybe it might be worth a try when/if I slip into a long major depression again (questioning my BP diagnosis).

I heard they had adverse side effects anyway even those who do not have bipolar and just depression, etc.

I've tried this. It did help my depression, but after being on it for longer than a week I went hypomanic. I stopped taking it before it made me go even higher. Be careful if you're on SSRI's because if you get too much serotonin in your system it can turn into serotonin syndrome.

vegasguy wrote:On the other side it could help people like me with major depressive disorder were NOTHING can pull me out of this horrible depression that seems to last years. I would agree there are those who are very sensitive to mania, and should never try this,and I am not, Ive had two hypomanic episodes in 41 years. So I would be shocked if this did anything to me, and Ill be honest, Im going to try it.

I said it would help people who just have major depression. Since you have depression I realize you probably didn't read all of it. I was warning bipolar people or people who over mental illnesses who are prone to manic like episodes such as people with schizophrenia.