DOSE:

-999.0 mg

oral

Tryptophan

(capsule)

BODY WEIGHT:

200 lb

To get the pharmacalogically important info out of the way, at the time of my first recreational 5-HTP experience, I was 14, about 6' 2' (probably a little shorter), about 200 lbs, and had smoked pot and done vicodin previously. I had previous experience with 5-HTP as a mood lifter, and it worked admirably at that. I happen to have an extremely low tolerance for virtually all psychoactives, and so my dosage is probably far lower than most would need to get the same effects. I've been diagnosed bipolar II, although I think the diagnosis doesn't adequately describe my mental states, and I've undergone intense psychadelic and euphoric experiences without the use of any drugs. At the time of the first experience, I was without most of my bipolar symptoms, although with some mild, intermittent depression. I was on no medications during the experience, and haven't ever been while on 5-HTP.

So now that that's out of the way, I can get to the report. I had been taking 5-HTP now and then as a mood lifter in doses of 50 mgs (one pill), and had considered using them at higher doses. One night, having been bored and interested in trying something new, I figured a higher dose of 5HTP would be just the trick. I did some research, although nothing about solo use of large-ish 5-HTP doses was mentioned. So, in the interest of alleviating boredom, I took three 50 mg pills of 5-HTP at around 10, hoping for the best.

At the time of ingestion, I was feeling okay, and a little excited at the possibility of something good coming out of this, and was comfortably in my bedroom. I put on my favorite radio show/podcast, the SubGenius Hour of Slack, as a part of my usual nighttime ritual, waiting for the effects to kick in. Within half and hour, I began to notice a calming happiness creeping its way into my thinking. Slowly, I began to feel more and more loved up. I eventually reached a point where the happiness had plateaued, and around then the body high came on. Now having done ecstasy, I can say that for that first time, the body high was very similar, although far less strong. A tingling feeling would explode in waves, filling my body with what can only be described as the tactile sensation of joy. I found touching anything was marvelous, and everything was far softer than it was. My thoughts remained entirely lucid, and not in any way psychadelic or mystical. The whole world felt remarkably sensual, and I hugged my pillows and myself quite a bit.

As the initial rush went away, I still had a difficult-to-describe feeling of mellow, loose happiness. A more sedative tone had been taken on, and a feeling of being locked to my bed (which I now know as a body load) was rather strong. As I laid there, enjoying the serotonin rushing through my brain, I became rather acutely aware of how alone I really was. This didn't particularly frighten me, but the fact that I desired the contact of a partner was very apparent to me, and made me a little sad that I wasn't able to find one. That feeling eventually went away, at around the same time the body high subsided, resolved with a simple 'let's think about something fun instead. I can worry about that tomorrow.' At the time, I felt no desire to communicate with anyone, although it would've been nice to have their company. The need for 'fast' actions was gone entirely, and I felt like simply allowing things to be.

Time wore on, and about an hour and a half later, I fell asleep. The next morning, I woke up in a very usual fashion, and went about my day as if nothing had happened, although eager to share to knowledge of this cool new drug I'd found.

Since then, I've taken 5-HTP many times, and still do, on occasion, as a sleep aid. The effects can be described as such.

Positive:

- euphoria
- emotional openness
- body sensations (though they were very rare after the first time)
- a feeling of inner connectedness (feeling like a whole, unified being)
- handling of boring situations more easily
- ease of communication

Neutral:

- quietness
- very minor visuals at high doses
- easy sleeping
- more intense dreams

Negative:

- laziness
- body load (mostly in high doses)
- emotional openness making sadness extremely intense, though eventually leading to resolution and a return to the euphoria
- bringing up of repressed emotions

The effects last approximately 5 hours for me, and it usually peaks at an hour into the experience. The comedown tends to be slightly annoying, and produces some irritability, but nothing else in my experience. Usually it's very easy to function in the world whilst on 5-HTP, and is completely unnoticable (particularly because there aren't any physical signs and I'm prone to keep to myself). Other brands (I use Natrol's 5-HTP myself, and used it the first time) mix in Valerian root with their 5-HTP, and when using that variety, the sedating effects are far more intense, and mild visuals are more common (warping, very very low amounts of DXM like flanging) and there's a more pronounced sleepiness, although it's still easy to function.

I've used up to 550 mgs of pure 5-HTP with no problems. In conjunction with cannabis, the euphoric and sedative properties of cannabis become far more apparent, and falling asleep happens rather quickly. All in all, my best way to describe 5-HTP is 'introverted ecstasy'. Rather than take me out of my body like ecstasy does, 5-HTP gives me a feeling of being one with myself, and able to take on the world, and at my own pace. Using 5HTP, I've overcome huge barriers against feeling close to people, and I'm forever indebted to it for that. Several of my friends have also taken this substance, with very similar effects, although not as strong. For the most part though, I've stopped using 5-HTP, simply because it bores me now, but it's been very worth it, and I hope others feel the same way.

Exp Year: 2006	ExpID: 64202
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Dec 15, 2007	Views: 70,498
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Tryptophan (138) : Retrospective / Summary (11), First Times (2), Various (28)