I needed to disable self sign-ups because I’ve been getting too many spam-type accounts. Thanks.
VA, Serotonin, Sleep, and Epithelial Cells
Recently I have accidentally discovered some potential links between Serotonin, VA and Epithelial cells. It is a potential area for research I believe.
I have had very poor sleep since around the time I (still believe) became VA toxic. This has persisted despite VA reduction, although periods of good sleep occurred. Covid worsened the situation. In any case, recently I had the worst sleep of my life, out of the blue, no rhyme or reason to it (no lifestyle or diet changes).
Ten days of 3 hours or less sleep, bar one day which had broken sleep for about 7 hours. Pretty much sleeping earliest (!) at 5am. I tried everything under the sun to sort this out, including resorting to alcohol, which itself barely worked!
Somebody suggested 5-htp to me and I gave it a shot - having lost any optimism about it whatsoever. One 100mg tablet and it was done: I slept properly finally, and continue to do so. Only one tablet.
5-htp (hydroxytryptophan) is required for Serotonin (hydroxytryptamine) production, itself required for Melatonin production. I examined some other areas of my health that accorded with Serotonin deficiency: depression, anxiety, other typical mood problems, OCD, ADHD, wound healing, blood clotting, nail ridges... many of the symptoms I experienced in the past beginning around the VA toxic period.
In any case, I discovered that VA has been found to lower Serotonin. In cases of autism where Serotonin is too high, it was found to very effectively lower it - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29122693/
This didn't surprise me - VA has an effect on so many things. But somewhere along the line looking through titles of papers I caught sight of the word "epithelial" and it made me curious.
Serotonin has been found to be an important "regulator" in epithelial homeostasis. Essentially the cell renewal and general maintenance of epithelial tissues - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21390323/
Low Serotonin then may be a factor inhibiting recovering from damage to epithelial cells. It may be why some diets are better than others at reversing VA damage, if they happen to promote Serotonin production, which itself can be affected by a multitude of other factors. I shall now be focussing only on maximising Serotonin as a personal diet experiment (without too much supplements, unless sleep gets bad - want very much to avoid Serotonin syndrome!) to see what a difference it makes. Right now, after a single 5-htp tablet I feel astounding different in body and mind. But let us see where it takes us.
Somebody suggested 5-htp to me and I gave it a shot - having lost any optimism about it whatsoever. One 100mg tablet and it was done: I slept properly finally, and continue to do so. Only one tablet.
That's absolutely amazing! 😀 I'm happy you've found a solution, @andrew. Insomnia is just wretched. And what an interesting connection to vitamin A and epithelial cell maintenance...
What sort of things are you doing to increase your serotonin through food? Turkey for dinner and such? I hope your personal dietary experiment goes well!
I wonder if eating carbs is a strategy.
When I was low carbing it I used to dream about eating bread.
Just be careful with 5-HTP it’s cardiotoxic, if you’re going to take it, it’s best to take with tyrosine and EGCG to make it safer.
When I was at the bottom I had horrible insomnia (amongst everything else). A combo of 5-htp and l-theanin would knock me out every time. Later on I tried just honey under the tounge and it had the same effect and I have stuck with it since. Since I learned about solible fibre I first take a gulp (always have some ready on the kitchen counter) and if I am not asleep within 15 minutes I do the honey and I haven't been without a night's sleep since.
Update: for now I have cut back on the 5-htp - it definitely helped at the time but I have been lazy about finding a new source as I realised that the Solgar brand had valerian, which is something that just doesn't agree with me, and always used to have the opposite effect on sleepiness (apparently it's a thing). In any case my sleep has been up and down after stopping the 5-htp but generally better. In any case, my thoughts are that, given what I have read in the above linked articles and others, production of serotonin occurs in the gut, and epithelial cells require serotonin for maintenance - so, a damaged gut lining might require an artificial boost. Notably I have had no diarrhoea since I started. But now I would like to continue with a food-based approach. Another brownie point for sunflower seeds?
I do think that it cannot be underestimated how important it is to understand the mechanisms of the epithelia function, and think about how to encourage repair, if Grant's theory is correct that they are the main affected cells. Eliminating A is one thing but dealing with the damage caused is another issue entirely - and it's quite possible that recovery is not possible without some intervention like this.
@orion generally only the 100mg dose as was prescribed on the bottle they came in. occasionally 200mg but I found no particular difference with a higher dose. Someone advised me to take it an hour or two before I would ordinarily felt sleepy and this seemed to work best. After that, if you are say like me an insomniac awake at 4 am taking it then won't achieve anything, as it is after your circadian rhythm kicks in.