Supplementation with 5-HTP and creatine dispels stubborn depression
If people with depression do not respond to regular medication, they may respond to supplementation with both 5-HTP and creatine. Astronomical doses are unnecessary.
Study
In 2017, Brent Kious, a psychiatrist at the University of Utah, published a small experimental study in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology that included 15 depressed women as subjects.
The women had been taking regular antidepressants such as SSRIs and SNRIs for at least 8 weeks, but did not respond to treatment. So Kious and his colleagues combined this medication with supplementation. The women received 100 milligrams of 5-HTP and 5 grams of creatine daily in addition to their medication for 12 weeks.
Results
After supplementation with the combination of 5-HTP and creatine was started, the subjects' depression scores plummeted. The average subject's Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression [Ham-D] scores dropped from 18 (somewhere between moderate and severe depression) to 8 (near normal).
Side effects
The study took 12 weeks, which is too short to get a good picture of the side effects, the researchers write. As far as they can see now, these side effects are minor. Nevertheless, the researchers argue for longer and larger follow-up research to fill this gap in knowledge.
Sponsor
The research was not funded by a supplement manufacturer, but by the US government.
Source:
J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2017 Oct;37(5):578-83.
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