5 HTP and Alcohol interaction issues?!

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I don't really know how this would be related, sometimes things happen and we think it is something it is not, maybe your body just doesn't want alcohol...breaking it down, you know it is a poison, and the liver has to work extra hard to clear it out of your body....not a lot is known about 5HTP, so we are our own guinea pigs...the amino acid Tryptophan, sold as L-tryptophan is what your body uses to make 5HTP, if it is able. Take the tryptophan at nite, it makes melatonin, a hormone that monitors your sleep/waking cycles, taken in the day, it usually makes 5HTP, and your body knows how much you need and how much to make, taking the 5HTP, we don't know if your body uses all of it, or just what it needs...you might try stop taking the 5HTP and just trying the amino acid. If your taking this for depression, and it helps, then somewhere along the line, your body isn't digesting the tryptophan from food, isn't able to assimilate it from food, isn't able to make the 5htp with it....we don't know what step is not working right, maybe digestive enzymes would help your body digest it naturally from foods...I would suggest stop the 5HTP, and try the L-tryptophan, I would also suggest you don't drink alcohol...it's not good for you anyway....you can get non-alcoholic beer...just not a lot known about it so take care. This amino acid competes with other amino acids to get to your brain, so I like to take it by itself, first thing in the morning, then wait 20 minutes before eating...it is a shame more testing is not done with it, but since it is natural, and can't be patented, then pro not...I use this and the tryptophan at nite, or melatonin at nite, and I am not bi-polar anymore, and I told my doctor and she was so happy I found out, said I didn't need to come back to med clinic anymore, and apparently couldn't tell me about it...you do not want to take either one with antidepressents..seratonin reinhibitors....

Looked up wikipedia for possible risks or side effects:

"Because 5-HTP has not been thoroughly studied in a clinical setting, possible side effects and interactions with other drugs are not well known.

Administered serotonin has been shown to increase the risk of heart valve disease in animals.[19][20] 5-HTP has not been subjected to this test. Oral 5-HTP results in an increase in urinary 5-HIAA, a serotonin metabolite, indicating that 5-HTP is peripherally metabolized to serotonin, which is then metabolized. This might cause a false positive test in tests looking for carcinoid syndrome.[21]

5-HTP can cause hypertension by increasing plasma renin activity, when not co-administered with a peripheral aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase inhibitor, such as carbidopa or benserazide.[22]

Direct and indirect evidence for possible yet unproven risks and side effects associated with 5-HTP when overdosed:

Heart valve damage or disease (cardiac fibrosis).[19][20]
When combined with MAOIs or SSRIs, 5-HTP can cause acute serotonin syndrome.[23][24]
When combined with carbidopa (as a treatment for symptoms of Parkinson's disease), 5-HTP causes nausea and vomiting; however this can be alleviated via administration of granisetron.[25] As mentioned above under pharmacology, cases of scleroderma-like illness have been reported in patients using carbidopa and 5-HTP. [26]"

From that you can see that 5 HTP has an influence on your vessels and also can cause nausea in cerain conditons. Both can be said about alcohol, which may react with the 5 HTP which would still be in your body, namely in your liver after several days.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5-Hydroxytryptophan