Snoring Remedies? Results for 5-HTP
Using the method detailed in this post I decided to see if 5-HTP had any effect on my snoring.
I was keen to try out 200mg of 5-HTP first, given that it had previously had such a positive effect on my AHI.
My thinking was that if 5-HTP had been able to reduce the gross movements of my airways that are responsible for obstructive sleep apnoea, then maybe it would also be able to reduce the smaller movements that are responsible for snoring. However, I suspected that as it hadn't been able to completely prevent airway restrictions that it wouldn't have an effect on the smaller movements.
It seems that I was wrong. The results were promising to say the least.
5-HTP was able to reduce my snoring further than that offered by just sleeping on my side.
Given that from my data alone there are two indications that 5-HTP is beneficial to sleep (AHI reduction and a reduction in snoring) I would love to see a larger scale experiment or trial take place, after all I am just "n=1".
Prior to taking 5-HTP I researched it in medical literature with regards to dosage and possible side-effects. After seeing my results I went back to the literature and started looking for a possible mechanism or explanation as to why 5-HTP might have this effect.
I'm working on a summary of what I've found and will post it in the near future.
For the future:
- I'm curious as to whether the 5-HTP would reduce my supine snoring index, given that my snoring is at its loudest and most frequent when on my back so I will record a three-night mean of 5-HTP sleep when I will be free to move and produce supine and free-to-move snoring indexes via the Visi-Download software.
- I'm also curious to see what different doses would achieve, so I'll carry out three night mean trials of side-sleep + 50mg, 100mg and 300mg of 5-HTP and measure the effect on my AHI, snoring profile and sleep stage data.
Reader Comments (3)
5 - HTP is a kind of amino acid, most of the people who used to take this medicnie reports that this particular medicnie gives several side effects in theor body. You told in post that you are used this medicnie. did you expreince with any side effects?
HI,
No I didn't have any side effects, which surprised me because I took a large dose.
However I have taken 5-HTP for a longer period of time an increased the dose gradually from 50mg; maybe this helped with reducing the side effects as my body was able to get used to it.
I hope to revisit this experiment with 5-HTP (and the 5-HTP vs AHI) experiment later, so I'll take 5-HTP for a longer period of time and see if I experience any side-effects.