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Has anyone tried "GABA" supplement- need feedback!

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
I am thinking of trying GABA by Solgar which is pure GABA and is 500 mg. Have held off on trying it due to severe MCAS/ allergic flare-up so thought I'd ask some questions in the meantime. I've chatted with a few people about it in other threads and appreciate the feedback very much.

These are my questions:

1) Have you taken GABA and if so, was it helpful, neutral or made things worse? Any side effects?

2) What dose did you take? Did you take it at night or another time of day?

3) What was your reason for trying it?

4) Is there anyone on PR who tried GABA who also has the anti GAD65 antibody? (I know this is a real long-shot but thought I'd ask!)

Thanks in advance!
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,334
Location
Southern California
@Gingergrrl - I've taken l-theanine, the amino acid which helps the brain produce GABA, for probably 12 or 13 years and never had a bad side effect. I believe l-theanine more easily crosses the blood-brain barrier than plain GABA. It is derived from green tea and is supposed to produce a state of "calm alertness". The Japanese spike many products with it.

I have also read there are GABA receptors in the gut, so though it may not cross the blood-brain barrier, plain GABA could be effective as well.

I take it at night to help with sleep because it is calming. I also take niacin at night. The niacin stimulates the GABA receptors and together with l-theanine helps with sleep.

I take 100 mg. l-theanine an hour before bed and then in the middle of night I take two Theanine Serene - which has a lot of stuff: 2 tablets contain 300 mg. magnesium, 500 mg. GABA, 500 mg. taurine, 200 mg. l-theanine and 100 mg. holy basil. So all in all I take a fair amount of GABA/l-theanine, at night.

Some people do take it during the day, though I don't.
 
Messages
471
I sometimes take this PharmaGABA (1 tablet):
http://www.swansonvitamins.com/swanson-ultra-pharmagaba-100-mg-60-chwbls
This is the only supplement for me that has an effect within half an hour and it works 90% of the times.
I don't take it daily, just at night when I can not sleep and sometimes in daytime when my body is stressed.

I also tried GABA but this doesn't work for me so far, I'm going to try it again because it's much cheaper.
 

caledonia

Senior Member
I did gobs of PharmaGABA, l-theanine, etc for years for anxiety. It worked well for me.
http://www.iherb.com/thorne-research-pharmagaba-100-60-veggie-caps/18741

The flip side is to review your diet and eliminate sources of glutamate. Either added glutamate in processed foods, or foods with high naturally occurring glutamate such as tomatoes, mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, etc. Processed foods are such a minefield, I don't eat them at all and make everything from scratch.

If you've done a Nutreval or similar test which shows the glutamate/GABA ratio, if you're high in glutamate and low in GABA, a GABA or theanine supplement should be helpful. Also, if you have a lot of GAD SNPs.

I don't need the supplements anymore, somewhere between methylation treatment and getting out my last mercury filling things got better. I still do watch for sources of glutamate. I can now do some of the naturally occurring ones, such as salsa (tomato), with no issues.
 

alice111

Senior Member
Messages
397
Location
Canada
1) yes I have taken. Helps with anxiety has a calming effect, only side effect is if I take waaaaay too much and too quickly (I usually spread my dose out over a few hours ) I get this very strange sensation like it's hard to breathe (not to scare you! I get it from other things too! And it passes!)

2) I take varied doses depending on anxiety. Never before bed, it doesn't help me sleep. The brand I use is from powdercity.com BEST price, and I find it to be the most effective brand (btw brands do vary in efficacy! For at least)

3) sleep (didn't help) anxiety (did help) and yasko protocol

4) I don't know? :cautious:

Good luck!!
 

TigerLilea

Senior Member
Messages
1,147
Location
Vancouver, British Columbia
Good timing on this as I'm in the process of researching GABA. As I've mentioned on other threads, ever since being on antibiotics back in March my exhaustion/fatigue has been off the wall bad and I'm definitely noticing muscle pain and stiffness so much more. After reading the post a few days ago about a gut bacteria feeding off of GABA it has me wondering if this could possibly be a part of my problem since being on Amoxicillin.

Rather than starting on a GABA supplement my first effort is going to be on increasing GABA/Serotonin producing foods and supplements (ie Vitamin B-com, magnesium, etc.). If I don't notice any improvements in a couple of months then I'm considering adding 5-HTP.
 

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
The flip side is to review your diet and eliminate sources of glutamate. Either added glutamate in processed foods, or foods with high naturally occurring glutamate such as tomatoes, mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, etc. Processed foods are such a minefield, I don't eat them at all and make everything from scratch.

@caledonia, I cannot eat tomatoes, mushrooms, Parmesan or any hard cheeses etc b/c of my MCAS so I don't think glutamate from food is my problem. I have the anti GAD65 antibody (been tested 2x now and positive on both tests) which messes with the body converting glutamate to GABA. I am hoping GABA could help me with breathing better but it is just an experiment.

I get this very strange sensation like it's hard to breathe (not to scare you! I get it from other things too! And it passes!)

Thanks for letting me know and this is the problem that I am trying to correct. So if GABA worsens this for me, it is definitely not going to work!

After reading the post a few days ago about a gut bacteria feeding off of GABA it has me wondering if this could possibly be a part of my problem since being on Amoxicillin.

I missed this thread (and missed a lot not having computer access the last week!) but was wondering if you could explain- do you mean if we have bad gut bacteria from antibiotics (or any other reason) that this uses up even more GABA so we could be deficient and therefore supplementing GABA can also help the gut bacteria? If so, that is another reason for me to try it.
 

ahmo

Senior Member
Messages
4,805
Location
Northcoast NSW, Australia
I used GABA for some years. It was absolutely calming. It was recommended by my compounding pharmacist when I could actually hear my nervous system clattering like a sewing machine. It took me awhile to find GABA powder. I think I was generally taking 1/2 tsp, Am?PM. When I was doing footbaths, I added it to my FB, w/ other aminos and minerals.

I heard one of the experts in a webinar say that it only works if there's a leaky blood brain barrier. I'm no longer needing it. I also gave it to my DH after he'd had surgery for a brain abscess. It was calming for him, too. Good luck, gingergrrl.:hug:
 

TigerLilea

Senior Member
Messages
1,147
Location
Vancouver, British Columbia
I missed this thread (and missed a lot not having computer access the last week!) but was wondering if you could explain- do you mean if we have bad gut bacteria from antibiotics (or any other reason) that this uses up even more GABA so we could be deficient and therefore supplementing GABA can also help the gut bacteria? If so, that is another reason for me to try it.

They have discovered a gut bacteria whose only source of food is GABA. When all is well with our gut bacteria, this particular bacteria is kept in check. However, when things are out of balance and this bacteria is allowed to flourish, it depletes our GABA stores. https://www.newscientist.com/articl...ed-eating-brain-chemicals-for-the-first-time/
 

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
They have discovered a gut bacteria whose only source of food is GABA. When all is well with our gut bacteria, this particular bacteria is kept in check. However, when things are out of balance and this bacteria is allowed to flourish, it depletes our GABA stores. https://www.newscientist.com/articl...ed-eating-brain-chemicals-for-the-first-time/

@TigerLilea Wow, I just read the link and it is very interesting and I have no doubt that my gut is messed up from taking antibiotics my whole childhood for chronic tonsillitis followed by Levaquin in 2010 which caused a systemic neurotoxic reaction and almost tore my triceps tendon. I had no idea there was a connection to GABA. Am definitely going to try the GABA supplement and see what happens. In general I do not do well with any meds that are activating and do very well with meds that are calming. Am hoping that I tolerate this one and suspect that I will.
 

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
So I tried GABA 500 mg for the first time last night and although I had no allergic reaction (the first hurdle passed LOL) it actually ended up keeping me awake all night!

Earlier this week I had been sleeping well and one night even slept for 15 hours straight (which is unusual for me) so I was surprised when the GABA ended up keeping me awake. By morning it was harder to breathe and just going to bathroom with my motorized wheelchair led to pretty bad shortness of breath and chest pain.

These were the symptoms that I hoped the GABA might help but it didn't. I want to try it one more time only b/c so many things are random with me (or are not due to what I think they are) and one attempt often is not enough to be certain.

Usually meds that are sedating work well for me so I want to give it one more chance. But if I try it again and the same thing happens, then I know it is not for me. Oh well!