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SAM-e creates major anxiety

Messages
83
I took SAM-e but it made my anxiety and OCD very bad but really helped with depression. I wasn't doing methyl b12 and folate at the time though. Do you think if i introduced SAM-e now it may help with depression without causing the horrible anxiety?
 

L'engle

moogle
Messages
3,200
Location
Canada
If you decide to try it, take only a small amount out of a capsule, not the whole capsule. That way if you get some side effects they will be more minor. SAMe gave me insomnia. I took it while also on methyl B12.
 

Critterina

Senior Member
Messages
1,238
Location
Arizona, USA
Not to be the party pooper, but I think that you might have the same reaction again. Do you know your SNPs?

Maybe adding tryptophan when you add the SAMe would lessen the anxiety effect, because with more tryptophan substrate you are grabbing more of the SAMe to support serotonin (lifting depression) formation rather than grabbing SAMe with the tyrosine substrate to make dopamine (anxienty, OCD).

And your diet controls how much tryptophan you have, but your body can keep making tyrosine out of other things, so tryptophan supplementation might be the way to go. Some like tryptophan, some like 5-HTP. Don't know if one would work better than the other for you. Tryptophan is cheaper.
 

Mr. Cat

Senior Member
Messages
156
Location
Nothern California
It might be worth a shot to try it again eventually. Sam-e used to cause me anxiety too at doses of 200mg/day if I took it too many days in a row. Somewhere along the course of me being on the methylation protocol, my tolerance improved, and I can now handle 400mg/day with no anxiety and no depression. For me, I don't think it's an SNP thing (though they're below, so those in the know are welcome to comment), just some methylation pathways that have healed. Now it's 5-HTP that I can't handle without it giving me anxiety. Start low and go slow!
 
Messages
10
I tried SAM-e 200mg (jarrow) for 3 days and got extreme anxiety too. My depression and mood issues went away but my derealization (which stems from anxiety) went trough the roof. I stopped after the 3 days, but the anxiety side effects together with worse derealization still linger around one week later.

Could there be some co-factors missing? I wasn't on any methylation protocol or took any b-complex while trying the SAM-e.