• Effectiveness

  Major (for gastrointestinal dysmotility)
• Side effects

  Mild (for Overall) (hot flash after eating, flushing)
• Adherence

  Always
• Burden

  Not at all hard to take

Dosage: 400 mg Daily

Advice & Tips: 5-HTP is a serotonin precursor. Serotonin is well-known as a hormone that affects one's mood in a positive way, but it is probably less-well known that it increases intestinal motility. It has worked magic for my symptoms. I am completely regular now, and the majority of my days are good days, whereas before I began taking it the majority of my days were bad days that began with symptoms of constipation and intestinal pain or discomfort. For me, at least, this is not a prescription. I began taking 5-HTP after my fiancee'--who had already been taking it to help her mood and, primarily, her difficulty sleeping through the night--learned it can be helpful when taken for gastrointestinal motility, and I began taking it myself shortly after that (and felt its effects almost immediately). Although not entirely unexpected, my slightly enhanced good moods are a nice side benefit of taking the supplement. I do get some very mild undesirable side effects, especially during mid-day when I take twice my morning and evening dose of 100 mg. Sometimes my face feels hot and flushes fairly noticeably--and this may be intensified with eating--but those symptoms subside within probably 30 minutes or less.

Cost: < $25 monthly