5-HTP vs SAM-E for mood
Short answer: For mood, more users report improvement with SAM-E — 92% of 114 reports, versus 84% of 214 for 5-HTP.
5-HTP has 15 meta-analyses and 73 randomized trials on PubMed; SAM-E has 3 and 1.
Based on 767 reports about 5-HTP and 284 about SAM-E. Not medical advice.
| 5-HTP Supplement | SAM-E Supplement | |
|---|---|---|
| Users say it helped | 40%helped345 reports · high confidence | 63%helped131 reports · high confidence |
| Verdict | Mixed | Mostly positive |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | BResearch: Moderate |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 15 / 73 | 3 / 1 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Mood % reporting improvement | 84% (214) | 92% (114) |
| Sleep % reporting improvement | 85% (102) | 33% (3) |
| Anxiety % reporting improvement | 72% (71) | 67% (21) |
| Energy % reporting improvement | 76% (17) | 87% (23) |
| Focus % reporting improvement | 73% (11) | 100% (13) |
| Common side effects | vivid dreams, heart valve, serotonin syndrome, drowsiness | insomnia, jitteriness, stomach issues, anxiety |
| Typical dose reported | 100 mg / with coffee | 200-400 mg / daily |
There are few, large, high-quality trials comparing combination pharmacotherapy with monotherapy for fibromyalgia, consequently limiting evidence to support or refute the use of combination pharmacotherapy for fibromyalgia.
Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2018 ↗“I just one day randomly decided to take 5-HTP an hour after finishing my workout, and I felt WIRED 15 minutes after taking it, and that lasted for 5–6 hours.”
Our results showed that robotic surgery contributed positively to some perioperative outcomes but longer operative times remained a shortcoming. Better quality evidence is needed to guide surgical decision making regarding the precise clinical targets of this innovation in the next generation of its use.
Surg Endosc, 2016 ↗“I also take SAM-e in the morning (200mg or 400mg per day depending on how I'm feeling) for my general depression/anxiety.”
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Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate