Source Naturals L-Tryptophan, for Mood, Relaxation, and Sleep*, 500mg - 120 Capsules

Repeat buy. Excellent product. Love the capsules.

Good sleep aid. I used it because I wanted a sleep aid without melatonin.

TL;DR Version:I'm incredibly skeptical of alternative medicine, but it works.Long Version:I've been wrestling with severe PTSD for years, including depression, anxiety problems, and sleep disorders. But getting treated for PTSD is difficult and I hate the side-effects of psychiatric Rx's. Still, I've bordered on major mood problems that made me desperate for something. I was willing to check myself into an institution, except my insurance provider wouldn't cover enough of the expense.Now let me say right up front that I am a skeptic. I don't put much stock in alternative medicine, as a rule. Yeah, okay, Valerian works, opioids and certain other "herbs", but most of the effective ones are Schedule-narcs, making it irrelevant for the don't-want-to-go-to-jail type of person. But I did my research and found some medical literature supporting the use of L-Tryptophan for my symptoms, so I thought I'd give it a try. But I wasn't hoping for anything. In fact, I explicitly expected this NOT to work.Wow, I was wrong. This works so wonderfully that I wonder when the big pharma co's are going to catch on and forced the FDA to take this off the OTC market.Regimine:Three capsules (500mg) first thing in the morning on an empty stomach (this is important)Two capsules mid-day an hour before lunch.Two capsules an hour before dinner.I also take melatonin supplements before bed. This helps, but don't overdo it or it can be counter-productive.Effect:It is very subtle at first. It took me a couple of weeks before I realized that I was actually feeling fine for a change. That might not sound like a big deal, but if you're suffering with PTSD, trust me: feeling "fine" is a joy. I am able to deal with life without getting freaked out and spiraling down the rabbit hole. Things just don't upset me the way they used to. I can handle the regular life "stuff"; everything doesn't become Instant Crisis Freakout. In fact, it's rather hard for me to get upset about anything. If that sounds like heaven to you, then this is the supplement you want.When I came to my PMS week, I was worried I'd find out that I was just imagining the effect, but nope -- I made it through that week with only a slight mood swing. Nothing serious.I ran out about a month ago and didn't bother to re-up because one of the features of my PTSD that this does nothing for is the procrastination (note that; this won't fix everything). It was a week or so, and I started noticing my stress returning. In another week, it was bad again, so I bought a new bottle. It's been a week, and I'm feeling good again.People seem to take this for a lot of reasons, and I can't speak to any other than anxiety and depression. It did not do anything for my insomnia directly. It was more of an indirect effect of making me chill enough that I wasn't going to sleep rigid with worry. Still, it doesn't put me out or anything. For that, I use the melatonin.Note: If you're trying to make up your mind whether to take this or 5-HTP, go with this. It's the precursor for the stuff in 5-HTP, and works a lot better. You might try combining this with Emergen-C (not just regular Vitamin C capsules) and a B-6 liquid supplement for even better effects. I noticed a difference with those, but YMMV.All in all, I'm very happy with this.

I had trouble falling asleep or even feeling tired to go to bed throughout my entire undergrad. I'm the type of person who will doze off working at night but as soon as I lie in bed I'd be ultra-alert. This has frequently resulted in sleeping around 3-4am and makes getting up in the morning a pain. Before taking this pill, I usually got up around 11am-noon. Now, while I still find it hard to get up earlier than that (since I've been sleeping in for 5+ years straight), it has become a lot easier for me to fall asleep after taking these pills, not to mention that the quality of sleep is much better. These days I usually sleep around midnight-1am depending on workload. I sometimes take 1 or 2 of these during the day to stay relaxed if stress runs too high, although I'm not sure if my feeling of relaxation is just a placebo effect. Side note: I am always suspicious of those other reviews that say straight up about after taking this pill BAM their problems are entirely solved... must have swapped it with viagra or something)I've also taken other types of sleeping pills (I think they're antihistamines) that basically mimic the sleep-inducing component of cough medicine and while those work in knocking you out, the quality of sleep is very poor, not to mention that it makes you woozy the next day. There have been studies done showing that your brain is not getting "real" sleep with those type of sleeping pills.It would be really nice if someone had information on the long-term effects of taking this drug. I'm slightly paranoid about not being able to produce sufficient amounts of melatonin on my own after staying on this for a while.Last but not least, this might not work for everyone. It's important to find out the reasons for your insomnia/other sleep problems and how, if at all, this will help. I still wish it would be easier to get up early. 4 stars because swallowing 3 pills is just annoying, and I wish it were slightly cheaper.