l-theanine experiences?

[cloudyday2]

just wondering if anybody has experience taking l-theanine
I have been taking 200mg once a day, and I didn't know if that is safe/healthy.

 

[TheOldWays]

i used to take it everyday for a while. no issues.

 

[cloudyday2]

i used to take it everyday for a while. no issues.

How long after taking a pill before you felt an effect and how long did the effect last?

I think my brain doesn't produce enough GABA, so I have been taking an l-theanine 200mg with some coffee about and hour before I ride my exercise bike. Intense exercise is supposed to stimulate the brain to produce GABA, and l-theanine is a building block for GABA. I have chronic depression and anxiety.

I've been doing this for a week, and it works great so far. What worries me is if there might be long term problems from doing it for the rest of my life. (I'm thinking about buying another bottle of pills with smaller dosage to try just in case.)

BTW, I tried taking GABA supplements, but I noticed all kinds of sharp joint and muscle pains. So that has made me conscious of the negative side effects of these supplements.

 

[*LILAC]

Never really heard of it. Found this website to be of interest. I do drink alot of green tea and it seems to have a similar effect. If you have too many concerns, it may be best to check with a doctor before taking the supplement for too long.

 

[cloudyday2]

Never really heard of it. Found this website to be of interest. I do drink alot of green tea and it seems to have a similar effect. If you have too many concerns, it may be best to check with a doctor before taking the supplement for too long.

That article recommended drinking green tea instead of taking a supplement due to unknowns. I found an article that suggests a particular breed of green tea is best apparently normal green tea only has 5mg but the Gyokuro has 50mg. It is best to have more l-theanine in relation to the caffeine to increase calm.
L-theanine Caffeine and Tea

Also it appears that some l-theanine supplement are a mix of l-theanine and d-theanine, and the d-theanine isn't helpful.

I figure less is more, so I'm going to experiment with lower dosages. It appears 200mg is a lot more than most green teas, so it might be risky.

 

[Ancient of Days]

Are you taking it because "I have chronic depression and anxiety."? If that's what you are using it for I have some better suggestions.

 

[TheOldWays]

How long after taking a pill before you felt an effect and how long did the effect last?

I think my brain doesn't produce enough GABA, so I have been taking an l-theanine 200mg with some coffee about and hour before I ride my exercise bike. Intense exercise is supposed to stimulate the brain to produce GABA, and l-theanine is a building block for GABA. I have chronic depression and anxiety.

I've been doing this for a week, and it works great so far. What worries me is if there might be long term problems from doing it for the rest of my life. (I'm thinking about buying another bottle of pills with smaller dosage to try just in case.)

BTW, I tried taking GABA supplements, but I noticed all kinds of sharp joint and muscle pains. So that has made me conscious of the negative side effects of these supplements.

not sure. I took it for hangovers, not for any other reason.

either way I didn't notice any adverse effects.

 

[Ancient of Days]

I need some more specifics of your symptoms to help you.

 

[cloudyday2]

Are you taking it because "I have chronic depression and anxiety."? If that's what you are using it for I have some better suggestions.

yep, that's my reason. I'm 51, and I've had this problem since college. If I ride an exercise bike for about an hour, I'm o.k. for that day. It's just getting harder to do that as I age.

I've tried serotonin antidepressants, but they didn't seem to help. I experimented with some scopolamine patches leftover from a cruise, and they were very effective about 50% of the time.

The common thread I see between scopolamine and exercise is GABA. That's what got me interested in l-theanine.

 

[Ancient of Days]

Ok, thanks. Need some more info though. What kind of foods do you eat? Processed foods that come in a box contain a lot of different chemicals as well as do non organic foods. By simply removing those chemicals from your body may help significantly. So what are you eating and drinking? By reducing variables we can find out what the root cause is. Bare with me.

 

[cloudyday2]

Ok, thanks. Need some more info though. What kind of foods do you eat? Processed foods that come in a box contain a lot of different chemicals as well as do non organic foods. By simply removing those chemicals from your body may help significantly. So what are you eating and drinking? By reducing variables we can find out what the root cause is. Bare with me.

I usually eat a large bowl of pre-washed spinach or arugula raw, lots of unsalted pecans, some turkey or chicken sausage without hormones, sometimes a little brown rice. For fruit I usually eat a couple of figs/prunes/dates. I've been trying to reduce carbohydrates, because I used to eat WAY too many and was gaining weight. ... Oh I forgot, I eat a lot of pork rinds as snacks - probably too many and I am trying to stop that

 

[cloudyday2]

^ @Ancient of Days , I forgot to mention vitamins. Apparently I have the MTHFR C677T mutation heterozygous and a bordeline B12 deficiency when they tested me a couple of years ago. I take a multivitamin and some B-vitamins that have methylfolate. I also take vitamin C, D3, krill oil, probiotic, magnesium, and l-theamine

 

[Ancient of Days]

Ok, thanks. Please describe what you are feeling when you say you may be depressed. And what are you feeling when you experience the anxiety?
Also, are you sleeping well? Do you remember your dreams from the night before?
How would you rate your overall energy levels on a scale from one to ten?


Edited: We posted at the same time but I did read your post above about the supplements.

 

[Ancient of Days]

Do you follow a protocol for the MTHFR C677T mutation? Such as no gluten, no dairy, etc,etc?

 

[cloudyday2]

Do you follow a protocol for the MTHFR C677T mutation? Such as no gluten, no dairy, etc,etc?

Yep, I don't use any dairy except a little bit of butter sometimes, and my only grain is brown rice. I started doing it about 15 years ago before I knew about the mutation, because other things gave me digestion problems. I think I could probably tolerate milk if I drank it regularly again.

 

[cloudyday2]

Ok, thanks. Please describe what you are feeling when you say you may be depressed. And what are you feeling when you experience the anxiety?
Also, are you sleeping well? Do you remember your dreams from the night before?
How would you rate your overall energy levels on a scale from one to ten?

My diagnosis on my health record says "depression with anxiety", "social anxiety". Also I had psychosis in 2009 that was not diagnosed or treated at that time. I believed it was spiritual. I did have a mild hallucination last night as I woke that was a little bit unsettling. I hope the l-theanine isn't doing that.

So the symptoms vary. Often I feel like I want to curl-up in a ball in my closet. Other times I just sit at my desk in a mental fog unable to make even the simplest decisions or accomplish the easiest things - like a zombie basically. Sometimes I feel sort of dizzy and nauseated and shaky. The depression comes and goes every few days. Daily cardio exercise is the only thing I have found to control it. Unfortunately if I miss a day I feel so depressed that it is nearly impossible to reverse the problem by doing the exercise. Oh yes, sometimes I feel anhedonia.

I sleep well enough, but sometimes I don't get enough hours of sleep. I often feel drowsy around noon and take a cat nap that helps a lot. I remember some parts of my dreams.

My energy levels are like a 1 when I'm depressed. This last week they have been more like an 8 due to exercising every morning and maybe the l-theanine.

EDIT: A couple of weird symptoms of depression. I am very sensitive and upset by odors like perfumes. Also I hate sunlight and only go out after dark if possible. I don't like the wind touching my skin either so I wear jackets and hoods even when it is hot. That all diminishes when the depression diminishes.

 

[Ancient of Days]

Got it, thanks for being specific. Last but not least, who manufactures the supplements you are currently taking? Are they from like GNC or are the high quality pharmaceutical grade supplements? Also are you ok taking bee products?

Do you have amalgam tooth fillings?
Do you take any prescription medication?

 

[cloudyday2]

Got it, thanks for being specific. Last but not least, who manufactures the supplements you are currently taking? Are they from like GNC or are the high quality pharmaceutical grade supplements?

The only fancy supplements I take are the multivitamin and the B-vitamins from Pure Encapsulations (the doctor who did the tests a couple of years ago recommended that brand).

 

[Ancient of Days]

Do you have amalgam tooth fillings?
Do you take any prescription medication?
Also are you ok taking bee products?

 

[cloudyday2]

Do you have amalgam tooth fillings?
Do you take any prescription medication?

I have one filling that is grey colored, so it must be amalgam. I don't take any medication.

This might be irrelevant but I also experimented this week with 5-HTP. The 5-HTP gave me the feeling you get when you are at the top of a roller coaster about to drop. Luckily that feeling went away after an hour. I didn't think it was helpful, but I only tried it once.