What Elevated Serotonin Actually Feels Like

[lvysaur]

Interestingly I have a very particular type of body odor when I have "high serotonin" (which I'm diagnosing on the basis of manic energy + loose stools + eating an overdose of chicken breast AKA tryptophan--I've also noticed it's very easy to overconsume chicken breast and eggs, probably because the protein gets digested so quickly)

It's very strong and foul, and doesn't even come from sweat but rather from the armpit itself. There could be almost no sweat there and it would still smell.

On the other hand when I'm in a good state, I'll have to sweat for half an hour before I start smelling, and then it's a musky kind of attractive odor.

 

[orewashin]

If you want to know what elevated serotonin by itself feels like, then I would try 5-HTP.

Someone I knew drank an energy drink, or rather a "sleep-boosting drink" with 5-HTP and felt terrible from it. I dunno how they can sell that in gas stations.

 

[gaze]

Why the body odor? Is it because of the sweating?

I think its from endotoxin/excess fermentation in the gut

 

[orewashin]

I think its from endotoxin/excess fermentation in the gut

So the endotoxin would seep out through the skin and cause BO? I never considered that endotoxin has a smell, but I guess it makes sense since bacteria that eat sweat on the skin produce byproducts that cause BO.

 

[JudiBlueHen]

Interestingly I have a very particular type of body odor when I have "high serotonin" (which I'm diagnosing on the basis of manic energy + loose stools + eating an overdose of chicken breast AKA tryptophan--I've also noticed it's very easy to overconsume chicken breast and eggs, probably because the protein gets digested so quickly)

It's very strong and foul, and doesn't even come from sweat but rather from the armpit itself. There could be almost no sweat there and it would still smell.

On the other hand when I'm in a good state, I'll have to sweat for half an hour before I start smelling, and then it's a musky kind of attractive odor.

Have you ever confirmed the odor by having someone else smell it when you are not sweating? It is possible you are smelling something that no one else can smell - if so, that would be worth knowing, as it may indicate that in that particular state you are having some olfactory hallucinations. NOT saying this is your situation, only that it does happen to some people. It happened to my sister when she was having some anxiety issues while on her psychiatric meds, and I kept trying to convince her that I could not smell what she was smelling - she could not be convinced.

 

[orewashin]

Interestingly I have a very particular type of body odor when I have "high serotonin" (which I'm diagnosing on the basis of manic energy + loose stools + eating an overdose of chicken breast AKA tryptophan--I've also noticed it's very easy to overconsume chicken breast and eggs, probably because the protein gets digested so quickly)

It's very strong and foul, and doesn't even come from sweat but rather from the armpit itself. There could be almost no sweat there and it would still smell.

On the other hand when I'm in a good state, I'll have to sweat for half an hour before I start smelling, and then it's a musky kind of attractive odor.

As a person who doesn't sweat or smell anywhere much except the armpit, this makes me curious if my armpit smell is from serotonin. I wouldn't even say that I sweat much from the armpits, but they start to smell after a short period of time. Other people don't have the same degree of armpit smell as I do and the women I was in close proximity with didn't have detectable smells even without deodorant or showering.

I wonder if it has to do with the lymphatic system.

 

[Arnold Grape]

A better experiment for determining the effects of serotonin would be to take 5-HTP and eat a bunch of brown rice. I do not know if experimenting with SSRI’s for two weeks is even long enough to produce the effects you are talking about? I could be wrong.

It blocks 5-HT2A most importantly, which is huge in anxiety and depression. It has many other effects as elucidated elsewhere on the form, but I am mostly using to block all the 5-HT2 subset receptors.

A weird corollary that I have been experiencing is noticing the similarities between taking St. John’s Wort (SJW) and Cyproheptadine, although they do different things. 5-HT2A must be routed in motivation or some type of response system bc both of the aforementioned seem to reduce those things.

I am trying to determine the sensation of what high (brain) serotonin feels like, but I cannot approximate that now, partially bc I take .5 of Cypro.

 

[gaze]

So the endotoxin would seep out through the skin and cause BO? I never considered that endotoxin has a smell, but I guess it makes sense since bacteria that eat sweat on the skin produce byproducts that cause BO.

yea, i think endotoxin promotes bacteria overgrowth all over the body, including the armpits. its also bacterial overgrowth that causes many skin conditions and dandruff. Im not sure how exactly it produces an odor though

 

[metabolizm]

I do not know if experimenting with SSRI’s for two weeks is even long enough to produce the effects you are talking about?

The serotonergic effect occurs within the first few hours of administration. Within a few days the change in brain chemistry is unmistakable. I forgot to mention another side effect: yawning all the damn time.

 

[JudiBlueHen]

For me the irritable manic effects of SSRIs were noticeable by the 3rd day, and they were intolerable by 5 days and I had to discontinue.

 

[orewashin]

The serotonergic effect occurs within the first few hours of administration. Within a few days the change in brain chemistry is unmistakable. I forgot to mention another side effect: yawning all the damn time.

Did you yawn out of a sense of tension, impatience, and irritability, or out of a sense of tiredness and drowsiness?

 

[metabolizm]

Did you yawn out of a sense of tension, impatience, and irritability, or out of a sense of tiredness and drowsiness?

I'm not really sure, but it's a common side effect. In those two weeks, I didn't really feel tired or drowsy so much as manically energized.

 

[TibRex]

Would you mind linking to the allithiamine product you use? It's actually harder to find than I thought. Thanks!

allithiamine | eBay
Search - allithiamine - iHerb

 

[Recoen]

I have a similar horrible armpit smell when I have excess serotonin too. And others can definitely tell. I’m prone to rhabdo so the burning muscle plus this makes it almost smell like a really bad version of fenugreek.

I like thiamax for allithiamine (TTFD)

 

[cjm]

Adding my two scents (oh snap!)

I sometimes reek of pure ammonia, and it strictly comes from my armpits. I lost track of when exactly it would happen but I ruminate all the time, having incessant conversations with friends and enemies in my head, and I have hard lumps in my neck and various lymph glands. I have an atypical Masochistic (see Reich) body type, I'm tall and skinny whereas the typical type is more compact, where antagonistic muscle groups hold themselves together as a functional unit. Crudely speaking, my soft open front is held in check by a rigid back. Now that I say that I'm not sure that's exactly right but I digress. I don't know for sure if serotonin is involved or how to think about serotonin anymore now that I've started to focus on adrenaline as a major vector of my woes.

Back to potential causes of the ammonia armpit smell, I recall too much coffee would provoke it, and sometimes hours after eating I'd get it. I'll see if I remember more after a good night sleep tonight. It doesn't happen nearly as often anymore. I've been on a long journey back to health (not sure if I ever was truly healthy, I developed a peanut allergy at a young age, always been anxious) and many of my stops along the way I've repressed from memory.

 

[Explorer]

High serotonin for me feels like a veil over everything. There's no color, no brightness. No meaning to anything and life itself is pointless. I wouldn't wish high serotonin on anuone. The sad thing is, I believe most people are in this state all the time and don't even realize things could be better because they have never achieved a high dopamine state.

It could be that many have never even been in a high Dopamine low Serotonin state or have forgotten that completely so they believe it's normal to feel that way or that everyone feels that veil, nihilism, bluntness and grayness that such a state brings even though it's possible to enter a state where there is a 100% elimination of all such negative mental health states I wonder if there is someone who had a high Serotonin state with all the mental cognitive psychological consequences and then took some strong medicines or supplements that put them out of that state and they noticed direct change in their worldview for example I am interested in hearing more personal experiences with this.

 

[aguineapig]

It could be that many have never even been in a high Dopamine low Serotonin state or have forgotten that completely so they believe it's normal to feel that way or that everyone feels that veil, nihilism, bluntness and grayness that such a state brings even though it's possible to enter a state where there is a 100% elimination of all such negative mental health states I wonder if there is someone who had a high Serotonin state with all the mental cognitive psychological consequences and then took some strong medicines or supplements that put them out of that state and they noticed direct change in their worldview for example I am interested in hearing more personal experiences with this.

They probably think of it as "adulthood", basically.

 

[Explorer]

They probably think of it as "adulthood", basically.

Supposedly when younger the metabolism works better so with age and a bad lifestyle the dominant state could become serotonergic instead of a dopaminergic one.

 

[No_Energy]

@metabolizm , Without judging if an ssri should or should not be used, or what you should or should not do. We all know well contrarian view around here. on the other side we also hear of people out there swear by being saved by an Ssri when nothing else did. I won't judge that here. Each one should be free to judge, explore and try to find what is right and best for them. Anyway, what I really wanted to say, since you decided to go that route and went on for 2 weeks, Hell, since you were 2 weeks in, maybe you should have given another week, or not, who knows, than drop as you did. a month, that is when the desired effects come in, they say. Nobody knows for certain the mechanisms, if receptor downregulation or other adaptive processes, but they say you should wait at least these 4 weeks for the desired effect to start showing. Maybe after this adaptive period "higher serotonergic" tone is not even the end result as commonly believed, who knows, I don't think we know for sure. Long term commitment is another thing to be considered, for any drug really. anyways, only you know what your are feeling, right.

 

[metabolizm]

@metabolizm , Without judging if an ssri should or should not be used, or what you should or should not do. We all know well the contrarian view around here. on the other side we also hear of people out there swear by being saved by an Ssri when nothing else did. I won't judge that here. Each one should be free to judge, explore and try to find what is right and best for them. Anyway, what I really wanted to say, since you decided to go that route and went on for 2 weeks, Hell, since you were 2 weeks in, maybe you should have given another week or 2, or not, who knows, than drop as you did. a month, that is when the desired effects come in, they say. Nobody knows for certain the mechanisms, if receptor downregulation or other adaptive processes, but they say you should wait at least these 4 weeks for the desired effect to start showing. Maybe after this adaptive period "higher serotonergic" tone is not even the end result as commonly believed, who knows, I don't think we know for sure. Long term commitment is another thing to be considered, for any drug really. anyways, only you know what your are feeling right.

As far as I know, serotonin levels stabilise or even begin to drop when the SSRI kicks in. I probably would have felt better eventually. The point of the post was just to use those initial two weeks or so as an insight into what elevated serotonin feels like. Everything I’ve read suggests that there is a serotonin spike when you start taking antidepressants, and that partly explains the weird and unpleasant side effects. I didn’t mean to bash SSRIs or even call their efficacy into question.