Potential dangers of 5-HTP

[Rafterman]

Hey I-J,
I have read about 50 of your posts. It is amazing that you are a layman. If I didn't know that, I would have absolutely guessed Master's degree or higher. I would like to read all of your post's, but am not certain how to do that. When I click on your name, it tells me that I am not authorized to go further. Is there any way you know of that would let me read everything that you posted on here? (If you don't mind me doing so, of course) I love to get the take of someone as deeply versed in these topics as your are. Thanks.

Oh Rafterman, thank you for the kind words. Yes, I'm a layman and never even finished my bachelor's. But I've been quite ill/disabled since age 23 (over 10 years now), and since I don't have a simple condition that's amenable to the cookbook medicine practiced by most physicians these days, I'm forced to learn on my own. I do feel grateful that despite my physical issues, my cognition is still fairly intact.

Wow, I-J, I am sorry to hear about your disability, but I totally get what you are saying about escaping with your powers of cognition intact. It's the same for me. I am also disabled and, in some ways, I feel mentally sharper now than when I was 'whole". We are all really blessed to live in an age when there is so much information at our fingertips. When I was in school, back in the 1960's, the only computers were probably at NASA and in laboratories and they were the size of entire room, lol.  Somehow people still became doctor's and lawyers and went into other fields that required an unbelievable amount of book learning. Yet, even then there were people who would be self-taught and be just as capable as the credentialed and licensed folk. When I was growing up, the dentist who we saw was self-taught. No schooling. No license. Same thing with our phlebotomist. These were people who studied their craft on their own and then practice made perfect. The fact that I grew up being treated by those people always gave me respect for what a person could learn on their own. In the same way that you could probably counsel professionally and be as good as those who have completed their schooling. It is so hard to find counselor's who have empathy, and also have the brainpower and the knowledge that they need at their disposal. Maybe you may even finish your degree someday and go into that career, if your disability allows it. That would be a wonderful thing.  Regards, RM