Well, there you go - stars for everyone. Yes. Pretty great stuff, this. Dietary deficiency of tryptophan may lead to low levels of serotonin. Low serotonin levels are associated with depression, anxiety, irritability, impatience, impulsiveness, inability to concentrate, weight gain, overeating, carbohydrate cravings, poor dream recall, and insomnia. High dietary intake of tryptophan from food sources is not known to cause any symptoms of toxicity. In addition, tryptophan has been given therapeutically, as a prescription medicine or dietary supplement, in doses exceeding five grams per day with no report of adverse effects. What can high-tryptophan foods do for you? Help regulate your appetite Help you sleep better Elevate your mood Tryptophan occurs naturally in nearly all foods that contain protein, but in small amounts compared to the other essential amino acids. The following foods contain tryptophan: red meat, dairy products, nuts, seeds, legumes, soybeans and soy products, tuna, shellfish, and turkey. Soyabeans have the highest amounts, but nobody talks about a tofurkey coma!! So there you go, more that you ever wanted to know about turkey coma, I'm sure. World's Healthiest Foods ranked as quality sources of: tryptophan Food Serving Size Cals Amount(g) DV(%) Nutrient Rating Shrimp 113.40g 112.3 0.33 103.1 16.5 excellent Turkey 4 oz-wt 153.1 0.38 118.8 14.0 excellent Chicken 4 oz-wt 187.1 0.41 128.1 12.3 excellent Halibut 4 oz-wt 158.8 0.34 106.2 12.0 excellent Salmon 113.40g 157.6 0.30 93.8 10.7 excellent Calf liver 4 oz-wt 217.7 0.40 125.0 10.3 excellent Tofu 4 oz-wt 86.2 0.14 43.8 9.1 excellent Lamb 4 oz-wt 229.1 0.35 109.4 8.6 excellent Hope you had the best Christmas ever. Thanks for playing!! Nancy.

Wow, that's good there is finally a diagnosis for Jett. Glad your vet is willing to listen and learn- that is the sign of a truly good vet. Bet he looks for atypical cushings now! There are risks associated with over-suppressing the adrenal glands, especially since Jett has normal and not high cortisol levels. Lysodren suppresses all adrenal function, which could make Jett Addisonian (hypoadrenocorticism). You can treat Addison's disease, and some vets actually prefer to make a Cushing's dog Addisonian and then treat that, because it has a better prognosis. Melatonin suppresses sex hormones, so it should treat all of Jett's symptoms that are attributed to his Cushings. Flax seed competes with estradiol on the receptors, so there is less estradiol effect. One thing I would still highly recommend is that ultrasound to make sure Jett doesn't have an adrenal tumor. Those should be removed ASAP to prevent them from invading major blood vessels (it's bad). This is the entire treatment sheet from UT: Steroid Profiles for Diagnosis of Atypical Cushings Disease: Test Results/Treatment. Clinical Endocrinology Service (Phone-865-974-5638; Fax-865-974-7147; Web-www.vet.utk.edu) College of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Tennessee Where positive test results of increased adrenal activity are present, consider the need for: 1) Ultrasound. To rule out the chance of a primary adrenal tumor (AT) being present. 2) Melatonin. Often used as a first treatment, especially if alopecia is present, since it is cheap, has few side effects and is available in health food stores or via nutrient suppliers on the Internet. Typically, a total dose of 3 to 6 mg is given q12h. Use regular melatonin rather than rapid release or extended release products. Melatonin has anti-gonadotropic activity, and it inhibits aromatase (converts androstenedione and testosterone into estradiol) and 21-hydroxylase (lowers cortisol level) enzymes. Monitor treatment effectiveness via improvement in clinical signs or serum biochemistries, or by repeat of steroid profile. Expect positive results in 3 to 4 months. 3) Melatonin Implants (DermatoninTM). Available for dogs. (WWW.MELATEK.NET). Sizes are 8, 12 and 18 mg for 50 lb dogs, respectively. Effects last 4-6 months. NOTE: Melatonin and flaxseed oil with lignans are used together when estradiol is increased. 4) LysodrenTM. Lysodren is very effective in lowering cortisol, androstenedione, progesterone or 17-hydroxyprogesterone levels. NOTE: Estradiol is not always suppressed by LysodrenTM, so determining a baseline estradiol level 1-2 months post-Lysodren will determine efficacy. 5) Flaxseed oil with lignans (FSO). The lignans in FSO have phytoestrogenic activity, and may compete with estradiol for tissue estrogen receptors with less biological effect. Lignans also inhibit aromatase (anti-estrogen) and 3-beta HSD (lowers cortisol) enzymes. Sources for animals include health food stores or Internet sites such as WWW.BARLEANS.COM. Give SID, one tsp per 25 lbs on food, or one FSO capsule (1000 mg) with lignans. Lignans without FSO are available, with a suggested dose of 40 mg EOD (30 lbs); see WWW.VITACOST.COM/NSIFLAXSEEDLIGNANS. 6) Ketoconazole. Possibly effective for hyperestrinism when combined with melatonin and lignans. 7) Androgen treatment. For estrogen/androgen imbalance or low androgen levels. (E.g., methyltestosterone or anabolic steroids (expensive) such as OxandrinTM). Androgen treatment may have positive effect in reducing estradiol level via negative feedback effect, and may also have replacement value. Monitor liver function when androgen treatment is used. 8) Trilostane. Available in the UK and Europe, but not approved in the U.S. The drug can be used in the U.S. with FDA approval (see PlumbÂs Formulary, 5th Ed., pg 778 & 886). Note: trilostane always increases 17-hydroxyprogesterone, and frequently increases estradiol and androstenedione as well. LysodrenTM may be preferred for Atypical CushingÂs cases. FURTHER NOTE. Care should be used in switching from trilostane to LysodrenTM. Allow adequate time for either drugÂs effects on adrenal tissues to subside before making a change in treatment. (E.g., one month off drug; return of clinical signs of CushingÂs; or post-ACTH stim cortisol levels within normal range). 9) Specific hyperestrinism treatment. ArimidexTM and AromasinTM have particular indication for treatment of hyperestrinism in dogs, but kinetic studies are lacking  they inhibit aromatase enzyme. 10) Ovarian Remnant or Retained Testicle. Ultrasound or exploratory surgery. 11) For clarification, phone Dr. Jack Oliver (865-974-5729) or Dr. Kellie Fecteau (865-974-5833). In summary, atypical forms of adrenocortical disease (ACD) occur in dogs and cats (i.e., normal or subnormal cortisol response to the usual adrenal function tests). For dogs, it is common to have elevation of progesterone and 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP). Increase in androstenedione and estradiol occur frequently, but less so than for progesterone and 17-OHP. Testosterone is increased only rarely. Several patterns of hormone increase occur, so running the complete steroid panel will be the most advantageous, in terms of diagnosis of suspected ACD. Also, it is most meaningful to perform an ACTH stimulation test so that comparisons of basal vs. stimulated hormone concentrations can be made. Usually the stimulated values give the most meaningful information. For cats, infrequent samples are received for testing, but recent case reports implicate progesterone as being increased along with adrenal androgens and testosterone. From: J.W. Oliver, Proc. ACVIM Forum, pp. 541-543, 2002, and ACVIM Forum, pp.471-473, 2007. I am moving on Labor Day weekend to Sanford, NC. I didn't buy a practice yet, though. Banks don't want to lend me money until I have at least 5 years experience, preferably 7. I will try in 5 though. I work at a practice in Fayetteville, NC. It's a very busy practice and since there is not a specialty practice in town, we get to do a LOT of cool stuff. I am learning orthopedic surgery and all kinds of cool things since we basically have to fix everything with what we have (and we do have lots of good toys like ultrasound, in house lab, great surgery equipment, etc). The practice is truly a service to the community as it is very inexpensive, which is needed in Fayetteville- it's not a rich town. So I am very happy there, at least for the next couple of years. Thanks for asking!

We are all on low salt diets, so I had trouble finding no salt pistachios at the store, at least ones that were shelled. I can shell pistachios but my Dad has grip problems in his hands and I doubt he would easily invest in doing that. I bought some honey roasted ones to try out, which had only a little salt on them. Wonder how roasting affects the chemical compounds? I ate a handful last night. No effect on my falling asleep, but definitely something was up with my waking up. Could not wake up this morning for the life of me, didn't get out of bed until 11 and have felt groggy all day, slight headache. Also many weird dreams, and I hardly ever dream. Of course association does not prove causation . . .

I had a horrible nightmare again this morning at about 4 AM, and I had to stay up long enough for the memory of it to fade. I think I need to look into the effects of cheese and dreams because I did have some Brie last night late in the day. It's a snack I like to have late at night, and I'm not sure how often it causes nightmares, or whether it is the cause at all. I also ordered some Magnesium taurate supplements to see whether they can help. I'm going to see my doctor tomorrow regarding new BP medication that he had prescribed for me (Nifedipine ER) that I believe is causing my feet and ankles to swell. This is a know side effect of this medication, and so I plan to stop taking it after I get my doctor to prescribe something else. The dream I had this morning was another university nightmare, but this time I was going back to the first university that I had attended but was being put into on campus residential housing. I was assigned a roommate that I liked, but when we went to our housing, it was in a large building that we had to share with a lot of other students, and there were very few defining walls to separate the individual spaces, and so I could not tell where our space ended and someone else's began. I wanted to have more walls to provide privacy, and this was causing me anxiety that made me wake up. The interactions I had with other students and staff were particularly disturbing. The closet that I thought was going to be ours was already full of someone else's stuff, including a huge collection of heads or busts that were storing wigs. Some of the busts were somewhat grotesque, and I wanted them out of our closet. There were also a lot of very small dresses on hangers in this closet that looked like they were meant for dolls. There was an office in the building with managers, and I tried to get them to define the limits of the space that we were supposed to occupy, and so they started painting lines on the floor to show exactly where our space was. The lack of real walls was what caused me the most anxiety, and so I woke up and was afraid to go back to sleep. I do appreciate all of the good advice that I have received here and will try to implement more of it - especially the suggestions right before going to sleep. Yesterday or the day before I was watching old episodes of Candid Camera with my brother, and there was one that had a small girl in the early 1960s being interviews by Alan Funt. At one point, she talked about having nightmares, and she said that when that happened, she would tell herself to redirect the dream to something positive, and this worked for her. Unfortunately, this has not worked for me, but I will keep trying.