I take 50mg of 5htp every night. If I'm really feeling depressed I'll double it but a low dose keeps me from getting too depressed but too much and my mood gets too elevated. I love it though and I've been taking it for a long time, 2 years or so. I only had issues with certain brands, the NOW brand doesn't have anything extra added. Some you can get with vitamin b which kinda screwed with me a lot.