supplements and unapproved substances

17 substances people take for mood, sleep, anxiety or focus without a prescription. none is an FDA-approved treatment for any of them. each page leads with the regulatory paragraph in full, then the studies, then the risks, then what the research does not cover.

nothing here tells anyone to start, stop or change anything; the questions on each page are for a prescriber or pharmacist.

sold as dietary supplements

under DSHEA: never reviewed for effectiveness, the dose in the capsule unverified, approved for nothing.

  • 5-HTP — does 5-htp work for depression? two usable trials in 64 people, placebo-free studies since, a 30-person 2025 trial, the serotonin interaction, its legal status.also sold as 5-hydroxytryptophan, L-5-HTP, oxitriptan, Griffonia simplicifolia extract
  • Ashwagandha — ashwagandha for anxiety: small manufacturer-supplied trials, a liver-injury case series, and what regulators in denmark, france and the netherlands concluded.also sold as Withania somnifera, KSM-66, Sensoril, Shoden
  • Creatine — does creatine work for depression? every trial adds up to 238 people, a pooled effect of about 2 points with very low certainty, and the kidney-test caveat.also sold as creatine monohydrate, CrM, Creapure, creatine HCl
  • L-Theanine — does l-theanine work for anxiety? nine small trials, none in a diagnosed anxiety disorder, a null pooled estimate, who paid, and what its legal status means.also sold as L-theanine, theanine, Suntheanine, AlphaWave
  • Magnesium — magnesium for depression and anxiety: a 6-point open-label gain, a double-blind null, a sanofi-funded review calling its own evidence poor, and the diet data.also sold as magnesium glycinate, magnesium citrate, magnesium oxide, magnesium chloride
  • Melatonin — melatonin for sleep: seven minutes faster in the pooled trials, a guideline against it for insomnia, what the gummies contain, and the child poison-center data.also sold as melatonin, Circadin, Slenyto, N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine
  • N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) — nac (n-acetylcysteine) for depression, bipolar depression and hair pulling: five trials, two nulls, one unreplicated success, who paid, and its legal status.also sold as N-acetylcysteine, NAC, N-acetyl-L-cysteine, acetylcysteine
  • Omega-3 — does omega-3 (fish oil) work for depression? the cochrane estimate of about 2.5 points, the 18,353-person trial that found none, and the retraction rumour.also sold as fish oil, EPA, DHA, n-3 PUFA
  • SAMe — does same work for depression? the cochrane null on its own, the failed 189-person trial, the one positive add-on study, the mania signal, and its legal status.also sold as S-adenosyl methionine, S-adenosyl-L-methionine, SAM-e, ademetionine
  • St John’s Wort — st john’s wort: as good as ssris in 4-to-12-week trials of mild depression, and the interactions (hiv, transplant, the pill) behind the fda’s 2000 advisory.also sold as Hypericum perforatum, SJW, hypericum, Klamath weed
  • Valerian — valerian for sleep: 16 trials with publication bias, the best trials finding nothing, a guideline against it, a 36-person anxiety trial, and the ema monograph.also sold as Valeriana officinalis, valerian root, all-heal, garden heliotrope

sold outside the supplement category

unapproved drugs, research chemicals and plants with their own legal status.

  • Cannabidiol (CBD) — does cbd work for anxiety or sleep? the one fda-approved use, the fda’s warning letters, the epidiolex label’s liver-enzyme numbers, and the trials both ways.also sold as CBD, hemp extract, CBD oil, Epidiolex
  • Cannabis and THC — cannabis and thc for anxiety, depression and ptsd: two lancet psychiatry meta-analyses, the fda-approved cannabinoids, nasem 2017, and the psychosis cohorts.also sold as marijuana, weed, THC, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol
  • Kratom — Opioid pharmacology, dependence, and what the human evidence actually is.also sold as Mitragyna speciosa, ketum, biak-biak, thang
  • Methylene Blue — methylene blue for depression: four small trials, the newest in 37 people, the fda’s 2011 serotonin syndrome warnings, the boxed warning, unapproved oral use.also sold as ProvayBlue, methylthioninium chloride, methylene blue USP, MB
  • Microdosing — microdosing psilocybin or lsd: what nine placebo-controlled trials found, including one in adults with adhd, why surveys disagree, and the federal law.also sold as microdose, LSD microdosing, psilocybin microdosing, sub-perceptual dosing
  • Phenibut — is phenibut safe or legal? the fda says it is not a lawful supplement ingredient, australia banned it, no western trial exists, what 1,320 poison calls show.also sold as Noofen, Anvifen, Fenibut, beta-phenyl-GABA

the evidence pages behind these records