Symptoms of High Glutamate Levels in the Brain / Body (How to Tell If You Have High Glutamate Levels)

This article probably should have been done before the low Glutamate article, as it is a far more common condition, or, state-of-mind, to have elevated glutamate than low levels. However, despite elevated glutamate having been written about a lot more frequently, I am tired of seeing the same bullshit being posted, without proper references, or with very generalized (and often wrongly placed) citations, there are immense distortions out there.

I am here to clear away those aggravations.

The negative effects of excessive glutamate are no surprise, especially given that high levels of activation of a SINGLE-glutamate receptor such as the kainate-receptor, itself, without touching any of the other receptors, can result in Cell Toxicity [1] [2].

So an abnormal buildup of glutamate all-over the place would most certainly result in massive toxicity. However, most people don't acquire the amount of glutamate-toxicity that would result in significant cell death, at least not at a young age, there is normally some degree of natural protection against it by the brain's 'other-forces', alpha-waves, and other neurotransmitters that youthful individuals seem to have more of (i.e noradrenaline/dopamine, serotonin etc). Even without, or with less of those factors, normally, there are anti-inflammatory mediators that reduce glutamate toxicity, heck, even histamine (not antihistamines, but rather, histamine, the chemical that benadryl and crap like that block), has protective effects against glutamate [3], of course, it has to be in the 'right' proportion/s.

Well here we go, the symptoms of glutamate-excess are...!

• Insomnia [4] [5]
• Social Anxiety [6]
• Emotional Lability [7] (being over-emotional, crying at movies, music , smells etc)
• Agitation [8] (often impulsive aggression, or easy to provoke, and increased sensitivity to sensory input due to enhanced glutamate often leads to increased reactions, i.e, one with a lot of glutamate may get angry when pinched, coughed around, or when property is touched by the 'wrong' person)
• Racing Thoughts [9] (though this can be caused by other factors, like low noradrenaline, high noradrenaline, low dopamine, high dopamine, racing thoughts due to high glutamate is generally related to emotional scenarios, often not positive, often about or anticipating future events, often related to work).
• Hedonic Attachment [10] - High glutamate individuals are typically prone to exhibitionism, overt display of emotions and desires, and especially, an attraction to gaining, holding, or becoming one with anything that produces a 'good feeling', thus, you will hear a high level of report that the person with high glutamate 'wants to fall in love' or wants to try LSD', with a higher probability of the former, because high glutamate individuals are 'into' life in general, they produce fairly large amounts of oxytocin, and though are sometimes socially aversive, they also can be quite the opposite, all relating back to their need for attachment, and generally 'enjoying life'.
• Stress [11] [12] - Despite the above, high glutamate levels often lead to stress-states when things don't go as planned, having tons of glutamate allows one to overthink things, and for all emotions : including Anger or Sadness, to simmer, and many high glutamate individuals believe they can internalize their emotions, and often attempt to suppress them, until they explode, and feel the great need to unleash their emotions onto someone or something, but nevertheless, elevated/high glutamate individuals are thus prone to these scenarios, and particularly devastated during loss of a loved one, or loss of a relationship etc. This does not however, mean, that high glutamate individuals are those types who would generally become malicious, or take their feelings out on 'just anyone', in fact, they have a tendency to vent towards a friend, or utilize some other resources to get their feelings out.
• Shopping Spree's : [13] [14] : High glutamate individuals often feel an unusually intense attraction to novelty, and looking at objects/items through glass windows in a mall, and generally, cling to the idea of 'shopping' for new stuff, of course, what they shop for will depend on the person and their experiences, but high glutamate individuals are generally desire based shoppers versus need-based shoppers, that is, they shop for what suits their tastes, or visual appeal, or imagine what may provide them 'something to do', as opposed to shopping for 'traditional' reasons. So one with high glutamate is more likely to shop then, 'in-the-moment', than 'for stock and supply' or other, future need based items. 
• Other Addictions [15] : People with elevated glutamate are biologically more prone to all kinds of addictions, and the reinforcing Effects of various drugs.
• Mania [16] : Because high glutamate persons are characteristically opposite of GABA-dominant personalities, they are often Manic, and exhibit multiple behavioral components of several, past or present, BiPolar diagnosis.

  PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS OF HIGH GLUTAMATE IN MEN & WOMEN

• FREQUENT HEADACHES/Migraines [15].
• Frequent Nausea [16]
• Fast Heart Rate, or Low Heart Rate, higher chance of being high (tachycardia, or higher than normal at least) [17]
• Prone to high blood pressure when approaching early 30's [18].
• Inner Tension / Restlessness [19]
• Restless Legs Syndrome [20] (moving/jerking legs around at night due to restlessness, and strange surging sensations in legs that provoke one to move them, exercise them, cross them, curl them etc)

SUGGESTIONS TO SAFELY DECREASE A HIGH GLUTAMATE LEVEL WITHOUT AFFECTING COGNITION

1. Supplement with Phenibut; it's an antianxiety agent that activates the GABA-system, this leads to a subtle opposition of glutamate-transmission in the nervous system [21] [22]. I recommend Ceretropic-brand. It also improves memory.
2. Supplement with a particular rhodiola Rosea extract (Golden Root), it helps protect brain cells from excessive glutamate activity [23], it also improves endurance, strength, oxygen utilization and helps the body with coping to stress [24].
3. Finally, eat more fruits and in general, Vitamin A & C containing foods (especially carrots, and sulfur containing foods like cabbage and onions, onions and garlic help the best to reduce excitotoxicity & Glutamate [25] [26] [27].

[ You could also try L-THEANINE, an amino acid instead of Phenibut, it reduces Anxiety and Stress manfestation as well ! ]

**OTHER SOURCES**

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16400245

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15575797
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23624560
http://www.cortjohnson.org/blog/2013/02/15/glutamate-one-more-piece-in-the-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-mecfs-puzzle-the-neuroinflammatory-series-pt-ii/