Actually, Tracy, I'm afraid I have to disagree to an extent with your comment about serotonin being "produced in the brain."
It appears that some of the serotonin is produced in the brain. But the bulk, about 90-95%% of the Serotonin, is made in the GI tract. Also, 40-60% of all the immune cells in our body are in our gut. Optimizing the health of the GI tract is imperative to wellness, from what I've learned.
Chigirl and I are following similar paths to a degree. While I didn't have the complete neural panel, I did have an Organic Acids Test and also a 3 day Comprehensive STool analysis, saliva testing and about 10 vials of blood drawn for a complete workup. The results were illuminating.
I also had 2 very bad bacterial infections in my gut that needed treatment. Have intestinal permeability. Low counts of certain health intestinal flora (despite taking good quality probiotic supplements). The Organic Acids Test revealed a problem with Serotonin metabolism and a deficiency. Also, it revealed a weakness in one of my body's detoxification pathways. Surprisingly, my candida seems to be under control at the moment.
I received loads of results. And I'm now working on balancing my hormones naturally, treating broken adrenal glands, treating the gut infections and healing the gut, supporting and strengthening detoxification pathways, and boosting serotonin levels.
For the Serotonin levels, I'm taking a compounded form of L-Tryptophan (5HTP would have worked but my tummy didn't like the 5-HTP I tried), plus high amounts of magnesium glycinate, and also have increased my B6 in the form of B6 Phosphate. This is in addition to a boatload of other supplements.
When I started the Tryptophan, additional Magnesium and B6, my fibromyalgia syptoms as well as the mild depression I've had disappeared overnight.
Anyway, I agree with Chigirl. It can be really helpful to get functional testing done to try and discover the body's weaknesses and get them supported.
All this work so that I can at some point do some formal chelation. Sheesh! lol
Thanks for sharing this Chigirl!
Hugs,
SomedaySoon (Sharon from YC). :-)
p.s. Joe, to answer your question .... the answer (at least here in the US) is yes. You can find "normal docs" to do comprehensive stool testing. But they aren't the only ones who utilize this. If you want to have a look at the types of testing, here are two websites of two USA labs that explain the testing. If your doctor does not have relationships with these labs -- he can still contact the lab and order test kits for you.
http://www.diagnostechs.com/main.htmhttp://www.gdx.net/home/assessments/ 
