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5-htp and St Johns Wort?

94K views 13 replies 9 participants last post by  march_hare 
#1 ·
Is it safe to take these two together?
Someone advised me that it was ok and I've been taking both of them and my anxiety and depression are much better. But I've been hearing that it might be dangerous to take both of them :/ serotonin syndrome or something.
I was wondering about other people's experiences with these
 
#3 ·
Huzzah!!
now I can recommend them to people without worrying Im poisoning their brains xD
 
#4 ·
For me the effects are noticable almost straight away, I only started taking them together 2 weeks ago and my mood has been so great!
SJW works best in the long-term, when I took that alone it might've been a month or so before I felt any different. Maybe the 5-htp has more of an instantaneous boost-y sort of effect.. well, that's what I feel anyway.
 
#5 ·
I'm glad :D
I hope it helps you as it helped me.
 
#6 ·
I have read that St Johns Wort is widely used as an anti depressant in Germany and is successful but there can be side effects.
When I bought S J W, the chemist told me that some people can have reactions if they are exposed to sunlight. I took it anyway but found that my face became very inflamed and itchy. It was summer then and I stopped taking it.
 
#7 · (Edited)
I would be kind of carefull, i dont know what st johns wort reacts bad to. but i did read some warnings that you need to check to see if it has any reaction to any other thing you may be taking as far as medication goes. i guess it will dissagree with lots of kinds of medicine.. not sure about any kind of amino acid or vitamin tho.. i would google that for sure just to be on the safe side.. but if you have no problems yet.. its probably fine.. but google it any ways..

if i remember right.. photo sensitivity is the problem with it when it reacts with something else..
 
#8 ·
You want to be careful using SJW especially if you are on multiple medications. SJW induces a couple liver enzymes that can wipe out a slew of other drugs that use the same enzymes. It's a bit of an anomaly in terms of herbals.

As far as the 5 HTP-SJW combination goes, they can have "additive effects" but I see no reports of serotonin syndrome, although it can't be ruled out.
 
#11 ·
The combo works for me

I have been taking 900mg SJW and 150mg 5-HTP in 3 divided doses with food now for 2 weeks. I felt better the first day! It's been quite a year for me as I moved after being in the same house for 10 years and also finally quit smoking. I extinguished the smoking habit over a series of months (all prior to the SJW/5HTP) and had stopped completely for about 2 months when I really noticed I was rather depressed. I was having severe nightime carbo cravings along with feeling very low and with constant anxiety. My mood is nothing but positive now, and often find myself singing spontaneously and even sometimes dancing for the heck of it. Anxiety is gone completely. Food cravings completely gone, and I've lost 6 pounds in two weeks....being able to completely adhere to the very healthy food regime I usually follow. I plan to taper down the doses over time and find the smallest sustainable dose to maintain these excellent effects. :)
 
#12 ·
I thought I'd bring this up again as I am finding 5htp + St John's Wort to be a winning combo for the 2nd time. I'm using them at the moment to get through some stuff I'm finding particularly stressful.
Or maybe it's just a placebo?!
Anyone else have experience of these two supplements?
 
#13 ·
Hi Knife,

I am pleased to find you post on the internet as I have been taking SJW for about 9 months now was at 3x300mg aday but have now at 2x300mg aday.
But have had 5htp around the house for about a month now and yet to take any 50mg Tablets.

My question to you is when do you take your 5htp as I was told by someone to take 50mg before bed and take my SJW as normal, Does that sound right.
Only asking as it sound like taking the 2 works very well for you.

All the best xtremx
 
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