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St Johns Wort

19K views 41 replies 30 participants last post by  simian4455 
#1 ·
I have been taking the vitamin St John's Wort without reading anymore into it than what's on the label. it's meant to lift moods, lessen depression. but just then i decided to look it up and found a site that said one of the possible side effects is anxiety. :stu
Guess i'll stop taking those. does anyone recommend any vitamins? i take nervaids.
 
#5 ·
Actually St John's Wort is an herb, not a vitamin. I tried it years ago and it didn't help at all; actually I had a bad reaction to it. Herbs are never going to have the dramatic effects that drugs have, but as long as you're not allergic to them, they're probably not going to have the dramatic side effects, either. I find it helpful when I'm upset to drink a cup of lemon balm tea. It's very calming.
 
#7 ·
thanks everyone,
redkit, im not promeds or antimeds i just look at the side effects. id consider it but i have to actually go to a doctor and get prescriptions which i still havent done. im actually trying to combat social anxiety by natural ways. i dont want to create further problems by taking medications with negative side effects because i dont want anymore problems at all. ill see what happens.
 
#8 ·
R4ph4el said:
redkit said:
dont waste time and money with placebos.
meds are extremely effective
Do you even comprehend what you're saying?
:lol :lol :lol I dont think he does. HE seems like he's been brainwashed into beleiving that popping a pill will help you. Sure it may for some people and it'll kill you faster at the same time. Goddamn society is built up on popping pills. All doctors are the same. Don't let him get to you lol
 
#10 ·
mayblue said:
Actually St John's Wort is an herb, not a vitamin. I tried it years ago and it didn't help at all; actually I had a bad reaction to it. Herbs are never going to have the dramatic effects that drugs have, but as long as you're not allergic to them, they're probably not going to have the dramatic side effects, either. I find it helpful when I'm upset to drink a cup of lemon balm tea. It's very calming.
Mmm i love lemon balm tea! My Mum grew it in her garden, i have yet to find it in the states. Got some chocolate mint growing that makes a nice relaxing tea too.
 
#11 ·
Touche Turtle said:
mayblue said:
Actually St John's Wort is an herb, not a vitamin. I tried it years ago and it didn't help at all; actually I had a bad reaction to it. Herbs are never going to have the dramatic effects that drugs have, but as long as you're not allergic to them, they're probably not going to have the dramatic side effects, either. I find it helpful when I'm upset to drink a cup of lemon balm tea. It's very calming.
Mmm i love lemon balm tea! My Mum grew it in her garden, i have yet to find it in the states. Got some chocolate mint growing that makes a nice relaxing tea too.
Is there actually a plant called chocolate mint? Sounds delicious.
 
#12 ·
funkypresident said:
Goddamn society is built up on popping pills. All doctors are the same. Don't let him get to you lol
Not mine. Meds would be the last thing she'd recommend if nothing else works.

I gave SJW a couple of tries and neither time made much of a difference. The first time I took a store brand. Didn't work. Few months later tried a name brand with higher dosage. Went through 2 or 3 bottles and didn't notice any difference in anxiety or my moods either.
 
#15 ·
You're not supposed to take St. John's Wort if you're taking birth control pills. I read that somewhere; I think maybe even the drug information for the Yasmin I used to take. Can anyone corroborate this?

xoxo
Maggi
 
#16 ·
mayblue said:
Herbs are never going to have the dramatic effects that drugs have..
I don't know about that.. marijuana, heroin, cocaine, etc are herbs/plants, and they can have dramatic effects, just like any man-made prescription drug. There's plenty of legal herbs out there, which may or may not help someone more than meds.
 
#18 ·
I'm taking St. John's Wort, too, Blue Oval.

I figured the risk of increased anxiety would be okay if it helped the depression (sometimes I'm anxious about being depressed, so I guess it works out). I think it's helping with the depression so far. No effect on the anxiety, good or bad. :)
 
#19 ·
Inturmal said:
mayblue said:
Herbs are never going to have the dramatic effects that drugs have..
I don't know about that.. marijuana, heroin, cocaine, etc are herbs/plants, and they can have dramatic effects, just like any man-made prescription drug. There's plenty of legal herbs out there, which may or may not help someone more than meds.
Unfortunately all the things that have any strong effect are regulated and you can't just buy them. I've found that the easier it is to obtain something, the less effect its going to have on anything.
 
#20 ·
well its been almost a week so far and i think its working some, like in class tuesday this guy in my class asked if i wanted to sit with him and his friends and i said ok, i probably would have said no thanks before. but i do notice im more tired and dozing off in class, well more often than before lol. and this afternoon i fell asleep on my books studying even tho i had 8 hrs sleep last night. anyone else feel tired when taking this stuff?
 
#22 ·
I'll have to take the other side in this one cause St. John's Wort has worked better for me than any real medication I've tried, at least at making me a little less depressed. Too much does cause some anxiety, I had an episode at school one time. Not a panic attack or anything and I was luckily sitting in the back so I could leave without being noticed. But as long as I don't take too much I'm fine.
 
#23 ·
I've started it about a week ago and I'm taking vitamin b complex with it as well

The dose of st johns wort I take daily is about 2000-4000mg but I read somewhere that around 18000 is effective, that would end up costing the earth
 
#24 ·
I've taken SJW for at least five years now. Currently taking 1800 mg. a day. I will say that the effects are subtle, you can't expect too much, but they are real. There are no significant side effects (the birth control caveat doesn't apply to me and I have experienced no noticeable photosensitivity), and it is not horribly expensive (certainly not compared to SAM-e, which I also take). I refuse to take SSRI meds because of the sexual side effects.


If you do some research online, you'll find that it has been tested in clinical studies in Europe, and found to have a significant antidepressive effect. The SJW and 800 mg. daily SAM-e were not enough to keep me from suffering a major depressive episode recently, but I do believe that they give me the resilience necessary to come out of it more readily than I would otherwise.

As for anxiety, I have found SJW to be subtle, but to have a very definite positive effect in increasing my ability to silence the self-defeating internal dialog that fuels my anxiety. No noticeable help for situation-specific anxiety that I can tell. By that I mean that it may help me obsess less about a social situation, but it doesn't make me less nervous while I'm in that social situation.

I've noticed that when I have stopped taking it suddenly, I have noticed a pattern of responding to situations with noticeably increased anxiety 1-2 weeks later, which has led me to return to SJW.

In summary, SJW has small but significant effect, low on side effects and not horrendously expensive. Don't expect profound change, but the downsides are few.
 
#25 ·
I agree with the above poster. SJW's effects are subtle, but better than nothing at all. It's allowed me to get out of bed without feeling like the day is doomed. So, that's good. SJW also goes well with Passion Flower, which is more of CNS depressant, and better for anxiety.
 
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