Did anyone's anxiety get worse when taking this? Did it improve after a while?

I took St.Johns Wort for a couple months. It provided a slight improvement in my mood, but nothing notable. I figure it'd be a better treatment for a very mild form of depression/anxiety.

I started taking this two days ago. I suffer from extreme anxiety, depression, social phobia, compulsive thoughts, and sometimes suicidal thoughts. I do believe I have emotional regulation disorder(BPD). Anyway, placebos don't work on me. It's impossible because of my disorder. The st johns wort I'm taking is from the brand Kira and I'm taking 3 pills a day. I think the brand is very important on whether it works or not. Well, so far, this is the first time in my life that I feel normal. I'm not having ups and downs. I'm not crying uncontrollably. My anxiety is almost non existent and I am socializing with people with ease. I can also fall asleep very easily. I don't feel any emotional pain. The only downside is that it's make me a little tired but I feel calm and relax. So, there you go. I think this pill might have just saved my life.

hey, how long did it take to kick in? congrats on feeling good!

St. Johns wort helped me with endurance when I had this grueling blue collar warehouse job..just made me alittle more resilient. But I need more than 'just alittle more resiliant' now..this anxiety sucks. But sexual side effects of SRII's suck too..for those of you who can't afford drugs, (even St. Johns wort isn't free) do use it..it will elevate your overall disposition.

GOSH I LOVED WHAT YOU SAID "God I feel like such a rebel" TOO FUNNY HEEHEE

XX Dawn

I took my first pill today, and I already know a difference in my mood. I feel more calm, more smooth in how I do things. My mind isn't spewing with random uncontrollable thoughts like I normally do.

Be careful with St. Johns Wort if you are female, it makes birth control less effective.

If you're taking it for depression, just be careful if you're also on a prescription medication because it does have some interaction with benzos, MAOIs, and SSRIs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John...c_interactions

Like 13 years ago or something, I was taking these daily, took 2+ weeks to start working, but actually did a better job than PAXIL!!

I liked it, dunno why I quit. Won't take it now, afraid it'll interact with other drugs.

It does work if you get the good kind.

i dont take that ,i take fish oils as its good for the brain and vitamin b6 complex which seems to help me. i dont take anything else like anti depre as they made my moods worse.

I started taking St. John's Wort a week ago, but I keep thinking how all my troubles are fundamentally ingrained into society and I get depressed again because no amount of mood change seems to affect my strong ethical and logical principles.

Sometimes I just need to whine to vent, even if the opposition is overwhelming, like an overflowing bathtub on the second floor.

Argh! The humanity!

Been taking it for many weeks now, and it's definitely helped. I'm now more social than ever, I actually want to go out and do things with my friends instead of hiding away.

I'm more calm, and i'm able to just easily flow through life. It really does calm my mind.

It's hard to imagined that this stuff isn't FDA approved. It's sickening to hear that, in Germany it's their #1 most used anti depressant. It seems they're more advanced when it comes to healing naturally instead of using altered chemicals.

"It does work if you get the good kind."
Which kind do you recommend?

Ive taken it for several weeks, stopped it for awhile and will be starting them again. From my experience on this medication, Ive had a lot of WEIRD dreams and it made me tired very easily. I have very mild depression and haven't noticed any changes in my mood or depression symptoms. I will be on my third bottle of 150 capsules to be taken 2 pills three times a day. I am hoping the promised effects will kick in soon because I am getting impatient and on the verge of stopping them.

Social Anxiety Background
Have had extreme social anxiety ever since I can remember, with it being the worst in junior high and high school. About 3 years ago I finally got fed up with anxiety controlling my life and told myself I would do whatever it takes to overcome social anxiety. Since then I have read dozens of books, have went to counselling, and have done pretty much everything else you could possibly think of (with the exception of taking meds and supplements). I have seen a major improvement in a lot of social situations, pretty much every situation where I am engaged in convos with other ppl, but for some reason other situations where I am not engaged, such as walking past people in hallways or at the mall still brings up a lot of anxiety for me.
Other Treatments
Haven't tried any other meds or supplements. Have been researching antidepressants but due to possible side effects decided to try some supplements first, starting with st johns wort

Treatment Experience
I am absolutely shocked at how much st johns wort has helped! I have only been taking it for about 2 weeks now, but I have felt better over these two weeks than I have felt in years. I'm sure at least part of this difference is due to the placebo effect, but in the end it doesn't matter if it is the placebo effect or the actual biological effect of the drug that is making the difference as long as it works. My anxiety has gone way down in the social situations that still give me problems (if I had to put a number on it I would say by about 50 percent). I have never had a problem with depression but I still experience a noticable improvement in mood consistantly since beginning st johns wort. I still plan on trying a couple other supplements over the next couple months and then will have something to compare st johns wort to.

no i started taking something similar, 5htp.
it doesnt make me feel any kind of way actually except for the first day which was the beginning of this week when i took 200 mg i felt really warm inside and nice , then i got over it and haven't felt anything similarly since. for the beginning stages of depression where you haven't gotten use to it or it hasn't really sunken in yet, these mood stabilizers may work but for long period of dealing witht that crap , nah it doesnt work.

I took St. John's Wort in tea form. Wow was it ever strong! I noticed a dramatic elevation of mood, relaxed more docile and calm. The only thing that is often not mentioned is that if you consume tyrosine (found in bananas, avocados- my favourite food! fish, meat etc) you will experience an elevated heart rate, this also happens if you consume caffeine of any kind. I ate a raw avocado-banana chocolate pudding, my palpitations were through the roof! and that night I literally could not sleep AT ALL. So because I don't like to restrict my diet, I stopped taking it. But I recommend it for anyone else who would like an overall pleasing anxiety reliever. If St. John's Wort hasn't worked for you in capsule form, take it in tea form, seriously this stuff works.

it's probably just a placebo effect. i took st johns wort as lot when i was young (8 to 13) and it didn't do anything. i've taken it again a few years ago and it didn't change anything either.