Who has been/is on St. John's Wort?

[AdamE]

Hello! I've been suffering from HA for about 6 months now. I think what happened was I had an inner ear infection and was super dizzy and nauseous for 2 weeks. That went away and then a month later everything came back into full blown anxiety. I have always had anxiety but nothing like this where it's affected me physically. But after a billion different tests and imaging I think I can finally accept that my off balance, full facial/head numbness, hands and feet tingly/numbness, foggy brain, nausea, heaviness in the back of my head making me feel like I can't hold my head up at times is due to anxiety and anxiety only.

I'm not huge taking pills but I started Sertraline almost 2 weeks ago. Of course with what I already had mentioned for symptoms above increased 10 fold upon starting Sertraline. But everyone says to stick it out which I'm trying.

But I figured I'd bring up this St. John's Wort. Only heard of this recently and seems to help people out pretty good. There's not a TON of reviews like there are with medications though. Can't really rely on just 15 reviews from particular sites with a high review rating.

I Was wondering if it's only for people with depression or will it work for anxiety too? Also, is it only for low grade depression/anxiety too? I feel if it's only low grade it wouldn't even make a dent in my anxiety that I've had for 13 years now.

I'm just curious in case if Sertraline doesn't work for me in the long run. I'm not going to stay on this stuff forever either. I want to use it as a tool more than a cure. My plan was to get on it and see if it elevated some of my issues, get into some CBT with a therapist and start to eat healthier (hard to eat healthy or not with all this nausea).

Thank you! Hope everyone is doing ok today. :)

[sandie]

There is a lot online about St Johns Wort and another 'natural' anti-depressant med called 5 HTP - in fact I am looking into them at the moment..

BUT, please be very careful, if you are on a prescribed anti-depressant you MUST NOT take either St Johns Wort or 5 HTP; supplmenting your prescribed med in this way could lead to something called seretonin syndrome - which can be very dangerous.

If you go down this route then you will need to wean off the Sertraline and then wait until it is fully out of your system.

I think your plan to focus on using natural meds as a tool and part of a bigger plan to work your way through depression/anxiety is excellent - but perhaps seek the advice of your GP first.