St. John's Wort

I'm 15, and have never felt worst. I have been having very mild intrusive thoughts and dreams where i can see a close family member, usually my mom, dead or hurt, and it was my fault. It scares me so so bad. I had it once before several months ago when my family came to the conclusion that I was mildly depressed. My mom went out and bought a bottle of pills called, St. John's Wort, a drug my sister had taken as a teenager too due to depression. She warned me not to stop, and start taking it again, as she once did. I stopped for about a week and took it again and got intrusive thoughts like how I explained, and so my sister told me to stop, because she had the exact same thing I had. So I stopped for a few months, and recently took it againabout a week ago. But then i stopped taking it again for about 2 days and thats when the thoughts started again, a couple days ago. They are starting to go away... should I just stop this drug for good?

Hi Cookiemonsta, I used to take St John's Wort as a teenager too. I'm not aware of it causing intrusive thoughts. Do you suffer from OCD? This is really an herbal supplement so it should be pretty safe but you could discuss it with your doctor if you think it might be causing side effects. I would think your intrusive thoughts are more likely to come from OCD, though. If you can find a therapist, that would really help especially a cognitive-behavioral one :)

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Originally Posted by percythetrain

Hi Cookiemonsta, I used to take St John's Wort as a teenager too. I'm not aware of it causing intrusive thoughts. Do you suffer from OCD? This is really an herbal supplement so it should be pretty safe but you could discuss it with your doctor if you think it might be causing side effects. I would think your intrusive thoughts are more likely to come from OCD, though. If you can find a therapist, that would really help especially a cognitive-behavioral one :)

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St Johns Wort is very powerful.
I would suggest staying away from it at all costs but others may think differently.

Im getting two different replies here. I might have a little OCD, but I don't get these things very often at all

I'm sorry if I'm confusing you but as I said it's just my opinion but I wouldn't touch it.

Having these thoughts make me feel as if I am crazy, even though i have been reassured that tons of people have these thoughts.

Hi Phil, have you actually taken this supplement or is it just that you find it too scary to try? I have a fear of medications/chemicals myself but have taken this one for over a year without any problems.

Cookiemonsta, your intrusive thoughts do sound like they're related to OCD. I suffer from it and the best way to deal with them is to acknowledge them as part of our anxiety disorder and then dismiss them. If you focus on the thoughts and try to figure out what they could mean (which is hard not to do) it will just raise more anxiety and make them come back. Try to read a book about OCD, they should be at your local library. That might help make the intrusions less alarming.

You can ask your doctor if you have doubts about St. John's Wort. They've probably seen many patients who have been on it and have a better picture about possible side effects. That's something that an individual can't say to you as I can only speak from my experience and other people from theirs. Good luck :)

Nope never taken it because of what I've heard from others that have and the fact that you can't take SSRIs within 2 weeks of taking it

It would not be right for me to give an opinion, Cookiemonsta_lol, as I am not medically qualified. You really do need to see a doctor or someone in the medical profession for such advice.

People react differently to different substances, so you will get lots of different, contradictory responses to your question. For instance, I tried St John's Wort and it had little or no effect on me, although I know plenty of people who swear by it and some who had problems with it.

As percythetrain says, you might want to do some research on OCD and anxiety generally. Check out the relevant articles on this site - I have found it very reassuring to find out that my symptoms are well-known, and associated with anxiety.

I agree with Cheesemonster, as personally I find it to really be helping me. But people do react differently.