St. John's wort

[Kobey]

Anyone tried this ?

[Baggs]

Yep, it did nothing for me. Nor did 5HTP or any herbal teas. But that's just me, it may work for you. All the best.

Baggs

[Mark13]

Same here: Valerian, Kalms, St,John's Wort, 5-HTP - did nothing for me.

[Col]

I found an article and threaded something which included this article. I'll have a read of my stats.
Anyway apparently scientific studies have revealed after all its hype that basically, it does nothing at all for you , when it comes to anxiety.

But everyone's different & you never know.

Magnesium, sounds promising.

[Tessar]

Hi Kobey. I think I might have tried this a few years back but didnt have anywhere near as much success as Fluoxetine.
I'm not sure if you know but were you to try St John's Wort, there are a number of things you MUST NOT TAKE IT WITH:
- SSRI's (which you might be on already?)
- Tricyclics
- MAOIs
- Nefazodone (Serzone)
I dont wish to sound like a scaremongerer as I'm sure that St John's Wort does work for alot of people - but there are other drugs it will interact with as well so you MUST check with your doctor if you do decide to take it.

[Emphyrio]

I've actually thought of trying this myself. Apparently it acts similarly to a MAOI and inhibits the reuptake of serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine. I've heard other people say that it works for depression but not for anxiety - any reason why this is? Though, to be honest, when I was on prozac I still worried about a lot of things (and still had occasional intrusive OCD thoughts) but as I felt so much better about things I guess the impact of the ocd/anxiety was lessened, if you know what I mean?

If I still feel crap I may give it a go - I did try 5HTP but it made me pee out my bottom so haven't really wanted to take it since! My libido is still recovering from my third bout in the ring with prozac so I really don't want to go down the antidepressant route again until I've exhausted my other options!

[Tyke]

I tried this but can't say it helped at all. It delayed me starting on SSRIs as I had to wait for it to clear from my system as you cannot take both together. SSRIs (Sertraline in my case) was the only thing that helped in the end, but my GP wasn't against St Johns Wort, he just felt it wasn't strong enough for my depression.

[Elle-Kay]

I don't know if you're a girl or boy, but St John's Wort shouldn't be taken with the contraceptive pill either as it renders it inactive in the body.

[Coppernob]

I took St John's wort about 14 years ago when I was going through a very difficult time in my marriage and my career at the same time. I have to say I think it worked, because I came through the whole thing without even going to the doctor and taking anti-d's.

However, the causes of that anxiety and depression were specific, so perhaps it was easier to deal with. I tried it this time, but as my anxiety/depression came out of nowhere without a discernible cause it has been much harder to deal with and the St John's wort did nothing - though to be honest I didn't give it long enough. It really needs the same lead-in time as any anti-d to start working.

[hanshan]

I tried it, and I can't say I noticed any difference for anxiety.

There's little or no regulation for the active ingredient, so different brands may vary considerably.