St John's Wort

[Guest Neville]

After many hours of surfing the net, when I should have been working, I have read that a number of studies have confirme that SJW can be effective in the treatment of mild to moderate depression and also OCD and anxiety.

Does anybody have any experience with SJW, or for that matter, any other 'herbal' compounds, like 5-HTP, Kava Kava, Pasiflora etc.

All the best,

Neville.

[Rachie]

Hi Neville,

I haven't personally but if you do a search I know this has been discussed before on the forums.

Rach xx

[Guest steve23]

Hey Neville

I used St. John's Wort in the past... it helped me out with depression/mood somewhat but less so for OCD. I know some people that swear by it though. Apparently it has similar effects to Prozac. I guess it's different for every individual. As for the others, I think a lot of these natural remedies are still being investigated.

Be careful though! Mixing herbs and medications can have some unexpected interactions, so if you're considering taking a natural remedy, ask your doc about it first mate.

Steve

[Guest Neville]

Hey Neville

I used St. John's Wort in the past... it helped me out with depression/mood somewhat but less so for OCD. I know some people that swear by it though. Apparently it has similar effects to Prozac. I guess it's different for every individual. As for the others, I think a lot of these natural remedies are still being investigated.

Be careful though! Mixing herbs and medications can have some unexpected interactions, so if you're considering taking a natural remedy, ask your doc about it first mate.

Steve

Thanks Rach and Steve.

[Guest Jenna]

Hi Neville!

I have been taking St Johns Wort for about three months. I didn't think I really noticed any difference, but thinking about it as a result of your post, I can say that although I don't really FEEL any different day to day, my anxiety peaks have got less frequent. Usually I build up and build up with anxiety and then all of a sudden have a massive freak out. This hasn't happened in about 2 months now. I'll keep you posted as am not entirely sure if it works or not, but that's my experience. Anything's worth a go really. I've also been taking cod liver oil. Also, I've cut down on my drinking which was getting WAY too excessive. SJW's expensive but worth a go.

[Guest inorbit]

Hi,

I've looked into this a little recently and i found that St John's Wort is proscribed first for cases of mild/moderate depression in Germany. Looking at some of the research that has been done, it is known for certain that it has an effect on the chemical balance in the brain although they do not know exactly why this happens. It also says that it has many active elements but they do not know what they all do (as oppose to traditional medicines which are developed for certain purposes).

Some studies say it is just as effective at increasing the chemical levels in the brain that help with depression as traditional anti depressents but with fewer side effects, but i know there is a study just been don in the US which concluded that it was no better at placebo in trials with moderate depression (although they are unsure for people with mild depression)....infact it seems most studies are positive but there is no real concrete research that has been done..... all i can guess is that it is the big pharmaceutical companies that do/fund research and if a herbal plant proves to be just as effective for some people then that would hurt sales.... so it's not conclusive, but it does do something. In the UK i think most GP's prefer you not to take it and vist them for normal treatment...that's something i read also!.

Oh they recommend not to take it with any other medicines as they can interact and it normally stops others from working.....and it's actually a phototoxin!!! but most people don't have a problem...just some get a rash due to increased sun sensitivity.

Well that's briefly all that i could actually find on it...hope it helps.

Oh if you do take it let us know how you get on.

JC