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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Lawrence S. on February 21, 2003, at 1:44:40
St Johns Wort has reduced anxiety, anhedonia, anger and deppresion as effective as any ssri I have ever tried. It seems to take the edge off of every symptom while enhacing cognition and memory, without any side effects. I wish it would have been available when I was first experiencing these maladys before ethey reached the severe stage. Still, I would'nt rule it out for severe deppression. I think it works too. By reducing the severity.
Posted by linkadge on February 21, 2003, at 12:52:35
In reply to SJW should be first AD tried, posted by Lawrence S. on February 21, 2003, at 1:44:40
I agree. I would be still taking it today,
if I hadn't got serotonin syndrome. Buy
a reputable brand to avoid this, better still
get Kira, the standardized extract.SJW works on Gaba, ser,nor,dop, and others
Linkadge
Posted by stjames on February 21, 2003, at 17:42:16
In reply to SJW should be first AD tried, posted by Lawrence S. on February 21, 2003, at 1:44:40
without any side effects.
SJW has many side effects. Photosensitivity
is one, I have a friend who has cannot wear shorts
or tee's in the summer because of SJW.Rule of thumb; everything has side effects.
Posted by Ron Hill on February 21, 2003, at 20:22:02
In reply to SJW should be first AD tried, posted by Lawrence S. on February 21, 2003, at 1:44:40
Lawrence,
How long have you been taking SJW? What dose do you take? Does SJW remain effective long-term?
Thanks.
-- Ron
----------------------------------> St Johns Wort has reduced anxiety, anhedonia, anger and deppresion as effective as any ssri I have ever tried. It seems to take the edge off of every symptom while enhacing cognition and memory, without any side effects. I wish it would have been available when I was first experiencing these maladys before ethey reached the severe stage. Still, I would'nt rule it out for severe deppression. I think it works too. By reducing the severity.
Posted by Lawrence S. on February 22, 2003, at 4:00:30
In reply to Re: SJW should be first AD tried » Lawrence S., posted by Ron Hill on February 21, 2003, at 20:22:02
I've been on SJW for almost a month. I'm taking GNC Herbal Plus 0.3% hypericum 150mg. 3 times daily. I have'nt been on it long enough to advise on the long term use yet. I will keep you posted. I'm actually prescribed nardil which I don't take right now because of upcomming surgery. But if this works out I may just put the nardil way in the back of the medicine cabinet.
Posted by Larry Hoover on February 22, 2003, at 7:41:25
In reply to SJW should be first AD tried, posted by Lawrence S. on February 21, 2003, at 1:44:40
> St Johns Wort has reduced anxiety, anhedonia, anger and deppresion as effective as any ssri I have ever tried. It seems to take the edge off of every symptom while enhacing cognition and memory, without any side effects. I wish it would have been available when I was first experiencing these maladys before ethey reached the severe stage. Still, I would'nt rule it out for severe deppression. I think it works too. By reducing the severity.
The real issue with SJW for more severe symptoms of depression is dose, just as with any antidepressant medication. The *only* reason, in my studied opinion, that SJW has not been recommended for severe depression is that they didn't try a high enough dose to see if it worked. The standard dose is said to be 900 mg/day of 0.3% hypericin extract. There was one study that used 1800 mg/day on subjects with severe depression (HAM-D 27), and it worked as well as imipramine worked.
There is no upper dose limit to consider, other than individual side effects. SJW is not toxic. It has been used at doses of 22,000 mg/day (not a typo) as a possible AIDS therapy. SJW has anti-retroviral effects in vitro, but was ineffective in vivo.
Just as with any other antidepressant, it would make sense to up the dose until one of two things occurs: a) remission of symptoms; b) intolerable side effects.
Lar
Posted by viridis on February 23, 2003, at 1:37:10
In reply to Re: SJW should be first AD tried, posted by Larry Hoover on February 22, 2003, at 7:41:25
I tried SJW a few years ago for depression, and it seemed to help for a while -- but nothing like the right prescription meds (for me). Of course, I may not have optimized the dose and so on, but I did try various amounts, and the initial effect just sort of faded away.
Interestingly , I recommended it to a friend who had just gone off Prozac and was suffering. She found it quite effective, except that she developed severe photosensitivity (someone else mentioned this too). She's fairly dark-skinned, and seems almost immune to sunburn, yet suddenly even minor sun exposure caused her nasty rashes. This stopped soon after she discontinued SJW. She's now back on Prozac and doing well.
I think this side effect is fairly rare, but something to watch out for.
This is the end of the thread.
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