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St. John's Wort

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Consumer Review: Taking St. John's Wort With Antidepressants Gave Me Headaches.

St. John's Wort has caused me headaches or head rushes. I have taken depression medication for quite awhile. I always figured that to be part of the reason for not tolerating St. John's Wort. In other words, herbs and prescription medicine must not mix. My eyes have always been sensitive to light, 50 yrs now, so I'm sure St. John's Wort would probably contribute to light sensitivity also.


Response #1

I too experienced headaches a couple of hours after taking the Wort (2 500mg). I also experienced tiredness and a slightly intoxicated like feeling. I am currently trying to take only one dose at night before I go to bed to see how that works out. I'm curious to know if an ideal dose can be identified for an individual and how one would go about getting that information?


Response #2

My suggestion would be to consult your prescribing doctor before reducing your prescription. I made the mistake of running out of my prescription (cold turkey: from 200mg daily to 0 the next day)and not taking it for about 10 days after being on it for 5 months.

I developed severe insomnia within 3-4 days of being off the medication, and I was thrown into a manic episode that lasted for about 5 days until I started back on the prescription. I'm currently being weaned off the meds slowly and replacing it slowly with a natural alternative called Luminex (St. John's Wort Extract, Griffonia Seed Extract, Folate, Vitamin B12). It will be a few weeks before I should feel the results.

The suggested use for Luminex is 1 capsule three times daily, so 1 every 8 hours. Each capsule contains 300mg St. John's Wort Extract, 15mg Griffonia Seed Extract, 133mcg Folate, 2mcg Vitamin B12. That's a daily dosage of 900mg of St. John's Wort spread out over a 24hr. period. A 1000mg dosage all at once sounds like an overdose to me. I'd suggest reducing your dose of what your taking to 1/2 capsule 4 times a day , so 250mg each dose, spreading out the 1000mg over the course of the day. Or start at a lower total dosage and work your way up until you notice the beginning of the headaches.


Response #3

The meds and St. John's Wort do the same thing. If you take too much of either at at one time then you are overdosing on it. They both put seratonin in the brain and if you take too much at one time it can cause very bad headaches and even migraines. I learned this the hard way when the Dr. took me off on antidepressant and put me on another medication with seratonin in it. I had to go to the hospital to get a shot for a migraine. They told me that I should have waited at least a couple of weeks before taking something else with seratonin in it because I overdosed on it.


Response #4

Taking Hypericum Perforatum (St. John's Wort) and a selective seratonin re-uptake inhibitor concurrently is inadvisable. Not only could you experience more severe side effects such as headaches and agitation, it might jeopardize your attempt to overcome depressive illness.

While taking an SSRI (and for several weeks after stopping taking one of this class of drugs) it is probably best to avoid St. John's Wort, 5-HTP (Griffonia seed) and other supplements with similar effects. At the very least, discuss this issue with your pharmacist, your primary care physician and/or psychiatrist. If you wish to continue taking your anti-depressant medication along with nutritional support, try taking B complex vitamins orlecithin, which will probably not interfere with these drugs. Remember that herbs and vitamins, although natural and very useful, often have a pharmacological effect and do produce side effects and can be cross reactive. Almost all literature on SSRIs and quite a lot of literature on H. perforatum state that these two substances will probably do you more harm than good if taken together.

Also, if you experience photosensitivity, be aware that St. john's Wort and yarrow both have been reported to increase sensitivity to light in some people. Be extra careful to cover up, use sunscreen and protect your eyes. If a sun-related rash develops on your skin while taking these herbs, discontinue their use immediately.

As someone who has studied Galenical Herbalism for most of his life, and who also has struggled with depression, I want you to know that a nutritional and herbal approach has been quite satisfying for me. Just be informed about what you are putting into your body. I would hate to see you harm yourself in the attempt to heal. Be patient and don't over do it.


Response #5

Please check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking these medications together. I am under the impression that NONE of them should be taken at the same time.



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