ST. Johns Wort

[JRL]

Anyone have any experience with this?

I started using this as an experiment to see if SSRIs might be helpful in dealing with my tendency to depression. Way sooner than I expected to feel anything, I began to feel fundementaly different. I seem to have the abiluty to break out of some self defeating patterns that have hurt me most of my adult life.

It's been a month or so now, and I am still struggling a bit but I seem to be on fairly positive ground.

Anyone else tried this?

[JRL]

Bump

[dergheist]

Yes, it does work and I swear by it, but it also makes a person's skin more sensitive to sunlight and therefore easier to get skin cancer.  So I would be careful to sun exposure, but all in all it is a good herb for depression and other maladies.

[JRL]

Did you have any trouble regulating your dose? Too much and I get all spacey and unmotivated, too little and I am back in the pit.

How much did you take?

[dergheist]

That depends if you are taking flowers or foliage.  The flowers are more potent than the foliage I find.  Yes, I did have troubles with regulating if it was from different plants.  I have never had a spacy problem, but each person is different and so is each plant.  I would take about one gram a day from the same plant that I had dried massive amounts of all at the same time.  This way all of the foliage would be quite close in strength.  Everytime I had to get more or from a different plant I always did 500 mg and worked my way up to determine potency.

[Green2Herman]

St. Johns gives a fast effect on how you feel. You see things more positives. This effect is proven.

However we dont yet know if it have the true anti-depressive effect, that is allowing hypothalamus to grow back to its original size.

[JRL]

That certainly has been my experience, I see some real differences.

What I am taking is just standardized areial parts, does that mean everything above the ground? Right now I take about 4 300 mg caps a day.

[Green2Herman]

That certainly has been my experience, I see some real differences.

What I am taking is just standardized areial parts, does that mean everything above the ground? Right now I take about 4 300 mg caps a day.

The best way to take them 3 times a day.

The dose you take are the one that usually are recommended on the package. If it gives you a good effect keep with it. But you can also go up to 3 * 2 * 300 mg.

St Wort can make the effect of alcohol a lot better. Not that you get more drunk, but it feels nicer   So be careful if you drink a lot so you dont start drinking even more.

The affect St Wort can decrease with time. Increasing the dose can work.

My theory of working is acctually that you have aromatic oil in it, like safrol and the rest.

Not surpricing if my theory is correct St Wort mix good with lacorse and they can be used together for depression or cronical tiredness.

[X. Torris]

Yes, it does work and I swear by it, but it also makes a person's skin more sensitive to sunlight.

Yes.  A friend used St. Johns Wort for depression to apparently good effect, but claimed she got charred when out in the sun, even with repeated liberal applications of SPF 30 sunblock.

[senorsalvia]

A few years ago, I began taking St. Johns (3 X standard dose suggested on the bottle)...  I was fighting a depressed state that had me ready to quit my job....  The first thing I noticed was that I began having a load of a fun time dreaming.  St. Johns is reported to give some people alot of night terrors and bad dreams...  I dunno 'bout that, as I usually go years without remembering a dream....  After taking the wort a couple weeks; it was if my "dream switch" had been turned on inside my mind...   I now have a normal dream life such as others speak about....  As far a controlling depression, I found the effect real, but fairly subtle...  Maybe 1/4 the efficacy of the standard Zoloft I had been on....   Might I also say, Salvia is the greatest thing I ever found for depression!!!   Prolly saved my life actually......................  sal

[Stonehenge]

I found that if I took too much I would start speeding after a few days or a week. I forget how much I took but it was the double strength tabs about 5 or 6 a day or so. It wasn't bad, good for working and so on but it can allow you to push yourself too hard sometimes. It's good stuff.

[Green2Herman]

I found that if I took too much I would start speeding after a few days or a week. I forget how much I took but it was the double strength tabs about 5 or 6 a day or so. It wasn't bad, good for working and so on but it can allow you to push yourself too hard sometimes. It's good stuff.

Another argument for my theory  

Do you not see similarities with ginger, licorse and calamus. It do affect nor-adrenalin for sure I think...

Most people with real depression I think it is quite useless, but I do think that most people eating SSRI for otherthings than anxiety would have more use of St. Worts  :lol:

[jikuhchagi]

I tried growing it (twice) outside, but it never bloomed enough to try it (I wanted to grow it myself, but I suppose standardized is best) I may try to grow it indoors next.

Sorry, no help just idle musing...

j  :roll:

[Green2Herman]

I tried growing it (twice) outside, but it never bloomed enough to try it (I wanted to grow it myself, but I suppose standardized is best) I may try to grow it indoors next.

Sorry, no help just idle musing...

j  :roll:

I had the same problem.

[dergheist]

I live in southern Lousyana and St Johns wort loves this place.  I have had no problems growing it or flowering it, but we have mild winters and very humid year round. (great for tropicals)  I am kinda old fashioned and use my own homegrown and that is why my procedure of taking it is different from others I guess.