Posted by Alara on November 5, 2002, at 4:37:38
"Trials carried out around the world suggest that St John’s Wort has anti-anxiety and antidepressant effects. Some antidepressants are designed to stimulate. St John’s Wort is not a stimulant, rather a mild sedative. This is why is has been found to be useful in patients suffering mild depression with high levels of anxiety. As a result some research has suggested that it may be more useful for those currently taking drugs like venlafaxine (Effexor) and buproion (Wellbutrin) rather than Prozac. However as every patient is different, this has not been definitively proved and the medical community has made it clear that they require a lot more research to be done before they are willing to say that St John’s Wort works as well as prescribed antidepressants "
This information was copied from the very useful website www.allsands.com/Misc1/stjohnwortd_uxr_gn.htm
I just have a few questions about this.
1. The writers suggest that St Johns Wort may be beneficial in conjunction with some SSRIs and the SNRI Effexor. I always thought that St Johns Wort was contraindicated against other antidepressants because there were fears about excess seretonin build-up. Have there been any conclusive studies?
2. The writers also suggest (elsewhere on the webpage) that St Johns Wort can reduce the effectiveness of oral contraceptive pills. I also read something like this on Psychobabble a few days ago. Can anyone point me towards any clinical trials which substantiate this claim?? I can NOT afford to get pregnant right now. lol.
3. The writers on this site describe St Johns Wort as `not a stimulant, rather a mild sedative." This is desirable for me, as I need something to calm my nerves. So far, St Johns Wort has been doing the trick.
4. (This has nothing to do with the St Johns Wort issue.) In spite of having a mild depressive, high anxiety problem, I sometimes think I need a stimulant to get me out of bed in the morning. MAJOR CONFUSING PARADOX!! I sleep way too much to avoid anxiety, if that makes any sense. Many people on this board have tried to post useful suggestions to me in the past about medications that will help me to overcome my atypical depression, but I must admit that I stubbornly resisted, believing that I could conquer the world med free. Maybe I can. I'm going to give myself 2 more weeks to see how much the exercise and St Johns Wort help. But right now I'm still exploring the options.
Does it make any sense to give a highly anxious person (who at the same time can't get motivated to get out of bed and go to work) an antidepressant and a stimulant? Will St Johns Wort help to augment the effects of the antidepressant with minimal effects on the heart and liver?
How much damage do these drugs really do to our heart, liver and kidneys anyway???
Just concerned about my health.
Sorry about being so long-winded as usual. Thanks for reading. :-)
Alara
poster:Alara
thread:126485
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021101/msgs/126485.html