Resource St John's Wort for teen depression

[LittleJem]

@Thereisnothing here is a study on SJW for adolescent depression.

Open-label pilot study of St. John's wort in adolescent depression - PubMed

Preliminary findings suggest that SJW is well tolerated and may be clinically effective in the treatment of some adolescents with mild depression. Controlled trials of SJW in adolescents with MDD are suggested.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Thereisnothing]

Thanks for this @LittleJem made interesting reading...............St. Johns Wort been used for a long time for depression, good to see the results.

 

[LittleJem]

Here is an NHS article: https://www.nhs.uk/news/mental-health/st-johns-wort-for-depression/
today I am on 75mg of Tramadol. Think it is helping a bit. There are lots of good reviews for Treatment Resistant Depression and Tramadol. Last time I used it, it only helped for a day, then the second day didn't work. But maybe it will give me a day off today.

 

[Thereisnothing]

Here is an NHS article: https://www.nhs.uk/news/mental-health/st-johns-wort-for-depression/
today I am on 75mg of Tramadol. Think it is helping a bit. There are lots of good reviews for Treatment Resistant Depression and Tramadol. Last time I used it, it only helped for a day, then the second day didn't work. But maybe it will give me a day off today.

Its a shame its not licensed to prescribe, silly when they can dish out so many chemical drugs ad hoc............easy enough to buy though...........it can interfere with other medications as have mentioned before so anyone wishing to try it should make sure its safe for them to do 1st.

 

[Jean4]

I give my usual warning with St. John's. Please do not take it without consulting a doctor.

St. John's can interact with other medications and cause medical issues. It can also exacerbate medical illnesses such as asthma.

Some people do have good results with it. Personally, for these reasons, I can't take it. :)

 

[LittleJem]

you can look up all the medications it interacts with very easily online and in the patient information inside the box. It can cause mania, so you have to be careful with it, I guess not for Bipolar. Drs don't prescribe it in the UK and don't know about it. Doctors make loads of mistakes in general (I mean the stuff I read on my FB depression groups is outrageous at times) so it is always worth doing your own research.

It is probably safer for teens than SSRIs - as SSRIs can cause higher levels of suicidal thoughts, and also PSSD (which for a teen is particularly brutal).

It does interfere with a contraceptive pill if that is relevant - and can be dangerous with the contraceptive pill.
ps the Tramadol is not helping me.

Sucks to depression. Sucks to Tramadol - I have a few boxes of hte stuff because i thouht it was going to help. Frankly, sucks to everything.

Excuse me. I don't know how to do much more of this.

 

[Jean4]

you can look up all the medications it interacts with very easily online and in the patient information inside the box. It can cause mania, so you have to be careful with it, I guess not for Bipolar. Drs don't prescribe it in the UK and don't know about it. Doctors make loads of mistakes in general (I mean the stuff I read on my FB depression groups is outrageous at times) so it is always worth doing your own research.

It is probably safer for teens than SSRIs - as SSRIs can cause higher levels of suicidal thoughts, and also PSSD (which for a teen is particularly brutal).

It does interfere with a contraceptive pill if that is relevant - and can be dangerous with the contraceptive pill.

That's interesting, because it is very common in the USA which is why we have a heck of a lot of research on it.

 

[LittleJem]

@Jean4 thank you for the reminder of checking contraindications though. I do forget this, as I don't take anything else.

 

[Jean4]

@Jean4 thank you for the reminder of checking contraindications though. I do forget this, as I don't take anything else.

Oy. I can't drink water without telling my doc since I am on so much. I am a science experiment lol

 

[LittleJem]

That's interesting, because it is very common in the USA which is why we have a heck of a lot of research on it.

it's very common in Europe - it's prescribed eg in Germany. But in UK you just buy it OTC - eg in Boots or Superdrug or Holland & Barrett which are all high street stores. The patient information leaflet contains all the contraindications.

it was better for me than SSRI - though that isn't saying much!

 

[Jean4]

it's very common in Europe - it's prescribed eg in Germany. But in UK you just buy it OTC - eg in Boots or Superdrug or Holland & Barrett which are all high street stores. The patient information leaflet contains all the contraindications.

it was better for me than SSRI - though that isn't saying much!

You guys are strange. You can walk into a pharmacy and get heroin. Yet, medical marijuana is illegal.

My treatment is medical marijuana and Wellbutrin. All under a doctors orders. The marijuana is better than St. John's and has none of the side effects.

 

[LittleJem]

You guys are strange. You can walk into a pharmacy and get heroin. Yet, medical marijuana is illegal.

My treatment is medical marijuana and Wellbutrin. All under a doctors orders. The marijuana is better than St. John's and has none of the side effects.

For me, I spent 4 or 5 years hallucinating every day on MJ edibles. Though some of those days were the happiest of my life. But I believed a lot of things that are not true - eg world peace. I would prefer SJW if it worked for me.

I am 100 per cent in favour of medical MJ, don't get me wrong.

 

[Jean4]

For me, I spent 4 or 5 years hallucinating every day on MJ edibles. Though some of those days were the happiest of my life. But I believed a lot of things that are not true - eg world peace. I would prefer SJW if it worked for me.

I am 100 per cent in favour of medical MJ, don't get me wrong.

And it does the opposite for me. It stops my auditory and visual hallucinations. It's the only way I can function.

Everything effects people differently. :)

 

[Deleted member 1465]

Utterly incidental, but I used to grow St John's Wort around my little pond. Utterly by mistake, I dug it up and replanted it from round the back of some houses where there is a path. It did rather well.

 

[Jean4]

Utterly incidental, but I used to grow St John's Wort around my little pond. Utterly by mistake, I dug it up and replanted it from round the back of some houses where there is a path. It did rather well.

I would kill it. I kill plants lol.

 

[George81]

I remember when I was a teenager my mom bought St.John's Wart for me hoping it would improve my moods, I never went to a doctor back then and even the rare time I did I remember lying to the doctor telling her nothing was wrong and I had no problems. However I'd been self harming since the age of 15 and can remember hating myself in junior school so it's been going on for a long time now!

 

[LittleJem]

Here is Wikipedia on St John's Wort. I know it doesn't help everyone (what does) but here is some more info:

St John's wort
Main article: St John's wort

A 2008 Cochrane Collaboration meta-analysis concluded that "The available evidence suggests that the hypericum extracts tested in the included trials a) are superior to placebo in patients with major depression; b) are similarly effective as standard antidepressants; c) and have fewer side effects than standard antidepressants. The association of country of origin and precision with effects sizes complicates the interpretation."[108] The United States National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health advice is that "St. John's wort may help some types of depression, similar to treatment with standard prescription antidepressants, but the evidence is not definitive." and warns that "Combining St. John's wort with certain antidepressants can lead to a potentially life-threatening increase of serotonin, a brain chemical targeted by antidepressants. St. John's wort can also limit the effectiveness of many prescription medicines."[109]
It's because I'm reading the Wikipedia article on depression (hmm again) and all the weird remedies it suggests. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_of_depression

 

[SuicideBoys93]

I've used SJW, and actually have some in my cabinet right now. My mother-in-law who I'm very close with which is surprising to many suffers with depression. She also knows my struggles and told me about SJW. Not sure if the placebo effect tricked me. After a week I noticed a uptick in my energy levels, and overall mood. I need to get back to taking it honestly.

 

[LittleJem]

I've used SJW, and actually have some in my cabinet right now. My mother-in-law who I'm very close with which is surprising to many suffers with depression. She also knows my struggles and told me about SJW. Not sure if the placebo effect tricked me. After a week I noticed a uptick in my energy levels, and overall mood. I need to get back to taking it honestly.
[/QUOTE
Ensure you dose it right. Officially, it takes a few weeks to work (like 4). I do feel it instantly. I needed to drop my dose, as I felt manic on the full dose. But 1/3 of a dose for me is the best I've got.

 

[SuicideBoys93]

The bottle I got has me taking it three times a day.