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Ssri´s Vs St Johnsworth

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Hi guys :)

It´s been a while since I posted here. I still come to lurk around, but most of the time my brain is busy processing my gender identity issues.

It is very possible that in my case those issues were heavily interlinked with trauma, since I started experimenting with gender I´ve noticed a drop in social anxiety. Nevertheless during the winter (so, now) my anxiety and depression does tend to come back, and I´m discussing SSRI´s with my psychiatrist.

I mentioned to him that I take St. Johnsworth infusions now and then. He said not to combine it with SSRI´s and he also said that a "professional dosage" of St Johnsworth can be equally potent to usage of an SSRI. Now I´m wondering whether it wouldn´t be healthier for me to just use the professional dosage of St Johnsworth instead of regular antidepressants.

Does anybody have experience using St Johnsworth professionally (so everyday dosages instead of now and then infusions)?. I´d love to hear your experience and how it was different for you than using SSRI´s.

Warm regards
Radise
 
I tried it, fewer side effects than SSRIs, but also little beneficial effect. I do know that combining it with them can be very risky

Have a look at Link Removed

which says

St. John's wort should only be used carefully with MAOIs (e.g. phenelzine, isocarboxazid, tranylcypromine), SSRIs (e.g. citalopram, fluoxetine, paroxetine, sertraline), tricyclics (e.g. dosulepin, imipramine, lofepramine), duloxetine or venlafaxine. If so, it can cause Link Removed.

St. John's wort has a few interactions with other medicines….
 
Hey Stenni, I know, I´m not going to combine them :)

It´s more of a choice thing. I have a prescription for Sertraline, but I haven´t picked it up yet because I´m considering using St Johnsworth instead. On the flip side, I have also noticed little beneficial effect from just drinking St Johnsworth infusions.
 
Western pharma packs more wallop.
That having been said?
If you go on the sertraline now, and then off the sertraline in the summer, you will want to taper off, not just quit.
A GP had me cold-turkey off of Zoloft/sertraline and it was fairly unpleasant. Like being drunk in a bad way.

St. Johnswort works as an SSRI, but like most plant medicinals, you have to take a LOT of unrefined plant to get the effect. You would do better to order or buy some standardized hypericin capsules, that way you are getting a reliable dose of the active chemical in the plant.

I have had more improvement from taking 5-htp, which is a serotonin precursor. Yes, I take that and a couple of reuptake inhibitors? And buspirone, and a mood stabilizer...
Don't do this at home, kids...Serotonin syndrome is rare but it can happen.
Serotonin precursor+reuptake inhibitor can wind you up in an emergency room.
I have REALLY annoyingly resistant severe depression, is all, and this is probably less likely to kill me than the unremediated depression.

Of course, use coping skills, force yourself to go out, exercise if at all possible, go to or get a support group if at all possible.
I assume you know to try your best to do that...the cement-shoe shuffle. Getting through depressive episodes is like that.
 
I plan on building it up easy to see what kind of side effects it has.

Paxil had pretty bad side effects for me (felt like I was on methamphetamines for a few days), and so the less side effects the better, but I´ll see how it goes. I think I´m deciding against St. Johnsworth because it is not known if St. Johnsworth does anything to also calm anxiety and panic attacks.

Not gonna mix any medications, I´m too careful for that. I totally understand it on your part though. No judgement! I hope it does work for you.

I do running, yoga, healthy eating, the works. But you know how it is, freaking winter, you get a lot of darkness and it´s just easier to slip into negative mental patterns.

Thanks for your advice :)
 
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