[Jully]

Has anyone had any success treating depression/anxiety with herbal supplements? I am aware that St. John's Wort is supposed to be helpful. Has anyone tried any others that worked? Experiences?

(Just a note - I have tried many, many of the prescription meds to no avail...looking for another more natural option.)

Thanks!

[trippinmickey]

Ive Post this 2 times before .DEPLIN is a new med. out which is not a med. at all but a med food = vitamin Its a pure and high dose of B vitamin ( is the way I understood it )which helps your other meds. work much much better .I take low dose of all dep. my meds. to keep the side effects low I started taking deplin 3 month ago and WOW .In last 3 years ive been working hard to find the right meds. and not juist take waht was even out to me by my doc. Deplin has made the bggest inpack ! In the past i would for get to take my meds. all the time but now I look forward to taken them. I am starting to feel happy again from time to time but better yet Im not going in to that dark deep hell of a Dep. as much.

[Larry_Hoover]

St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) is the most-prescribed antidepressant in Germany, where it is prepared using stringent quality control standards. In the U.S., two German brands are marketed as Kira and Perika. You can also use more than the "standard" dose of 900 mg/day, up to the point where side effects become intolerable. There is no known toxic threshold to be concerned with. There is also the Ayurvedic herb Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), which has many antidepressant and sleep regulating properties. You might also try Rhodiola rosea (a.k.a. golden root, or rose root), which is an adaptogen with antidepressant properties. Any of these can also be augmented with Siberian Ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus), also an adaptogen, but you should only consider the combination after you've titrated to a comfortable dose of the primary herb.

Lar

[Jully]

Thank you for the information about Deplin. I have read a couple of posts about it on here (possibly one of yours.) I am keeping that in mind as a last resort.

For one thing, I worry about what the meds are doing to my brain/body in part due to the side effects of coming off them. If something can make me such a mess when withdrawing, I wonder if it is really a good thing to be putting into my body. Also, the cost of adding another prescription to my current meds is a concern.

Thanks for the response! I'm glad you've found something that works for you!

[Jully]

Larry - thank you for the information. I will definitely be looking into those!

[trippinmickey]

Im like you I've been very careful about what meds. I take . When it comes to side effects and withdraw I've pick meds that have very little of both after some very very bad side effects one that all most killed me by closing up my thoat so i couldn't breath then there withdraw which can be wrost then coming off of some street drugs I knew that my doctors knew less then me they were more forces helpful side of the meds. they give out .I decide to take it into my own hands and research what meds. do what and what I feel would work best for me .My doctor was great working with to meet my goals of adjusting my med. I on more meds. now then I was a year ago but 2 of them are taken as needed and dose is adjustable so if I dodnt need them i wont take them.

[BalishBun]

Well, all my meds say NOT to take st. johns wort, so I need a different option for myself. It would be nice to buy an herbal anything to assist with the anxiety...

[Jully]

I believe that St. John's Wort should not be used at the same time as SSRI/SNRI's and possibly other psychiatric drugs. I could be wrong, but I think that taking them at the same time, or even starting the herb too soon after discontinuing the other, can cause serotonin syndrome. Note that I haven't verified that info, just remembering something I read, so I may be off base.

[Rapunzel]

St. John's Wort works for me, if I'm consistent about taking it, that is. SJW works in about the same way that the SSRIs do, so taking it along with the prescription antidepressants intensifies the effect and would be essentially an overdose. Sometimes a combination of meds is stronger than an increase of one of them, so don't combine it with other meds unless your doctor tells you otherwise.

I also hear that SAM-E works, but haven't tried it myself. SJW helps with anxiety too, but SAM-E apparently doesn't. That's what I've read, anyway.

[splitimage]

I've found valerian helpful for mild anxiety but again I think you have to be careful about mixing it with prescription meds.

[Rhapsody]

I have used "Valerian Root" with good results....... you can find it at Wal-Mart.