St.Johns Wort

04-16-2010, 08:59 AM

Hey all,

I truly hope that everyone is having a good day and is as pain free as we all can get. I've been thinking of taking something for the slight depression that I have been dealing with the last couple months. I know that we all have times of depression,who wouldn't when it comes to this disease. I DO NOT want to take depression meds and would like to try something herbal to see if it helps before going through with actual depression meds.
When I was a teen I used st.johns wort to help with hormones and anxiety. I haven't needed anything for depression for a long time but I'm having trouble staying in a good mood and having energy even when I'm having good pain days. I've tried looking online for side effects with narcotics when taking the herb. I couldn't find much other than what I already knew.
As most of you know I'm on morphine,hydros,soma and sometimes baclofen.
I don't want to take something that will interact with any of these,I don't want to have to worry about my liver not processing the meds correctly or causing an over dose. I have talked with my doc about depression but at the time I was on birth control and knew I couldn't take st.johns wort. He said that I could try Sam-e but it is really expensive and I just can't afford it.
Has anyone or is anyone on here taking st.johns wort along with narcotics similar to what I'm taking? Any thoughts about this would be great. I want to try and have more energy to help fight the rsd and I'm just sick of putting on a happy face when I'm really not. I know that this disease makes it hard for us all to be "happy" because of the pain and everything else that comes with it. I'm also wanting to look into kava kava which does similar things like st.johns wort but can cause drowsiness. Some of my meds can cause drowsiness but rarely enough to worry about.
Well thanks in advance to all the replies. I just need the help and I'm not ready to go on to actual depression meds. I want to avoid it as long as I can.
Take care and stay warm,
Deanne

04-16-2010, 05:25 PM

Hi Deanne,

I totally get you re: depression. It's SO hard to deal with. I did very well for years with Zoloft, but then the generic came out which I took for about two years, but found myself getting more and more down. At the time, it was hard to distinguish between normal life circumstances causing depression-type symptoms or actual depression so I just plugged along with it for a while. I then doubled it and still felt the same. Anyway, while this was going on, I tried St. John's Wort, but didn't feel that it helped me. As you know, everyone's different and the fact that you've taken it in the past and it sounds like it helped you, is a good sign. If I were you, I'd talk to my doc about it because only he/she knows exactly what you are taking and possible side effects, you know? You probably just want to get started on it and not have to wait to see your doc, but I still think that would be the best thing...talk to him/her about it. Whatever you decide to do, I hope it helps you. This is by far, one of the hardest symptoms of RSD for me to deal with. Hang in.

Sharon

04-19-2010, 09:26 PM

Thanks guys,

Yea along time ago I was on st. johns wort. I had issues with puberty and emotions went out of wack. It worked well. I have been on kava kava in the past it is a great alternative to anti-depressants. I just want to make sure that they don't create issues with morphine. That is my primary pain med along with soma and hydros. I plan on asking my doc about it but I don't want him to push for anti-depressants. I'm not always depressed but sometimes I'm just down,especially when I'm in a lot of pain or haven't been able to do anything because of the pain.
Thanks again guys.
Take care and stay warm,
Deanne

04-19-2010, 09:56 PM

St. Johns Wort is probably the most studied of all the herbal medicines and there isn't any scientific evidence that is conclusive in helping with any form of depression. Most studies that were done were flawed and I have yet to find any study that was absolutely conclusive. I think if it were helpful there would be many more people cured of depression at a very low cost. My personal feeling is that if it has helped anyone then it wasn't true depression and the person was going to feel better anyway. We all have our ups and downs but for true depression St Johns I don't think is going to help anyone except the people selling the stuff.

St.Johns Wort

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