Posted by JohnL on February 3, 2000, at 3:39:42
In reply to Looking for more info on St Johns Wort, posted by Noa on February 2, 2000, at 22:56:34
Hi Noa,
Below are some sites loaded with info on SJW. From what I gather, consistent dosing is needed because accumulation is slow. SJW won't work on an as-needed basis. It comes on slowly, with results at 4 weeks better than 2, 6 weeks better than 4, and 12 weeks better than 6. I think it takes up to three months to reach full effectiveness. At that point I doubt missing doses would make much difference.
I saw an abstract where it was determined that a 300mg pill of SJW is roughly equivalent to 10mg of a tricyclic antidepressant. Some of the clinical studies with the best results using SJW used doses of 1800mg or 2700mg a day, which is 2 and 3 times higher than stated on the bottle. These higher doses would logically correlate with typical therapeutic doses of tricyclics. I think in general the 3 pills a day dose common in USA is way too low. Anyway, here's some reading that will keep you busy for a while:
www.primenet.com/~camilla/STJOHNS.FAQ
www.hypericum.com
Enjoy. :) JohnL
poster:JohnL
thread:20420
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000128/msgs/20434.html