Posted by med_empowered on October 2, 2005, at 10:48:53
In reply to Re: *HIGH* Dose St.John's Wort...questions » med_empowered, posted by ed_uk on October 2, 2005, at 8:53:46
hey everyone! Thanks for the input. OK, I think the reasoning behind high-dosing it is as follows: 1) st.john's wort is effective as an antidepressant, but this particular person told me she thinks the usual dose (900mgs) fails a lot of people--just like a lot of people will fail on 75mgs Effexor, but do great on 375mgs. 2) She thinks its possible to "load" st.john's wort; apparently, the active chemicals cross the blood-brain barrier; they are eliminated relatively quickly from most of the body, but tend to stick around the in brain for a while (this is also seen with some other drugs, like haloperidol). The theory is that the part of the delay from consumption to antidepressant effect is accumulation of an effective concentration in the brain...so, if you "load," you get there faster. Also, I think she plans to cut the dose once this "loading" has been completed (I guess this is kind of like the "rapid neuroleptization" that used to be standard practice for schizophrenia). and 3) There are my personal factors. I've taken all kinds of meds--mood-stabilizers (anticonvulsant type), neuroleptics, benzos, stimulants, antidepressants, etc....all helped, but all also had side effects; sometimes, I did best on polypharmacy that combined seemingly contradictory medications (ex: adderall+klonopin, that kind of thing). SHe thinks--and I think this is reasonably well-supported by research--that st. john's wort is a pretty powerful broad-spectrum antidepressant; the trick is to get up to an effective dose while avoiding side effects (which, luckily, dont seem to pop up all too often). It seems to help a bit with motivation, while also calming anxiety and it calms depression without inducing apathy (big problem for me with SSRIs); since its a plant, and there are bunches of different chemicals in it, I suppose the theory is that taking st. john's wort is kind of like polypharmacy...in one pill/plant. She also claims that st. john's wort doesn't seem to induce mania/mixed episodes/psychosis/suicidality; this is true, as far as I can tell...hypothetically, there should be problems if you mix it with a conventional med, but on its own, there aren't many reports of ill-effects, physical or psychiatric. Thanks again for all the input, and I'd appreciate other recommendations on alternative stuff to try...I'm considering valerian for daytime anxiety, but I'm worried about sedation and/or worsening of pre-existing depression.
poster:med_empowered
thread:561589
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20050924/msgs/561903.html