Posted by blueberry on May 2, 2006, at 7:08:38
In reply to St John's Wort and Prozac, posted by jms600 on May 1, 2006, at 19:31:48
I have taken 600mg - 900mg st johns wort with 20mg prozac and 5mg zyprexa. The prozac/zyprexa I had been on for years, I was not depressed but rather flat and zestless. About 2 weeks after adding st johns wort, I came alive and loved it. I had a very much improved couple of months before it faded again into flatness.
At your dose of prozac, you could probably take 300mg st johns wort, but I would be cautious with higher amounts. 300mg can work, but will take longer to kick in (6-12 weeks).
St johns wort affects the metabolism of many medications, either increasing or decreasing the blood levels of other medications. I didn't know it at the time, but sjw increased my zyprexa levels bigtime (300%). I do not know how it affected prozac. It has been suggested in clinical studies that low doses or low hyperforin sjw did not have a significant effect on medication metabolism.
One thing to be aware of...people think of sjw as a serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine reuptake inhibitor. But it also has the same action on glutamate and gaba and binds to the benzo receptors. So if and when you withdraw from sjw, you can have symptoms similar to benzo withdrawals...massive anxiety and panic attacks. Me and at least 2 other people here have had that happen and ended up in the emergency room with panic attacks. You have to taper off of it very slowly.
I am not pro or con for the idea of combining prozac and sjw, but just sharing what happened with me. While it was working it was great. Looking back I am wondering if the increased zyprexa levels were what made it go flat again and not the sjw itself pooping out. Don't know.
poster:blueberry
thread:638972
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20060428/msgs/639132.html