To ask if you have tried 5HTP / St John's Wort for depression?

[DownAndConfused]

I have a duplicate thread in Mental Health but no traffic so sorry if this feels in the wrong place. I just wanted to know if anyone has found either of these useful for depression? I tried an AD (escitalopram) but it made me really anxious and upset my stomach. I'm having counselling and on a waiting list for CBT, I am hoping to have another baby but my doctor said that you can't be on antidepressants and get pregnant as it causes heart problems for the baby?

So I saw online that 5HTP and St John's Wort can be good and maybe someone could tell me if they are good? I could stop before having a baby but maybe they would help first.

I agree with butter
All ad state that you can be sucidal when you first start taking them, it's not simply relatated to prozac.
Coming from someone who has gone coldturkey, I think it's really dangerous to withdrew from medication against medical advice.

butters from what i understand prozac originally was used to treat high blood pressure and obesity, but was found to work better as an ad.

I Am refusing tO be drawn into a debate on a non debate thread, besides from the attitudes, failure to read my posts correctly & nit picking I'm seeing here already, I fear anything I say will fall on deaf ears & I CBA to waste my time any further. I think the OP has enough info to make an informed decision already, so its nothing more than hot air.

I will answer Rachels rather presumptious & ill informed comments though...

I DID NOT say that's what we did as far as DD stopping her pain medication went, just that she had insisted she would rather face withdrawals as the side effects she was experiencing were so very bad - in the end, both her consultant & pharmacist agreed that it was her decision to make & told us what to look out for, she had a rough few days, but she still insists it wasn't so bad considering.

The Hiccups violent ARE a known side effect of Tramadol, just not one listed on the pack. We didn't know that at the time she took them f course, but again both pharmacist & Consultant agree this is the cause of her bouts of violent hiccups, NOT anxiety. Thankfully they are getting less frequent & less severe as time goes on, which is what we were told would happen.

Do you drink alcohol at all? 5htp can cause horrific panic attacks and seizures if you drink even very low doses of alcohol whilst taking them. I would research thoroughly before taking them. Just because they can be bought over the counter doesnt mean they are without side effects

I've been taking 5HTP for years and I've never had a panic attack or seizure even though I have the odd glass of wine or two. If I had to make a choice I would absolutely give up the alcohol.

I haven't noticed any side effects but as it's the only medication that I've found that works and means I can live a 'normal' life then I'd probably rather cope with any side effects than give up 5HTP.

Thanks for all the comments. I took 1 50mg tablet this morning and haven't noticed anything adverse. I will take one a day for a few days and then consider adding a second dose in the evening.

Butter thanks for all the info on both threads. Tbh although you are probably right about seeing a consultant psychiatrist it's not something I really want to pursue unless I have to. There would be a definite stigma in my job unfortunately and also from family (I have been quite quiet about how I've been feeling).

Star what dose do you take? And do you have breaks?

I did read one site where it said upping serotonin decreases dopamine over time so 5HTP will only work for a few months? That was the only thing that worried me - that I will end up with a whole new set of problems!

Rockin have you seen someone about why she is still suffering side effects this long??
( i have come of tramadol so i do know some of the effects).

Op why does your family and job have to know???
I never told any employer that i was on medication for mh problems, nor that i was seeking help.
I never told my family neither.

Down I hope you find something that helps, good luck with everything and for future TTC. I can understand worrying about the stigma of MH problems, I've had the old "can't you just cheer up?" comment, or "are you all better now?" (after being off work for months, umm it doesn't quite work like that). Family can be even more frustrating. Do you have someone that is supportive an understanding?

Don't forget that if you were to seek treatment it would be totally confidential, no one from work would ever have to know if you didn't want them to know. If you were to tell people you may be surprised by others who have have been through the same thing but also kept quiet, or get extra support from work (do you access to an occupational therapist or similar? (entirely your decision though of course)

Remember it is an illness and nothing to ever be ashamed about. Don't let other peoples ignorance influence your journey towards feeling better.

I hope you find something that helps, good luck with everything and for future TTC.

Kali110 I had thought that prozac had been designed based on the structure of other neurostimulants so it's interesting to read about trials for other applications. Thanks for the info!

Down I take a maintenance dose of 100mg per day and I don't have breaks. I can miss 2 days without my symptoms coming back but by day 3 I know about it. I go away a lot so I often forget to take it when I'm away and I pay the price for that.

If my symptoms get bad, usually because I've forgotten to take the 5HTP for a few days or because I've overdone things, I up the dose to 150 or 200mg for a few days.

I had severe PND after my first children and ante-natal depression when pregnant with my second that was dismissed as 'having a bad day' by a cover midwife. As soon as I started to feel down in my 3rd pregnancy I went back on the Citalopram. No defects in my son, no withdrawal symptoms after he was born, just a healthy, happy

ADs saved my life.

Lilac have you ever tried any other ad may i ask?
Mine isnt safe during pregnancy but i won't come off risk my mental health.
I may cope on my one painkiller during pregnancy but not ad.

Butters i had heard they were used for something to do with sex also but i can't remember!
I am also very interested in medication that is used for other things bar their main use! ( most likely as im on medication that isn't be used for it's main use).

Thanks Star how much did you take at the start? I'm not sure 50mg will do anything.

Rockin have you seen someone about why she is still suffering side effects this long??( i have come of tramadol so i do know some of the effects)

Kali yes, I initially spoke with the pharmacist as I find her much more knowledgeable than our GP as far as drugs go. More recently we've spoken with DDs consultant too, though that was by way of discussing her stopping the Gabapentin, from the conversations I had, seems that the same applies to both drugs. That been that the main withdrawals will take a few days to get passed, but there may be a residual left over that could last 6 weeks or so, longer with some people who tend to be sensitive to side effects/drugs, which is DD (& myself)

Thankfully DD hasn't had a bout of hiccups for over a week now, but it was pretty crazy when it started, lasting over an hour, with 20 minute breaks in between on the first day - the Tramadol made DD very ill anyway, too spaced out & vomiting etc too - so I do hope you didn't have such a hard time with it.

Prozac was used in a similar way to Amytriptiline about 12 years or so ago, for pain management in lower dose. Though I personally didn't find it helped much there at all, it did give me a bit breathing space to help deal with a stressful tribunal though, so it wasn't all bad. Though I didn't click until much later about the suicide thing.

Down DDs experience with 5htp has been similar to what Star describes too, but she only takes the 1 x100mg in the evening, but that's plenty for her as she's only 4'10"/6.5 stone. I can't remember what I used to take, but I'm pretty sure it was a similar dose, but I tend to need a lower dose of most things.

Down I only ever take 100-200mg per day but I've read that the recommended dose for fibromyalgia is lower than the recommended dose for depression so I wouldn't think that 50mg per day will do anything for you.

You'll need to check yourself but if I was you I would start on 200mg per day. Once it's working you can always reduce the dose by 50mg per day until you find the lowest daily dose that works for you.

I have taken 5htp until quite recently. Its worked really well for me. Why did I stop... well because our medical council decided it can no longer be sold over the counter, and it is now scheduled, so can only be issued with a prescription....

So the supplement I was taking which included 5htp in it, has now been changed and contains sjw, saffron, theanine and B6. I am going through quite a bit of stress at the moment, and I can tell if I haven't taken it in the morning as I become quite tearful and so emotional.

I was on a anti-depressant some years back. I didn't like the affect of it and changed numerous times. It also took 6 months to come off of it too. So I will continue with my supplement that I take now. Its made by a very well known company and I am not concerned about the quantities of each ingredient, although I only take one per day - it does say you can take two.

Yes I will maybe take a 50mg tablet at bedtime too. I was just worried it would give me insomnia. If I take 2x 50mg I'd like to think I would notice it working.

Rockin what have they said about the effects of gabin still lasting this long) ( i have actually taken that too, Along with it's sister drug) i was actually fine off tramadol after 4 days considering the dose i was on (from the bad effects anyway, the other after effects i could deal with).
Probably take me a bit longer now with the the dose i'm on now, but i think it woukd still be the first 3-4 days that would be the worst to get through and then i'd be fine.

Same as above kali - she's had 3/4 days of feeling very flu-y, stressy, very tearful & generally just unwell - consultant said 2/3 days, but maybe a bit longer as she's young & hypersensitive to a lot of stuff. She didn't manage to get up to the full dose though as the side effects, (mostly gastro & worsened dizziness & balance problems) were too bad at only 2/3 of it. The consultant staggered the dose to build it up over 2 weeks in the hope that she would tolerate it better - sadly not.

She is to try Pregabelin next, consultant said its a much "cleaner drug", but not licenced for kids as Gabapentin , even though both her & our pharmacist think it's the safer of the 2, but consultant said to wait a few weeks to make sure Gabapentin is completely out of her system before starting Pregabelin. So seems from that, most of it clears your system within a few days, but the dregs of it can take few weeks - a couple of months.

I've an adult friend on Gabepentin & she hasn't been able to come off it yet, even though she really wants too, so it was a real worry to let DD have it, but it's pretty desperate here ATM & needs must. thankfully she's managed coming off it pretty well.

Hth

Down, you might not notice any affects after taking the first tablet. The ones I took, took about a week to kick in properly.

Tram first few days are the worst, you can still have residual effects for week later.( some people longer but the worse effects are generally over).
Gaba can be really bad, reason you should taper rather than just stop is because of the effects especially the risk of siezures ( this is the sMe for pregablin).
I say this as someone who found it easier coming off gaba.
Taper from pregablin.
I had the most horrendous headaches and felt really awful after i stopped pregablin and i tapered, don't quit cold turkey.
Too be honest im suprised the consultant staggered the dose in two weeks and didnt just let your daughter get used to the first dose!
I started off at a small dose and had to take that, for two weeks before i could even higher mine!
I ended up increasing the weeks between increases as well because the side effects were knocking me around so much.
Tbh there isnt that much difference between the two of them.
( only reason i switched to pregablin was because it made my hair thin).

highlighta what difference did you feel after the first week? I took an extra 50mg today in the afternoon. No huge difference yet.

I tried 5htp earlier this year after coming off Prozac. I had to come off the prozac because it was making me shake, in combination with other meds I take. Well, the 5htp made me shake as well! Which I guess Indicated that it works in the same way as Prozac, which should be good for most people.

Sorry for small highjack but I would really like to try St Johns wort but I know it is conta indicated with the contraceptive pill. Anyone know if this also applies to other hormonal drugs? I am on a long-term GNRH drug for endometriosis and would like to know if I can take it. I asked at the pharmacy and they didn't know. I need something but I feel it was a huge achievement to come off the ADs and don't want to go back on them if I can avoid it.

Down, I won't say that there was an immediate drastic change when I started taking them. Its a bit hard to describe really, but it just seemed to lift a dark cloud which I felt hanging over me all the time. When I ran out and didn't get a chance to go get more for a few days, I really noticed the effect they had when I didn't take them.

I started taking two per day at the beginning (they help me to sleep so I took one am and one pm) and then I just took one at night after a week or so. The thing that I really did notice that it helped fantastically for, is that it stopped my craving for bread... which is a good thing as I don't deal well with wheat, but I couldn't stop myself from eating it - I had such terrible cravings for bread .

It is said to increase levels of serotonin.

I am pretty fed up that they aren't easy to come by now for me, but the alternative I am taking is working pretty well, although I have bread cravings again quite a bit now though.....

Well I have been taking the tablets for a few days now and although I still have tearful bouts I would say that the times in between are lighter if that makes sense? I'm not getting any side effects other than being a bit sleepier in the afternoon so I will keep taking them for the time being. Thank you all very much.

Glad to hear OP. Stick with it. I remember not noticing the change in me but one day just going, oh l feel happy and that's when l realised they were working because it had been a while since I'd felt happy about anything. I had just been going through the motions.

Well the tablets were giving me headaches so I have stopped taking them I'm really disappointed tbh as I think they were helping. Did anyone else get headaches and how long did they last for?