Mild anti-depressants / St John's Wort

[SquiffyHock]

Hi there,

I had PND last year after my DD was born, it wasn't severe and 10mg of Citalopram for 6 months seemed to get me back on track.

Recently, however, I've been feeling a bit low again, nothing awful just a bit 'blah' about everything (does that make any sense?!). Also seem to have lost my libido and any desire to exercise. Slight issues with bulimia have also reared their head.

I just wondered if anyone had ever used St Johns Wort or something similar. I really don't want to go back to the doctor as I'm not as down as last time.

I'll be very grateful for any suggestions

.

no-one?

had worse side effects from SJW than from conventional ADs. So I'm not convinced it is a "mild" AD. Also I think if you are reaching the self-medication stage, best to speak to GP and do it properly. GP may even, based on your circumstances, think SJW is appropriate, you never know.

Message withdrawn

Interesting that you didn't get on with it either. My problem with SJW was it gave me a horrible compulsive tic, that I had to keep stroking my chin (I've never had a tic before or since!)

Sorry Total - what's SJW? Thank you so much for replying. Since I posted I have thought that it might be better to go to the GP. I just think that I might be wasting her time as I was on such a low dose last time and I'm not as bad as I was then IYKWIM.

Derrr. Sorry SJW - StJohns Wort.

SJW - St John's Wort

how about something simple like taking up exercise, or if you already do, increasing how much you do? Exercise releases endorphins and really does make you feel better.

SJW is just an abbrevation for St. John's Wort. Don't feel bad about wasting GP time - always best to nip any possible recurrence of depression in the bud as early as possible.

change your diet. loads of fresh fruit and veg. works for me when i am feeling a bit low!

and see your doc too! best not to let it get any worse!

i dont know much about sjw only that a friend used to use to combat the low she got on a comedown after speed!!! she wasnt falling down any stairs but i think that you can see from the reason she used to take it that she had a high tolerance to medications!!!

With regard to increasing exercise I've been finding it really hard to motivate myself which is one of the things that has made me think I might need a bit of help - I've signed up for a 10k race in October so want to train for that.

Last year my goal was 5k which I did but I was on A-Ds then.

Think I'll go to the doctor this week - I just have no reason at all to feel low, why do I need help?

squiffy, i think you are doing the right thing going back to the doctors. There might be a physical reason why you are feeling crap, you might be aneamic or soemthing. It might mean that you need some counselling or something rather than ADs. 10mg citalopram is an extremely low dose. I would be wary about SJW to be fair, yes it does boost seratonin and that is sort of how ADs work, but its not the same. Citalopram is a SSRI and basically helps the body to utilise the seratonin it produces more efficiently, and does, over time, encourage more production. I dont know how SJW works but if it is just putting more seratonin in the system, i would question if it gets to the right place before it is metabolised. Also, does it not end up with so much of it floating around it just gets sucked up and maybe means the body produces less of its own? I would be very dubious, i like to know how something works before i start taking it.

I have been trying 5-HTP which you can get from Holland and barratt and is supposed to work in a similiar way to ADs, it seems to be working for me as like you I feel down some of the time, but not unwell enought og o back on ADs again. SJW never worked for me, infact as lucyellensmum said not sure how it works and have hears it can cause side effects.

5-htp is a precursor to seratonin, a building block, if you like. So it does provide the body with a basic building block with which to make the seratonin. It is a modified amino acid which should not really be broken down any further by the metabolism. How it would get to the brain though? Not sure. I do believe it works though, as 5-htp is the reason why chocolate is such a feel good treat. I really have no clue about the sjw, what would bother me is that it is not pure and would worry about side effects. There are a lot of medications that you cannot take with SJW as it is supposed to worsen side effects. I noticed my mums blood pressure tablets were not to be taken with SJW. Also, not to be takein with ADS at ALL>

avocados are a good source of 5_htp too.

Thanks everyone - the GP who gave me the A-Ds last year told me to steer clear of SJW. You have all confirmed this for me. I know that 10mg is a very low dose, I even wondered if there was a bit of a placebo effect for me. I'll chat to my GP and see what she says.

Thank-you

That's really interesting, never knew all that about 5-HTP, most people have never heard of it when I mention it!