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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

Original poster

St John's Wort for teen depression

11 replies

jellymoon · 11/04/2012 08:48

Has anyone got teenagers who have depression and have any success with using St John's Wort? If so, how much is the recommended daily dosage and how long does it take to "kick in"?

Thanks :)

OP posts:
MeanMom · 11/04/2012 17:48

Not teenagers but I used to take it - didn't help at all and very expensive. I used to take Yeast Tablets -cheaper and they helped me more - vitamin B(in the yeast) good for anxiety etc apparently.

Hope someone comes along who has tried it with teens :)

gettingsorted · 12/04/2012 13:56

Yes I'd be interested in any answers! I am trying mine on 5HTP, which works for me - or is it a placebo effect - hard to tell. He's volatile at best of times, but we haven't had any self hating stuff for a while. Can't be sure it's the 5HTP though.

Confounded · 18/04/2012 15:38

We are using this at the moment with DD who is 18 and completing A levels.

We hesitated for a long time but she is obvioulsy burnt out. Postphoning the A levels for a year is not an option for her. She wants to do well and has high expectations. Indeed she is a cleaver kid but she has struggled with dyslexia and finds it very hard to formualte her thoughts on the written page. At the moment the final exam result (outcome) could be anyones guess. So apart from giving her as much help with her work as we can what else can we do?

Given that she is an adult but also a teen she takes one 425mg tablet a day. Obvioulsy for us/for her the good thing is that this is a short term step of approx 10 weeks which will end with her last exam.

Does it work? Yes I think it probably does. Because she is so tired/stressed it helps her focus and so enables her to complete the work she needs to do. Does it stop her being crabby or difficult to live with at the moment - well no but we didn't expect that. No doubt her outlook will improve once the exams are over.

We suggested the tablets to her and she took the first one, thereafter she takes them for herself. No doubt if she felt no benefit or an adverse effect she would stop.

Hope this is of use to you

Mrsjay · 18/04/2012 17:15

I take B vitamins like another poster , teenagers have lower seratonin levals than adults (apparently ) so maybe try a teen vitamin or take her to the doctor and have her checked out , I have tried St johns wort in the past infact when was about 17/18 and it didnt really help

Lilleymoo12 · 09/04/2013 16:28

my teen daughter who has depression and wondered if st johns wort would be an alternative to antidepressants , wondered if anyone has any advice.

NuttyNewDog · 10/04/2013 14:09

Did nothing for my DD (17). Doctor put her on Fluoxetine and she got worse, suicidal in fact. She's now on Sertraline which seems to be helping. Good luck.

MuchBrighterNow · 11/04/2013 10:23

I've been giving my Ds magnesium with all the b vits added, he was really very depressed and anxious ... two weeks on and he does seem to feel a bit lighter in himself.

HowDidThisHappen2 · 11/11/2014 23:25

My son took fluoxetine for 12 and was great - so they took him off it. Within a few months he was back on it as he couldn't cope with the normal ups & downs of mood, as he panics on a 'down' day thinking his depression has returned. Second time around he suffered side effects which he hadn't mentioned previously so they switched him to mirtazepine. It's not really helping - at least as far as we can tell - as he is sooooo angry all the time and regularly talks about suicide. He's 17. It's devastating. What I find particularly difficult to understand is why the camhs people won't talk to us about him as I know he isn't entirely honest with them about everything (he thinks they'll 'lock him up in a mental hospital'). We see his frustration & anger regularly and he won't let us near him. Publicly he has loads of friends and a great social life. Certainly he isn't holed up in his room all the time. He's fanatical about his exercise regime and diet (possibly seeing it as his sphere of control in his life) which we go along with. He can't adjust his thinking to deal with situations he can't alter but I'm not sure the psychiatrist sees that. He has no resilience. A small setback becomes an overwhelming problem for him but as he's 17 no one will discuss him with us! He's supposed to be having CBT but it hasn't really happened. He sees a psychiatrist about once a month. Feeling helpless & emotionally drained...

pinkstinks · 15/11/2014 10:04

I think with St Johns wort you need to be really careful as it can impact on hormonal contraception...
Something worth bearing in mind with teens, I know I went to Brook and was put on a progesterone only pill without my mums knowledge.

Sogs101 · 01/04/2015 11:12

Here are the findings of a study on SJW on teenagers with depression.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15910213

thar11 · 26/08/2019 04:20

HowDidThisHappen2, not only did my heart break for you when I read your post, but I can relate, as we are living similar disturbing circumstances with our 16 year old. I know your post was several years ago. I wonder how things are going for your ds today?

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