St John's Wort experience

Vladimir

Vladimir

Messages
91
Recently, I tried St John's Wort tea simply because it was the only option offered to me as a hot drink :) The same night I slept a little better and got some improvements with my urinary retention caused by the antidepressants use.

So, I google it and it turned out that in some studies its effect is found to be comparable to the various AD drugs. The biggest difference for me was that ALL ADs that I tried gave me severe urinary retention whereas SJW did the opposite yet still providing some profound benefits - I feel more calm, I sleep much better, I can tolerate sweets (the downside here is that I get some sweets cravings).

Overall, it definitely works, it does not have any nasty side effects of AD like nausea etc. It tastes really great (we do harvest it in our local forest and then dry it by ourselves).

I tried SJW in capsules but it gave me unpleasant digestion side effects. But SJW tea is simply amazing. I just brew it with the boiling water and wait for at least 30 mins. I read a lot of studies regarding it safety and could not find anything that would suggest that it is unsafe in anyway. Just need to get my sweets cravings under control, otherwise it is a perfect supplemental treatment on my path to recovery.

Besides SJW tea, I continue to take up to 3-4 grams of elemental potassium as citrate (9-12 grams of p citrate). I found the best way to consume it is to solve 3 grams of p citrate in 240ml of water and drink it after or during meal - this way it tastes really good (reminds me milk) and does not increase stomach acid.
 
J

Jadzhia

Senior Member
Messages
154
Location
England, UK
SJW can cause raised sensitivity to sunlight so bear that in mind.

I've taken SJW in the past and found it effective against SAD. I do agree teas/tinctures made from these herbs are more readily digested.
 
Vladimir

Vladimir

Messages
91
Yes, sun sensitivity and some drugs interactions (like grapefruit, I would compare :) ) are the only downsides I found. Still, definitely recommend it to everyone who wants to calm down their nervous system.
 
Wayne

Wayne

Senior Member
Messages
4,483
Location
Ashland, Oregon
Vladimir said:
Still, definitely recommend it to everyone who wants to calm down their nervous system.
Click to expand...
Hi @Vladimir -- Congratulations on discovering the benefits of St. John's Wort. My understanding is the risk of photosensitivity is really quite small unless a person ingests large quantities of it (like some cattle do when they eat it all day long if it's growing in the fields they're grazing in).

I used to wildcraft large amounts of St. John's Wort when I lived in Oregon (U.S.), making sun teas with it when in season, and making large batches of tincture to give away and to take for the rest of the year. I described some of my experiences in this thread. I now live 2,000 miles from Oregon and miss having easy access to it.

Just to mention, SJW is a great detoxifier, and will detoxify a fairly large number of prescription drugs. This should be kept in mind if one is taking prescription drugs, and you don't want them detoxified out of the body. Some people think some of the benefits (if not most) of SJW lies in its ability to detoxify the brain, as opposed to significantly affecting neurotransmitter levels like serotonin.
 
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