St. John's Wort
 

Sidebar off the BC thread...

Have you ever taken it?? Did it help??

I had a friend in HS who got hooked on it. He was takeing 6-7 a day. I tried to get him to stop, but he said that it was just herbs and plants and it couldn't hurt you. He finally stopped after he got put on some prescription anti-depressants.

I've taken it a couple times. It wasn't a "fix-all" pill, but I did feel a difference for a little while.

Re: St. John's Wort
 

Medical research is inconclusive . . . peer review of the initial studies that proclaimed SJW "as effective, if not more" than anti-depressants found that, with proper control, placebo proved to be as effective as SJW as well under the study parameters, IIRC. Also, different studies vary wildly in their conclusions - from no link, to weak, to moderate or strong.

Add to that the fact that even proponents note that it only 'enhances mood' and does not actually treat depression, and I think most people would be better off with more common 'natural' treatments for 'mood' or depression - namely, better diet, exercise and things like meditation.

I tried it for a while in college. Of course, I was also taking a prescription medication at the time (I was a nervous wreck for a while in college), so that probably wasn't a good idea. I just remember this weird sensation like my ears kept popping. A lot.

Try Kava Kava. Once you take some of those, no matter what someone says to you, you'll just think".........mehhhh......"