Comment · Tue, March 17, 2015
Any Success with SJW? What to Expect?
Original post in this thread
CH0CAINE · 6 points
I'm interested in trying St. John's Wort instead of being prescribed an SSRI. I do have a few questions to the community about it.
1) Does SJW have the standard SSRI type onset? Does it take a few weeks for the positive effects to occur?
2) Are side effects similar to SSRIs?
3) For any members that have taken it for a substantive duration, how has it been beneficial? How has it been not?
I do want to note that I usually use tianeptine, but I am not receiving full relief from it and will be combining the two.
*edit: I'm not on an SSRI currently!
What they were answering
Direct reply to the original post — see the thread post above.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb
Talk to your doctor before ceasing your prescription SSRI. That is a must!
1) Yes, it takes 1-2 weeks to become effective.
2) No, it does not have the same side effects as prescription SSRIs. There are some mild side effects. However, if you are used to strong SSRIs, you probably won't notice anything.
3) I took it for a few months straight. I noticed that I was more calm and upbeat about things. Adverse things did not affect my mood as much, and I was just more even. Being content with things is not always the most useful of traits for everyone, so that could be something not beneficial. It also can reduce the level of antihistamines in the body, which is a bad thing for me. So long term use for me personally makes my Cetirizine dosage go up. You also should not combine it with MAOIs, or things like DXM. So that should be noted. However, you are on SSRIs, so you are probably avoiding those things as it is.