Question:
>SJW is not recommended for BP disorder as it may trigger a mania.
My BP wife has had a number of manias triggered by ADs, so she is susceptible to this. However, she has taken SJW for more than enough time to trigger a mania, if it was going to do that, and it has shown no signs at all of doing that. In addition, all of the several prescribed ADs she has taken have had the effect of speeding up the cycle period of her mood swings by about 20% (in fact, I suspect that this is how they lift derpessions, by simply shortening the cycle period). SJW, however, does not have this effect on her, so either it is not much as (for her) as an AD, or else it works by a different mechanism. I have not seen any reports which have found SJW to trigger mania. I suspect this is simply the usual general AD caution applied to SJW, incorrectly, I suspect. — Department of Artificial Intelligence, Edinburgh University 5 Forrest Hill, Edinburgh, EH1 2QL, UK DoD #205 http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/daidb/people/homes/cam/
Response:
>>SJW is not recommended for BP disorder as it may trigger a mania. Ditto >for Ginseng. >The active ingredient in SJW has some MAO inhibitor characteristics, >including a tendency to the tyramine reaction ("cheese reaction").
However, it does not have enough MAO inhib to explain its effect, and it has been used very extensively by cheese-eaters in both Germany and Britain for many years without anyone noticing the usual bad MAO inhib effects. One can therefore conclude that either there is something else in it to counteract these effects, or the MAO inhib activity is simply too small to be significant. There is a tendency for US psychiatrists to suppose that drug use and research conducted outside the US is conducted by stupid foreigners who don’t count, and when faced with lots of non-US research, even non-English-language research (as in the case with SJW), they like to stop their patients asking embarrassing questions by spreading scare stories. That’s not to say that SJW is a good AD for BPs to use. While it has shown efficacy in plain unipolar depression (and definitely works for me), it’s utility in BP has yet to be established. Unfortunately those BPs who don’t want to take "psychiatric drugs", but only "natural plant extracts which don’t have nasty poisonous side effects" tend to gravitate to SJW as one of the few good non-prescription psychotropic medications. Two others are coffee and tobacco, which as we know *do* have certain unpleasant side-effects, despite being derived from "natural plants". Unfortunately there are no reports of BP having been successfully controlled by any kind of AD, and plenty of ADs making it worse. *If* SJW is any use in BP, it will only be as an adjunct to a mood controller, not as a substitute. — Department of Artificial Intelligence, Edinburgh University 5 Forrest Hill, Edinburgh, EH1 2QL, UK DoD #205 http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/daidb/people/homes/cam/
Response:
>SJW is not recommended for BP disorder as it may trigger a mania. Ditto >for Ginseng.
The active ingredient in SJW has some MAO inhibitor characteristics, including a tendency to the tyramine reaction ("cheese reaction").
Response:
> Hello > Many pharmaceutical antidepressants, particularly the SSRIs, have > adverse effects on sexual functioning in males and females.
Dear Marcella, SJW is not recommended for BP disorder as it may trigger a mania. Ditto for Ginseng. So I don’t know how many responses you may receive. I wanted to take it and my pdoc nixed it in a heartbeat 
We all need to stick with our pdoc’s recommendations. Peace, Reach beyond your grasp!
Response:
sexual function??? what’s that? sex?? im a born again virgin.. *sigh* – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >Hello >Many pharmaceutical antidepressants, particularly the SSRIs, have >adverse effects on sexual functioning in males and females. >I am wondering if anyone out there (male or female) who has taken St. >John’s Wort for some period of time has had any changes in their sexual >function. >The things I would be interested in are: >1. Approximately how long you have been/are taking it (days, weeks, >months, etc.) >2. Did it hinder, improve, or not effect sexual functioning? >3. What did it affect? e.g.: > a. desire for sex > b. physical arousal (erection, vaginal secretions) > c. ability to reach orgasm >4. What condition are you taking it to treat? >5. Are you taking any other prescription or recreational drugs. >This is only an informal poll, but I would greatly appreciate any >anecdotes people may have since little or none seems to be written on >this in the clinical literature. All responses are strictly >confidential. No identification is needed. Thanks! >Sincerely, >Marcello Spinella, Ph.D.
Comments