As with taking any new substance for the first time, the best thing you can do is to approach St Johns Wort with caution. In essence, you should **not** take St John's Wort until you have checked with your doctor that it is safe to do so. It's also often advised to start slowly with a low dosage. Although sometimes it gets remarkable results, sometimes St John's Wort does nothing. It really is down to the individual. But research suggests that you do need to take St John's Wort for a number of weeks in order for it to work. Bottom line? Always, ALWAYS check with your doctor first before taking St Johns Wort. And if you do decide to take it, keep an eye on your energy levels. If your fatigue worsens noticeably, then just be aware that it might be the St Johns Wort that's causing it. And if you do decide to try St Johns Wort, remember that research shows that you need to take St Johns Wort for a few weeks in order for it to start working. ----- To find out more about St John's Wort visit: http://www.sleepydust.net/ez-st-johns-wort-section And to read reviews of St Johns Wort supplements, vist: http://www.sleepydust.net/ez-st-johns-wort-supplement-reviews
----- Claire Williams is editor of sleepydust.net and has suffered from Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome /Chronic Fatigue Syndrome since 1995. She created 'sleepydust.net' to help Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia sufferers deal with their condition - from handling their money worries, to recovering from their illness... http://www.sleepydust.net To subscribe to the newsletter in which this article was first published, please go to: http://www.sleepydust.net/FREE-MAILING-LIST-homepage.html Copyright, Claire Williams, 2003-2005. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright, Claire Williams, 2003-2005. All Rights Reserved.
Before I begin...
I am a Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome / Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome sufferer myself but I am not medically trained! I
am merely passing on to you, things I have read and learnt
which may interest you. I am not a 'health expert', so
please - if you come across anything in this article that
you find interesting, do a little research on it yourself
and contact your doctor or health professional about it
before taking any advice from this article.
Depression, anxiety and sleep disorders can all be symptoms
of ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Whereas some ME/CFS
sufferers may never experience depression and anxiety as
symptoms of their ME/CFS, others unfortunately do.
For example, according to Dr Shepherd in his book
'Living With ME', true clinical depression probably affects
between 25-33% of ME/CFS sufferers at some stage.
I often recommend Dr Shepherd's book 'Living With ME' because it's a good 'all-rounder'.
You can read my review about this book here:
http://www.sleepydust.net/ez-dr-shepherd
----- SIDE NOTE ------
Many ME/CFS sufferers are prescribed antidepressants to
help them sleep and to ease their fatigue (even if they are
not depressed). But although prescribed antidepressants
do help **some** ME/CFS sufferers, others find that they
experience bad side-effects.
St Johns Wort (also known as Hypericum perforatum) is an
interesting natural alternative to prescription
antidepressants.
Many medics seem to say that it has far fewer side
effects, yet it apparently works just as effectively as
common SSRI antidepressants such as Prozac, Paxil/Seroxat
and Zoloft. In fact, according to Dr Charles Shepherd in
his book 'Living With M.E.' (mentioned above), St John's
Wort seems to have a lower incidence of side effects
(around 20%) - much lower than that seen with conventional
antidepressant drugs (around 60%).
For more information about the 'darker side' of SSRI
antidepressants visit:
http://www.sleepydust.net/ez-antidepressants-darker-side
----- SIDE NOTE ------
With a 2,400 year history of safe and effective use, the
use of St Johns Wort has risen dramatically recently,
especially in Britain. And in Germany, they apparently use
St Johns Wort a lot to treat depression, anxiety and sleep
disorders, all of which, as mentioned earlier, can be
symptoms of ME/CFS.
St John's Wort has both anti-viral and anti-depressive
properties and has been used by Europeans for centuries as
a remedy for:
- sleep
- depression
- anxiety
- PMS
- menstrual cramps
- menopausal stress
- irritability
- neuralgia
- tension
To find out how St Johns Wort works visit:
http://www.sleepydust.net/ez-how-st-johns-wort-works
------ SIDE NOTE ------
Having said that, one of the most common side effects of
St John's Wort is fatigue, which is obviously relevant when
you suffer from ME/CFS! So if you do try St John's Wort,
keep an eye on your energy levels. If they plummet even
further, it may be a sign to rethink whether you should be
taking it or not.
What's more, St John's Wort **has** been found to interfere
with some prescription medicines. Studies published in the
Lancet and the British Medical Journal have shown that
St John's Wort speeds up the breakdown of medicines in the
body, leading to lower levels of the drugs in the blood.
So if you're taking other medication or supplements of any
kind, that's another factor for you and your doctor to
consider before taking St Johns Wort.
There are other side effects and dangers of St Johns Wort.
You can find out more about some of these on these two pages:
http://www.sleepydust.net/ez-st-johns-wort-side-effects
http://www.sleepydust.net/ez-when-not-to-use-st-johns-wort
------ SIDE NOTE ------
As with taking any new substance for the first time, the best
thing you can do is to approach St Johns Wort with caution.
In essence, you should **not** take St John's Wort until
you have checked with your doctor that it is safe to do so.
It's also often advised to start slowly with a low dosage.
Although sometimes it gets remarkable results, sometimes
St John's Wort does nothing. It really is down to the
individual. But research suggests that you do need to take
St John's Wort for a number of weeks in order for it
to work.
Bottom line?
Always, ALWAYS check with your doctor first before taking
St Johns Wort. And if you do decide to take it, keep an eye
on your energy levels. If your fatigue worsens noticeably,
then just be aware that it might be the St Johns Wort
that's causing it.
And if you do decide to try St Johns Wort, remember that
research shows that you need to take St Johns Wort for a
few weeks in order for it to start working.
-----
To find out more about St John's Wort visit:
http://www.sleepydust.net/ez-st-johns-wort-section
And to read reviews of St Johns Wort supplements, vist:
http://www.sleepydust.net/ez-st-johns-wort-supplement-reviews
-----
Claire Williams is editor of sleepydust.net
and has suffered from Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome
/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome since 1995.
She created 'sleepydust.net' to help
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia
sufferers deal with their condition - from
handling their money worries, to recovering
from their illness...
http://www.sleepydust.net
To subscribe to the newsletter in which this article was
first published, please go to:
http://www.sleepydust.net/FREE-MAILING-LIST-homepage.html
Copyright, Claire Williams, 2003-2005. All Rights Reserved.