St John's Wort - where to buy?

One More Toy

Hello

I have a friend who is mildly depressed, I was wondering would St John's Wort be viable?

If so, where is the cheapest place to buy it (preferably Dublin)

Thank you so much
Omt

An Ri rua

One More Toy wrote: »

Hello

I have a friend who is mildly depressed, I was wondering would St John's Wort be viable?

If so, where is the cheapest place to buy it (preferably Dublin)

Thank you so much
Omt

Up North as far as I'm aware. It was banned from sale here by the pharma friendly authorities.

There's a number of apps that help. Wysa is one.

Talking to someone professional, ideally a common sense counsellor, would be a correct and good start.
We're all suffering mentally at the moment. Some have less resilience however. Everyone needs assistance at times, so recommend they get it.

Sardonicat

AFAIK, you can't buy over the counter in Ireland anymore. I think a gp can prescribe it.

One More Toy

Sardonicat wrote: »

AFAIK, you can't buy over the counter in Ireland anymore. I think a gp can prescribe it.

Damn that's a pain in the ass, thanks I'll refer my friend to a doctor so

Graces7

A caution. I tried it once way back and the headaches when I stopped were shocking. It is powerful stuff. Needs care. Great care

Garlinge

Yes available here on prescription. It is important herb and can interact with other medications so needs to be monitored. It is available over the counter in UK. I believe drops are preferable to tablets (see Dr Vogel). It can be used to treat 'winter blues' and is popular in Germany. A short course of a few months is sufficient so it is not necessary to take continuously. That being said, it may take a few weeks to 'kick in'.

Prescription only in the republic. Can buy up north over the counter. It's not a particularly effective antidepressant though.

One More Toy

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Prescription only in the republic. Can buy up north over the counter. It's not a particularly effective antidepressant though.

There's a study that it's as effective as prozac

CBear1993

Came on here hoping someone would have pointed out a herbal shop or similar. Sure you can buy CBD oil on capel street in Dublin of a high spectrum.

Madness that you’ve to head up north to get something like this. Holland and Barrett UK website have it but yet it’s removed from Irish website.

Pharma....

super_furry

*modsnip*

Meeoow

Has anyone used it? I was thinking of trying it, but there were a lot of side effects on drugs. Com reviews.

CBear1993

My own GP last week just said it mainly affects women if you’re on the pill etc.

It can lead to increased sensitivity to sunlight the first while after taking it also apparently.

I’m definitely going to give it a go. Was trying CBD oil there for a while to ease anxiety. But I was only taking it infrequently at night, probably need to be taking it more often

Graces7

CBear1993 wrote: »

My own GP last week just said it mainly affects women if you’re on the pill etc.

It can lead to increased sensitivity to sunlight the first while after taking it also apparently.

I’m definitely going to give it a go. Was trying CBD oil there for a while to ease anxiety. But I was only taking it infrequently at night, probably need to be taking it more often

Please take care. This is a powerful substance with serious side effects. I used it for some months and when I stopped the headaches were utterly terrifying; showing it affected the brain adversely. I would never ever risk it again and it did not help.

Better improving diet and lifestyle frankly.

Pkiernan

Self medication for depression is rarely successful.
Even less so with internet sourced herbs and oils.

It would be best to see a doctor.

CBear1993

Graces7 wrote: »

Please take care. This is a powerful substance with serious side effects. I used it for some months and when I stopped the headaches were utterly terrifying; showing it affected the brain adversely. I would never ever risk it again and it did not help.

Better improving diet and lifestyle frankly.

Thanks for the heads up to a few of you. If that’s the case I think I’ll steer clear.

Were you taking it regularly as in daily?

I came off of antidepressants about 18 months ago after about 2 years on them and it was hell. Slowly tapered off and once I finally stopped the dosage I had what you described- brain fog and brain zaps are the words I would use. I was a zombie for about 2 weeks. I hung tight and it eventually left. Never again will I be back on that poison.

Obv this is only my own opinion and they help some people massively

Wanderer78

One More Toy wrote:

I have a friend who is mildly depressed, I was wondering would St John's Wort be viable?

My doc prescibed it to me, but I managed to order it online, it came from Spain, took a while to come, probably due to covid, think it was €35 for a pot of about 300 tablets, a brand I had been using for a while, but it was an old pot, may have been in storage for a while.

*modsnip*

CBear1993

Wanderer78 wrote: »

My doc prescibed it to me, but I managed to order it online, it came from Spain, took a while to come, probably due to covid, think it was €35 for a pot of about 300 tablets, a brand I had been using for a while, but it was an old pot, may have been in storage for a while. I ll post link later

How did you find it , any effects?

Wanderer78

CBear1993 wrote: »

How did you find it , any effects?

its extremely mild, but i do think it was beneficial, im unaware of any major side effects, unfortunately my situation changed, and it wasnt capable of dealing with my issues, so im now on an ssri for the first time, experiencing common side effects

CBear1993

Sorry to hear that. If they help you in the short term that’s good. I fell into the Comfortable trap of staying on them for 2+ years. My advice would be to get off of them when you feel you can and things are right. No one will tell you to come off of them and then it’s a mighty pain to wean yourself off of it after becoming dependent

Wanderer78

CBear1993 wrote: »

Sorry to hear that. If they help you in the short term that’s good. I fell into the Comfortable trap of staying on them for 2+ years. My advice would be to get off of them when you feel you can and things are right. No one will tell you to come off of them and then it’s a mighty pain to wean yourself off of it after becoming dependent

thank you, ive resisted them for many years for these reasons, but they were necessary this time around, and im glad i did, i felt them working almost immediately, even well short of therapeutic range, im theraputic range now, so i ll have to come off them very slowly, doc wants me on them for the next few months anyway, so we ll see what happens next year

Brand_New

I think it's worth a try if for someone suffering with depression, at least short term to help stabilise until you can try to find the root the cause of the depression.

It is not addictive in that you will not crave it when you stop but like any drug that works on neurotransmitters such as serotonin and noradrenaline it has a withdrawal profile. Never go cold turkey, if taking long term and you wish to stop taking it you need a slow taper over weeks or even a few months.

You also need to be sure you understand which drugs it can interact with, the two main ones are antihistamines and benzodiazpines.
I think it would be unwise to take St John's Wort if you are on either of these drugs.

So in short it can be beneficial to some people but just because it's a plant does not mean you should not take all the precautions you would with a potent synthetic prescription drug.

Wanderer78

Brand_New wrote: »

I think it's worth a try if for someone suffering with depression, at least short term to help stabilise until you can try to find the root the cause of the depression.

It is not addictive in that you will not crave it when you stop but like any drug that works on neurotransmitters such as serotonin and noradrenaline it has a withdrawal profile. Never go cold turkey, if taking long term and you wish to stop taking it you need a slow taper over weeks or even a few months.

You also need to be sure you understand which drugs it can interact with, the two main ones are antihistamines and benzodiazpines.
I think it would be unwise to take St John's Wort if you are on either of these drugs.

So in short it can be beneficial to some people but just because it's a plant does not mean you should not take all the precautions you would with a potent synthetic prescription drug.

what are the problems with these, i was taking them from time to time with johns wort, unaware of issues caused?

BuboBubo

*modsnip*

locum-motion

This whole thread is promoting illegal activity.

St John’s Wort is classified as Prescription Only in Ireland.

Therefore the only legal way to obtain it is by getting a prescription from a registered Medical Practitioner and bringing it to a registered Pharmacy.

Ordering it online from abroad is illegal.

Receiving it through the post from a friend abroad is illegal.

Bringing it from abroad for a friend is illegal.

(The person sending it to Ireland from another country may or may not be breaking the law of that country, but the person receiving it here is definitely breaking the law here)

One More Toy

locum-motion wrote: »

This whole thread is promoting illegal activity.

St John’s Wort is classified as Prescription Only in Ireland.

Therefore the only legal way to obtain it is by getting a prescription from a registered Medical Practitioner and bringing it to a registered Pharmacy.

Ordering it online from abroad is illegal.

Receiving it through the post from a friend abroad is illegal.

Bringing it from abroad for a friend is illegal.

(The person sending it to Ireland from another country may or may not be breaking the law of that country, but the person receiving it here is definitely breaking the law here)

You'd think it was heroin they were trying to import instead of a herbal supplement...

Garlinge

A relative took it at my suggestion for post surgery depression, common after open heart work. He found it great and his consultant was supportive but it had an affect on warfarin so needed closer monitoring of same so stopped taking John's Wort. I have heard that drops are best, so many in water x3 a day and that a short course of couple of months is sufficient. So something to discuss with GP. It is apparently as effective as Prozac type meds and more popular than same in Germany.

stevek93

Some of the polish shops have it in a tea, not to sure there is enough in a tea bag now.

Kurtosis

Mod note

As has already been pointed out, purchasing prescription-only products online is not legal. St John's Wort largely falls into this category, except for specific extract formulations which have received a traditional-use registration from Ireland's Health Products Regulatory Authority, although these do not appear to marketed currently. Speak to your pharmacist or GP if looking to take this.

Thread closed.