I got a bad skin rash from being on St. Johns Wort for the last 10 weeks and am going to stop. I found out it's only effective for mild to moderate depression anyway. I was taking three 430mg capsules daily.
Does anyone know if a person can just quit taking it, without "weaning yourself off slowly"?
Or will you "crash and burn" like if you did that with SSRI's?

Thanks!
SJW

St Johns wort you can just stop, you wont have any side effects. I'm thinking of quitting seroxat and going back on sjw actually. I was a nicer person when i was on them, ssri's make me angry instead of depressed.

SJW
I think you may need to take some advice about stopping SJW, try asking your pharmacist or Dr. Are you seeing your Dr about the rash?

What does the info leaflet say about stopping SJW? It should tell you something, some info surely. Do they have a telephone number you can call?

I'd be wary of just suddenly stopping anything, especially if it is a remedy to help with depression.

I found a site in the UK, that is the Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust that states you shouldn't stop taking SJW suddenly. So its from a reputable source IMO.

http://www.nmhct.nhs.uk/pharmacy/

and the link to the page I found is http://www.nmhct.nhs.uk/pharmacy/stjohnswort.htm

The site doesn't say how you shoud discontinue but since you have a rash you really should see your dr. It might be that you need to stop taking it immediately.

Since you take SJW in three doses you could perhaps try reducing it by one tablet (taking 2 a day) for a few days to a week, then reduce by another tablet for a further week (down to 1 a day) and then after a week stop or just take one every other day.

But this is something you have to decide for yourself if you can't get professional medical help.

Remember too we are all different and drugs will/may affect us in different ways.

Hope this helps.

This post has been edited by firelizardee: Jan 3 2006, 12:20 PM

greg & firelizardee:

thanks for your opinions/advice, I really appreciate it.
I called the herb company that makes my brand of St. Johns Wort and they told me that because I was on a rather "low dosage" , I can just stop and not expect any withdrawal issues. The company told me that a skin rash is a side-effect in some people.
I am going to my doctor tomorrow re: the skin rash and to see if I need to wait a little while for the SJWort to clear out of my body before I can begin taking my Zoloft prescription. Hopefully I can just start swallowing the Zoloft and proceed as usual.

Once again, I think SJWort is probably quite a useful remedy for mild to moderate depression, but for me it's just not helping.
I think I have to accept (kicking and screaming the whole way) that I suffer from
a severe depressive illness that likely needs ongoing treatment in the form of SSRI's (see my post titled, "Going back on Zoloft" for more).
Zoloft has worked for me in the past, so I'm thinking that it will work again. I'm just so sick of feeling that I just want life to be over, like a movie. I don't want to FEEL this way. It sucks. There is no "romance" in feeling this way; I don't even feel like picking up my guitar anymore. I want to FEEL enjoyment in life. I don't expect everything to be perfect, but I refuse to feel like I do now, and if going back on meds will help, then that's what I have to do.
I know I've used the word "feel" a lot. In my experience, that's what this is about. Its not an intellectual matter. Right now, at this moment--unmedicated--all the positive affirmations in the world ain't going to help.
But affirmations are a great tool in conjunction with meds, IMO.
Peace,
SJW

Thanks for letting us know.

I hope it all goes well, with coming off SJW and going back on the meds.

I know how you 'feel' about 'feeling'

Eileen