Has anyone had any experience of st john’s wort and if so do you have a brand recommendation?

[Noelnoel]

Thanks

[RedApple Administrator]

Noelnoel, St Johns Wort is not recommended for people taking various prescription medications, including thyroid medication.

From the PIL of an Holland&Barrett SJW product images.hollandandbarrettima...

Do not take this product if you are taking any of the following medicines:

thyroid hormone: Thyroxine

[Noelnoel in reply to RedApple]

RedApple

Thank you very much but it’s not for me. I will though pass on the warning

[humanbean]

Whoever is thinking of taking St John's Wort is presumably taking it for depression and/or anxiety?

There is an alternative which they might be interested in - 5-HTP. I wrote about it in this reply to someone else :

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

I've been taking 5-HTP for about ten years now, and it hasn't caused me any problems. But I do take an extremely low dose (50mg. four days a week).

[Noelnoel in reply to humanbean]

Thank you humanbean

Yes she is but she’s had a glaucoma op and cannot take conventional anti-depressants. Not sure why. Also, St. John’s wort is looking as though it may have similar side-effects so 5-HTP may be the answer. She’s a scientist and well informed but doesn’t know so much about alternatives to convention

[Stourie in reply to Noelnoel]

St. John’s wort is another name for Prozac or fluoxetine. Jo xx

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Stourie]

Jo,

No - really, it is not. They are very, very different to each other, although what they have in common is that both can be used to treat depression.

This is quite an in-depth overview of St John's Wort:

nccih.nih.gov/health/st-joh...

And this is the UK's NHS page about Prozac/Fluoxetine:

nhs.uk/medicines/fluoxetine...

[Noelnoel in reply to helvella]

Thank you hellvella, I was waiting for someone someone else to chip in before answering Jo as I was unsure

[Stourie in reply to helvella]

I apologise for my wrong information. Jo xx

[Noelnoel in reply to Stourie]

Thanks Stourie, hellvella has posted a couple of interesting links