Quick question. St John's wort. Is it ok to take when on levothyrxine.

[lovelab]

Asking for my daughter who started them a couple of days ago to help with her low mood. . She is now on 100mcg and her last blood tests a month ago showed her TSH down to 50s from 93. Still a long way to go. Endo believes she has had a virus back in May which resulted in subacute throiditis this summer. So any contreindications with St Johns wort? Will it false her blood test results? Thanks for your feed back.

[RedApple Administrator]

'any contreindications with St Johns wort? Will it false her blood test results?'

It's not advisable to take St Johns Wort when on levothyroxine. Yes, it can interfere with with thyroid levels.

Low mood/depression is frequently due to low levels of thyroid hormones, so is quite likely to improve with time and the right dose of thyroid medication.

[lovelab in reply to RedApple]

thank you. I'll pass on your message. I thought it might.

[Buddy195 Administrator]

Do post your daughter’s full thyroid blood results when you have them. Highly likely her low mood is linked to thyroid medication not being optimal.

As RedApple has replied, it is not advisable to take SJW alongside thyroid medication (& this should be mentioned on the information leaflet with the SJW)

[lovelab in reply to Buddy195]

thank you. Will post as soon as she gets her new ones.

[humanbean]

An alternative to SJW is 5-HTP. It's an over-the-counter non-prescription supplement in the UK - (it isn't available everywhere in the world) that helps with depression and anxiety.

I've been taking 50mg at night for 13 years. For most of that time I've been taking it every night but I have in recent years cut it down to 50mg, three times a week, because I don't think I need it as much as I used to. Before this I was taking prescribed SSRIs which never achieved anything other than removing almost all my emotions.

Higher dose 5-HTP supplements are available, but 5-HTP raises cortisol, and my cortisol is already very high so I take the lowest dose I can get, and taking more makes me jittery.

Some supplements are sold with eye-watering levels of 5-HTP in. (Sensible doses would be 50mg per day up to about 200mg or 300mg per day.) I've seen doses of 800mg being sold on Amazon and this is just asking for trouble, in my opinion.

5-HTP raises serotonin, and too much serotonin can cause "serotonin syndrome", which is potentially fatal, particularly if the patient takes more than one supplement or medicine which raises serotonin.

Just because 5-HTP doesn't require a prescription isn't a good reason to take it lightly. In some countries it is prescription only. Since it is made from a plant it can't be patented which is why it often gets a bad press - it isn't good for Pharma company profits.

I've never noticed an effect on my thyroid, good or bad, of taking 5-HTP. I like the fact that I can treat my own depression/anxiety without having to be cross-examined by a doctor every time I need more, but then I don't like doctors.

[lovelab in reply to humanbean]

thank you. I'll send this to her. I can see / feel she needs some help atm. So this is great.

[CernCrystal]

Hi, not sure if this might help but when I had low vit D (and hypo) my mood lifted a lot when Dr supplemented me with vit D - blue gel pills containing a liquid. Can't check name at mo as on call on help line.

[lovelab in reply to CernCrystal]

thank you for your reply. I will have to check but pretty sure vit were ok when last tested. Vit D made big difference for me and my lower back pain vanished too.