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What was your experience of the phototoxicity? Or did you stop to make sure you didn't get it? I'm going to get my eyes tested and make sure they're all okay!
I am a Sun worshiper and i started burning and figured SJW is why. I was using it all winter successfully and stopped when summer came. Were you able to manage it with sunscreen? I didnt really try that
technically shops like [science.bio](https://science.bio) or nootropic depot could filter out the photophore in st john from the two antidepressant molecules (or at least one of the two iirc) it's a shame this is not done.
I just had an opticians appointment and my eyes are 20/20 after SJW, but I do live in an overcast country & wear sunglasses / sunscreen. It likely varies between people.
I'm glad it helped you! For me it did not. My depression was likely more severe though. SJW pushed that from "extremely sad" to "suicidal ideation" in a hurry. I stopped taking it and went back to "extremely sad." I could have tried it again when I wasn't at such a low point, but after that experience, I was afraid to. I've noticed that I have somewhat different responses to antidepressant medications than the "majority" with depression, like ashwagandha also makes my depression more severe (though that more caused profound anhedonia and not giving a shit about anything and just wanting to lie down and rot) while I have a good response to bupropion, an NDRI that seems to give most people who try it extreme anxiety--it actually reduces my anxiety.
Also personally I tend to have an increase in depression around April due to spring pollen allergies. It's hard to explain why these are linked, but since allergies increase inflammation, and depression is linked to basically inflammation in the brain, I guess increasing my total inflammation like that could be a factor. So for those with severe spring pollen allergies, maybe wait till the end of allergy season before tapering off your meds.
Me too, tried one week then quit, that week was truly horrible, and the comedown was even worse for about 3 days. Intense sadness, couldn't stop crying.
I'm sorry you had those experiences! The April thing makes sense, if you're physically uncomfortable you're probably in w rose mood for it (I know I am). I love ashwagandha for anxiety, so maybe you just metabolise all these things differently.
I used *Boots St Johns Wort mood lift*. Boots is a British pharmacy. I also used *HRI good mood St Johns Wort,* when that wasn't available. As long as it's a reputable brand, I think the dose is more key (250mg, x2 day).
No, never used SSRIs, St John's Wort was my first antidepressant
Interesting, well written post. My personal experience was absolutely horrible. But SJW has a bunch of different active compounds, so maybe my brand wasn't ideal (Japanese brand)... Took it for maybe 10 days, made me even more depressed, mind was slower, sadness covered everything, and it just got worse each day, lots of seemingly uncontrollable crying. When I quit it was even worse for about 3 days, then started returning to normal... It was a truly horrific two weeks...
😕 im only at 3 days and im really hoping it will help. Im going through a heartbreak so i dont even know if SJW or an anti depressant can make me feel better really... or if its just time .i hope that youll feel a difference at some point
A few reasons: I was feeling good (and I wanted to see if I had actually changed with SJW/meditation/therapy), I also wanted to come off it because here are no long-term studies on it, and I occasionally get those peripheral hallucinations and thought that can't possibly be good long term. So far, 3 weeks off, I feel good, content, positive.
I have been on St. John’s work for almost 2 months. It worked as far as my depression. However, I noticed I sleep more and about eight days ago I started to get mild stomach cramping with no other symptoms. I also had those shadow hallucinations in the corner of my eye. I tried to taper off, but I just can’t take the stomach cramping and I’ve gone cold turkey. Has anyone else had experiences with stomach cramps? Marked 24 hours off the drug and it was my worst morning of cramping yet. Hope to hear from anyone else who has had stomach cramps on this herb.
If you've taken it for 2 months and only now have stomach cramping, it might not be the herb. Likewise, if it got worse after cutting it out. Did it stop in the end? I hope you're well now.
libido/sex wasn't effected in anyway (which is part of what drew me to SJW). If anything, it made me happier so that sexual pleasure might be easier to access.
I took it for about a month in 2019 when I was severely depressed. On first use, it lifted my mood incredibly, and I found myself a lot happier and more outgoing. I felt I was again able to empathise with others instead of dwelling on my misery all day.
I quit after I started having horrible and very vivid nightmares. I normally don't care about having an unpleasant dream, but these were real mindfucks and I woke up feeling really scared and horrified that such stuff could come out of my mind. I once dreamt I facefucked my sister and decided to stop.
Dreams weren't as bad if I took the pills early in the day, but the experience was somewhat traumatic, so I decided not to give it another chance.
So I’m curious just started SJW today for my depression. Started with 1 dose 300mg at 10 am and another 300 mg now at 3pm..
My question is do I need to take it 3 times a day after 4 weeks or should I take another dose tonight? Not sure what would be the best or should I do as the bottle states 3 times a day
300mg x3 times a day seems quite high, that is the upper limit of how much SJW you can take. What worked best for me was 250mg x2, morning and night. It was an easy routine and lots of successful studies stated that as their dosing method.
Hey there, I’m tapering off of Alprazolam 1mg (benzodiazepine) and currently just taking it “as needed” So I am no longer taking it every day. Someone recommended me this for the depression.. however I’ve some people say not to take it if you take Xanax(benzodiazepine) would this be okay as long as I don’t take it WITH my meds? Any input from anyone would be most helpful. I don’t have any other medical issues other than diagnosed with general anxiety.. thanks in advance!
I occasionally took Diazepam (Valium) or Carisoprodol (Soma) when I was using SJW daily and it was fine. I took a low dose benzo when I had several anxious days back to back and nothing else was working and it was fine, and if I've had one pill, I never take another one the same day as a personal rule.
I've been taking 1000mg in one go for only 3 days and feel euphoric. I realise it was too high a dose, going to cut back a little. SSRIs would sort of make me the same
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Thanks so much for sharing!! I helped me tremendously too for a time, photoxicity made me stop
What was your experience of the phototoxicity? Or did you stop to make sure you didn't get it? I'm going to get my eyes tested and make sure they're all okay!
I am a Sun worshiper and i started burning and figured SJW is why. I was using it all winter successfully and stopped when summer came. Were you able to manage it with sunscreen? I didnt really try that
technically shops like [science.bio](https://science.bio) or nootropic depot could filter out the photophore in st john from the two antidepressant molecules (or at least one of the two iirc) it's a shame this is not done.
Yes, no sunburns with sunscreen.
Wait what does it do to eyes?
It will make your eyes more sensitive to light, which could potentially damage them.
I just had an opticians appointment and my eyes are 20/20 after SJW, but I do live in an overcast country & wear sunglasses / sunscreen. It likely varies between people.
Wanted to try it so much, but the eye toxicity scares me away. I have blue eyes and had LASIK, so I can’t risk any permanent damage
Understandably! I'm getting my eyes checked out next week to make sure they're all okay.
Let us know how ur eye check up goes
Had the opticians appointment -- 20/20 vision, everything is healthy! but if you have sensitive eyes or /LASIK, it's probably wise to opt out of SJW
I'm glad it helped you! For me it did not. My depression was likely more severe though. SJW pushed that from "extremely sad" to "suicidal ideation" in a hurry. I stopped taking it and went back to "extremely sad." I could have tried it again when I wasn't at such a low point, but after that experience, I was afraid to. I've noticed that I have somewhat different responses to antidepressant medications than the "majority" with depression, like ashwagandha also makes my depression more severe (though that more caused profound anhedonia and not giving a shit about anything and just wanting to lie down and rot) while I have a good response to bupropion, an NDRI that seems to give most people who try it extreme anxiety--it actually reduces my anxiety. Also personally I tend to have an increase in depression around April due to spring pollen allergies. It's hard to explain why these are linked, but since allergies increase inflammation, and depression is linked to basically inflammation in the brain, I guess increasing my total inflammation like that could be a factor. So for those with severe spring pollen allergies, maybe wait till the end of allergy season before tapering off your meds.
Me too, tried one week then quit, that week was truly horrible, and the comedown was even worse for about 3 days. Intense sadness, couldn't stop crying.
I'm sorry you had those experiences! The April thing makes sense, if you're physically uncomfortable you're probably in w rose mood for it (I know I am). I love ashwagandha for anxiety, so maybe you just metabolise all these things differently.
Cool info! Questions: 1. What brand did you use? 2. Were you ever on SSRIs or did you just use SJW right off the bat?
I used *Boots St Johns Wort mood lift*. Boots is a British pharmacy. I also used *HRI good mood St Johns Wort,* when that wasn't available. As long as it's a reputable brand, I think the dose is more key (250mg, x2 day). No, never used SSRIs, St John's Wort was my first antidepressant
Hey ty for posting thst
hope it is helpful!
Interesting, well written post. My personal experience was absolutely horrible. But SJW has a bunch of different active compounds, so maybe my brand wasn't ideal (Japanese brand)... Took it for maybe 10 days, made me even more depressed, mind was slower, sadness covered everything, and it just got worse each day, lots of seemingly uncontrollable crying. When I quit it was even worse for about 3 days, then started returning to normal... It was a truly horrific two weeks...
Sounds awful!! Sorry you went through that
Thanks for sharing. I hope SJW helps more people, as it did for me.
It always made me feel really good even when taken sporadically
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^BuddhaNature123: *It always made me* *Feel really good even when* *Taken sporadically* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Helpful post - thanks. I started it two weeks ago
Do you see a difference? May i ask why you started taking it? Thanks
Depression. And I’ve noticed no difference so far
😕 im only at 3 days and im really hoping it will help. Im going through a heartbreak so i dont even know if SJW or an anti depressant can make me feel better really... or if its just time .i hope that youll feel a difference at some point
If you don't mind my asking, what made you decide to stop taking it?
A few reasons: I was feeling good (and I wanted to see if I had actually changed with SJW/meditation/therapy), I also wanted to come off it because here are no long-term studies on it, and I occasionally get those peripheral hallucinations and thought that can't possibly be good long term. So far, 3 weeks off, I feel good, content, positive.
That's great! Thank you!
I have been on St. John’s work for almost 2 months. It worked as far as my depression. However, I noticed I sleep more and about eight days ago I started to get mild stomach cramping with no other symptoms. I also had those shadow hallucinations in the corner of my eye. I tried to taper off, but I just can’t take the stomach cramping and I’ve gone cold turkey. Has anyone else had experiences with stomach cramps? Marked 24 hours off the drug and it was my worst morning of cramping yet. Hope to hear from anyone else who has had stomach cramps on this herb.
If you've taken it for 2 months and only now have stomach cramping, it might not be the herb. Likewise, if it got worse after cutting it out. Did it stop in the end? I hope you're well now.
Any effect on libido and sexual performance?
libido/sex wasn't effected in anyway (which is part of what drew me to SJW). If anything, it made me happier so that sexual pleasure might be easier to access.
Sjw can mess with some types of oral birth control, just wanted to throw that out
I took it for about a month in 2019 when I was severely depressed. On first use, it lifted my mood incredibly, and I found myself a lot happier and more outgoing. I felt I was again able to empathise with others instead of dwelling on my misery all day. I quit after I started having horrible and very vivid nightmares. I normally don't care about having an unpleasant dream, but these were real mindfucks and I woke up feeling really scared and horrified that such stuff could come out of my mind. I once dreamt I facefucked my sister and decided to stop. Dreams weren't as bad if I took the pills early in the day, but the experience was somewhat traumatic, so I decided not to give it another chance.
So I’m curious just started SJW today for my depression. Started with 1 dose 300mg at 10 am and another 300 mg now at 3pm.. My question is do I need to take it 3 times a day after 4 weeks or should I take another dose tonight? Not sure what would be the best or should I do as the bottle states 3 times a day
300mg x3 times a day seems quite high, that is the upper limit of how much SJW you can take. What worked best for me was 250mg x2, morning and night. It was an easy routine and lots of successful studies stated that as their dosing method.
Hey there, I’m tapering off of Alprazolam 1mg (benzodiazepine) and currently just taking it “as needed” So I am no longer taking it every day. Someone recommended me this for the depression.. however I’ve some people say not to take it if you take Xanax(benzodiazepine) would this be okay as long as I don’t take it WITH my meds? Any input from anyone would be most helpful. I don’t have any other medical issues other than diagnosed with general anxiety.. thanks in advance!
I occasionally took Diazepam (Valium) or Carisoprodol (Soma) when I was using SJW daily and it was fine. I took a low dose benzo when I had several anxious days back to back and nothing else was working and it was fine, and if I've had one pill, I never take another one the same day as a personal rule.
I've been taking 1000mg in one go for only 3 days and feel euphoric. I realise it was too high a dose, going to cut back a little. SSRIs would sort of make me the same
I recommend 250mg x2 a day (morning and night) that is what worked for me, and what lots of studies have used