DOSE:

2 tablets

oral

St. John's Wort

(daily)

BODY WEIGHT:

120 lb

I'll start this report with some background info on myself. I am a teenage/young adult male who had a very abusive childhood and teenage years. It took me many years to accept I have PTSD. I've been suffering from nightmares and panic attacks for a long time now, but was never able to get the help I needed (my family I lived with up until now had a 'just get over it' mentality). I am now out on my own living with a good friend of mine who wants nothing more for me to succeed in life. Although I am on my own my past still haunts me. I, as well as him, think that I needed some extra help. He is the one who suggested St. John's Wort to me having been on it himself many years ago. I should also note I've never been on any kind of anti-depressants before in my life.

So I went out and bought myself two bottles of St. John's Wort (200 pills total). It's advertised as 'Double Strength, Standardized Extract Hypericin 0.3%.' I noticed while browsing through the different brands of St. John's Wort that they all say to take it 3 times a day. Having sleeping problems (due to my depression and PTSD) I am almost never awake during those times so I decided to take my dosages 2 times a day, when I wake up and before I plan to go to bed. I have stuck with that for the 3 months I've been taking St. John's Wort and so far have not missed a dose.

I didn't notice any real effects immediately (besides the first time I took a dose I got dizzy for about 15-20 minutes but that has not happened since) and that's what I expected because I do know anti-depressants are something that needs to build up in your system. I started noticing 'effects' about a week and a half after taking my routine dosages.

I started finding myself more calm and in a WAY better mood all the time. I also started finding myself sleeping much better and not having my mind 'racing' through all these thoughts that would envelope my whole thought processes. After about a month of taking my 2 daily dosages I am more focused throughout my daily activities and things that used to give me extreme anxiety (due to my PTSD) I am able to think through more logically and they don't upset me almost at all. I find myself more open with my co-workers and more open to people in general. My panic attacks have completely disappeared! Emotional things that used to bother me (having not dealt with my own emotions from my PTSD) don't bother me either! For example, I would be watching a movie or TV show and when a sad part would happen that would trigger a panic attack or just cause me to start crying since I have never dealt with my own emotions up until now. That is not to say I don't have emotions anymore, but that I am able to process and logically think them over.

Also, another thing that I should add is my desire for recreational drugs has gone down significantly to the point where I have almost no desire for them at all. I used to smoke cannabis, synthetic cannabis, take Xanax (that I was not prescribed), DXM, alcohol, and various psychedelic chemicals on a nearly daily basis. I believe that was my brain's way of searching out the serotonin it was missing and of course, a coping mechanism. Although there is still some desire to take those, I have been sober for months now and I'm loving it! I no longer live my life in a self-induced haze to get through the day and for once in my life I am truly happy and getting 'high' off life.

I feel more 'distant' from my issues, but this is something that I need at this point in my life. It's not that I'm no longer dealing with them but that it's helping me logically think through them and come to terms. It's amazing that there was something in the vitamin isle at the store all this time for around $8 for 100 pills that could help me so much.

Exp Year: 2013	ExpID: 101687
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 18
Published: Jan 30, 2022	Views: 919
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St. John's Wort (142) : Alone (16), Therapeutic Intent or Outcome (49), Depression (15), Glowing Experiences (4), Retrospective / Summary (11)