سینٹ جانز ورٹ · Hypericum perforatum
Reasonable human evidence
It genuinely works for mild to moderate depression — and it is the most dangerous interaction on this page.
This is information, not medical advice. This page is information, not medical advice. Nothing here is a prescription, a diagnosis or a recommendation to take anything, and none of it replaces a doctor who knows your history. Supplements are not harmless because they are natural: they interact with prescription medicines, some are unsafe in pregnancy, and a few can cause real damage. Talk to a doctor or pharmacist before starting anything here, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, under 18, have a liver, kidney or heart condition, or take any regular medication. Never stop a prescribed antidepressant to try a supplement instead.
A yellow-flowered plant used for mood in Europe for a very long time, and prescribed as a licensed antidepressant in Germany.
The awkward one: the evidence for mild to moderate depression is better than for anything else herbal here, with many trials finding it comparable to standard antidepressants with fewer side effects. It has NOT been shown to work in severe depression. Its problem is not whether it works - it is what it does to other medicines.
Trials generally used 300 mg three times daily of an extract standardised to hypericin or hyperforin, over four to twelve weeks.
Recorded because a person who has decided to try something will find a number somewhere, and a forum's number is worse than a trial's. It is not a recommendation, and the right amount for you depends on things only a doctor who knows your history can weigh.
Read this twice. It speeds up the liver enzymes that clear many drugs, so it can make them stop working: hormonal contraception (pregnancies have happened this way), warfarin, some HIV and hepatitis medicines, transplant anti-rejection drugs, some chemotherapy, some epilepsy and heart medicines. With an SSRI or another antidepressant it can cause serotonin syndrome, a medical emergency. Also causes sun sensitivity. Tell a doctor or pharmacist every single thing you take before starting, and never stop a prescribed antidepressant to switch to it.
Not commonly stocked and usually imported, which is one reason it causes fewer problems here than in Europe. If you buy it online, the list above applies in full.
Tell your doctor or pharmacist about everything else you take, prescription and herbal both. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, under 18, or have a liver, kidney, heart or thyroid condition, ask first. And if what brought you here is that you have been feeling low or frightened for weeks, that deserves more than a supplement — ask us anything, anonymously, or talk to us on WhatsApp.