| Before I begin...I am a Post Viral Fatigue | | | | |
| Syndrome / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome sufferer | | | | - tension------ SIDE NOTE ------ |
| myself but I am not medically trained! I am | | | | |
| merely passing on to you, things I have read | | | | To find out how St Johns Wort works visit: |
| and learnt which may interest you. I am not a | | | | SIDE NOTE ------Having said that, one of the |
| 'health expert', so please - if you come | | | | most common side effects of St John's Wort is |
| across anything in this article that you find | | | | fatigue, which is obviously relevant when you |
| interesting, do a little research on it | | | | suffer from ME/CFS! So if you do try St |
| yourself and contact your doctor or health | | | | John's Wort, keep an eye on your energy |
| professional about it before taking any | | | | levels. If they plummet even further, it may |
| advice from this article.Depression, anxiety | | | | be a sign to rethink whether you should be |
| and sleep disorders can all be symptoms of ME | | | | taking it or not.What's more, St John's Wort |
| Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Whereas some ME/CFS | | | | **has** been found to interfere with some |
| sufferers may never experience depression and | | | | prescription medicines. Studies published in |
| anxiety as symptoms of their ME/CFS, others | | | | the Lancet and the British Medical Journal |
| unfortunately do.For example, according to Dr | | | | have shown that St John's Wort speeds up the |
| Shepherd in his book 'Living With ME', true | | | | breakdown of medicines in the body, leading |
| clinical depression probably affects between | | | | to lower levels of the drugs in the blood. So |
| 25-33% of ME/CFS sufferers at some stage.Many | | | | if you're taking other medication or |
| ME/CFS sufferers are prescribed | | | | supplements of any kind, that's another |
| antidepressants to help them sleep and to | | | | factor for you and your doctor to consider |
| ease their fatigue (even if they are not | | | | before taking St Johns Wort.------ SIDE NOTE |
| depressed). But although prescribed | | | | ------ |
| antidepressants do help **some** ME/CFS | | | | |
| sufferers, others find that they experience | | | | There are other side effects and dangers of |
| bad side-effects.St Johns Wort (also known as | | | | St Johns Wort. You can find out more about |
| Hypericum perforatum) is an interesting | | | | some of these on this page: SIDE NOTE |
| natural alternative to prescription | | | | ------As with taking any new substance for |
| antidepressants.Many medics seem to say that | | | | the first time, the best thing you can do is |
| it has far fewer side effects, yet it | | | | to approach St Johns Wort with caution.In |
| apparently works just as effectively as | | | | essence, you should **not** take St John's |
| common SSRI antidepressants such as Prozac, | | | | Wort until you have checked with your doctor |
| Paxil/Seroxat and Zoloft. In fact, according | | | | that it is safe to do so. It's also often |
| to Dr Charles Shepherd in his book 'Living | | | | advised to start slowly with a low |
| With M.E.' (mentioned above), St John's Wort | | | | dosage.Although sometimes it gets remarkable |
| seems to have a lower incidence of side | | | | results, sometimes St John's Wort does |
| effects (around 20%) - much lower than that | | | | nothing. It really is down to the individual. |
| seen with conventional antidepressant drugs | | | | But research suggests that you do need to |
| (around 60%).----- SIDE NOTE ------ | | | | take St John's Wort for a number of weeks in |
| | | | order for it to work.Bottom line?Always, |
| For more information about the 'darker side' | | | | ALWAYS check with your doctor first before |
| of SSRI antidepressants visit: SIDE NOTE | | | | taking St Johns Wort. And if you do decide to |
| ------With a 2,400 year history of safe and | | | | take it, keep an eye on your energy levels. |
| effective use, the use of St Johns Wort has | | | | If your fatigue worsens noticeably, then just |
| risen dramatically recently, especially in | | | | be aware that it might be the St Johns Wort |
| Britain. And in Germany, they apparently use | | | | that's causing it.And if you do decide to try |
| St Johns Wort a lot to treat depression, | | | | St Johns Wort, remember that research shows |
| anxiety and sleep disorders, all of which, as | | | | that you need to take St Johns Wort for a few |
| mentioned earlier, can be symptoms of ME | | | | weeks in order for it to start |
| CFS.St John's Wort has both anti-viral and | | | | working.-----Copyright, Claire Williams, |
| anti-depressive properties and has been used | | | | 2003-2005. All Rights Reserved.-------** |
| by Europeans for centuries as a remedy for:- | | | | Publication Guidelines **The article above |
| sleep | | | | may be freely reproduced provided that:(1) |
| | | | you only mail to a 100% opt-in list; (2) ALL |
| - depression | | | | links areLIVE hyperlinks (3) the article is |
| | | | published in its entiretyincluding the title, |
| - anxiety | | | | copyright notice, & the author'sbio & |
| | | | resource box (which must be placed directly |
| - PMS | | | | belowthe article).-----Claire Williams is |
| | | | editor of sleepydust.net and has suffered |
| - menstrual cramps | | | | from Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome since |
| | | | 1995.She created sleepydust.net to help ME / |
| - menopausal stress | | | | Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia |
| | | | sufferers deal with their condition - from |
| - irritability | | | | handling their money worries, to recovering |
| | | | from their illness. |
| - neuralgia | | | | |