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St John's Wort for PMT depression
My 19-year-old daughter becomes very low for a few days before her period is due. She doesn’t want to take antidepressants. Is there anything more natural she can take?
St John’s Wort has just had another kicking from the “establishment” following a clinical trial that showed it could not treat serious depression. The criticism was that sufferers using it for a clinical diagnosis of depression would not be using the conventional drugs that really would help them and so would remain at risk.
Anyone who takes the slightest interest in natural health would be able to confirm that we always specify that St John’s Wort can be useful in treating mild to moderate depression, emphasizing those two key words. There is as much, if not more clinical evidence that this herb is effective for precisely the kind of condition your daughter is suffering from and in a survey of 23 randomized trials involving over 1,700 patients with mild to moderate depression, St John’s Wort was found to be more effective than a placebo and at least as good as standard antidepressants but without the side-effects.
European sales of St John’s Wort still outperform sales of Prozac, so maybe there is a hidden agenda for discrediting a natural ingredient that cannot be patented for big bucks by a pharmaceutical company. Your daughter should take a daily dose of 300mg, increasing to no more than 900mg. It may take a month or so to take effect.