Anon, you don't sound to me like the person who is taking imipramine. I'm a little confused about who is who here, Maybe some of you could give names or nicknames?
3 days of St. John's wort are unlikely to hurt you in any permanent way so I wouldn't worry about that. But SJW is a weak SSRI, so it is common to get the sorts of effects you'd get from the more powerful prescription drugs. Heightened anxiety is a common one. I tried SJW myself, before the prescription meds, and I felt very weirded out and had painful stomach cramps that lasted until I stopped taking it, only a day or two later.
I certainly would not go on to take prescription SSRIs if I were you. If the SJW caused anxiety then it is very likely these will too. I know a lot of people who got worse rather than better when they took an SSRI. In fact I know some who developed psychosis, suicidal tendencies, even homicidal tendencies, and spent time in psych wards. This is no exaggeration. The good news is that they are off the drugs, healing their bodies, and are quite normal and nice people now. A couple of them went on to successfully sue the maker of their drug in a class action suit. Power to the people.
My symptoms? I was on Effexor for 2 months, then switched to Celexa for 4 months. They calmed the anxiety that was part of the depression, that's all they did. I lost my emotions, felt weirded out all the time. Like life was going by as a dream. I got sexual dysfunction. Sugar cravings. Mood swings. Eventually I'd had enough and quit. That was actually when the worst damage was done. In the months since, I have had nervous and adrenal system overload, which means that my system is very sensitive to input and can overreact. Things that can cause this are TV at night, too much reading or using the computer, concentrating on anything for too long, say more than an hour of knitting, loud noises, crowds of people, bright sunlight, and especially heat. As soon as it gets hotter than the low 70s F, I start feeling sick. Also, I was able to work last autumn but had to quit because it was making me sick. I can only do gentle exercise right now, though I used to cycle to the gym for a hard workout with my daughter on the back of the bike. My emotions are still blunted too. Diet and supplements will help with much of this in time, but it really is going to take a lot of time. And the sexual dysfunction is still there, 14 months later. I honestly don't know if that is permanent damage or not. It's going to make being married rather, um, challenging at times.
Magnesium can be great for calming anxiety, do you take any? What is your diet like? Sugar can be a major source of anxiety. I wouldn't look to meds for help with this, I'd look to diet and supplements. They have the power to cure. Wish someone had been able to tell me this before I took those pills <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Linda.
