Re: St Johns's Wort- HPA Axis

Hey Klaus,

Thanks for the heads up. I agree, it's really important to keep alert that serotonin in check. I did cut the st. john's wort a lot by that.

Do you find that one of the things about getting healthier is that you get so much more energy? And that is very strange, and you then have to be vigilant about THAT -- making sure it's not serotonin, or mania-tinged etc? Or rather getting healthy while carrying on a full life means you have to be "up" while getting healthy. Being able to take a few weeks off at a beach now would be awesome. Calm while getting the new energy in place calmly.

I found, for whatever reason, I could "taste" when I was low on serotonin. I think it's just a symptom set that I get (and Depression is one of those), when serotonin is very low. It often was caused by gluten for me, but also when I'm getting a cold it seems. I know I don't understand it fully, and maybe it's not that but that's the best answer I have for now.

When that happened, take a 5-htp, remain in the bad state for an hour, and it'll clear up with me wondering if it really happened. Gotta "love" mental illness (whatever the cause).

For me though, when you're unhealthy, St. John's Wort is great. It boosts more than serotonin -- supposedly the other neurotransmitters, but the research on why is lacking. The research on how is good: it works well for most mild and moderate depression. To be avoided for Major. (As always though, those are big groupings and lots more effectiveness info if you go granular.)

Cheers,
A+