st johns wort

[bpl4269]

So I havent been active lately on this website. Mostly because im just trying to live my life with as little reminders as possible about hppd. So lately ive been taking st johns wort and it has helped immensly with my depersonalization. I feel closer and closer to the person I was and now am. Reality is now within my grasp. Im getting motivation again and im so happy about that. Ive been going on long bike rides every day,eating organic food, and taking tons of healthy good supplements. I believe my depersonalization was due to a serotonin deficiency. I should also mention that I got a little carried away and thought I could smoke some weed again. Strangely it did not affect my depersonalization, but it drastically affected my visuals. Thankfully the geometric patterning I was seeing while high did not stay, but the weed did make my trailing of lights and pisitive after images slightly worse. I do have hope though that they will diminish again with healthy diet and exercise. So to conclude this thread, i highly suggest st johns wort for depersonlization. Give it a couple weeks or more though. It could take a little time to kick in. Stay healthy and happy guys. You can get through this.

[onedayillsailagain]

Hey bpl,
long time! Good to read of your profound experience with St. John's Wort!
It does seem to enhance DA signalling in the Thalamus, among other things.
 

The retinal inputs pass through a "way station" in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus before projecting to the cortex.

from Wiki

 

However, it has also shown to disrupt PPI. This makes the therapeutic potential in HPPD somewhat controversial. But perhaps that effect is dose-dependant. St. John's Wort, however, works in many different ways, and if your personal HPPD pathogenesis is seretonergically involved, then indeed it could definitely help.

Either way, what the heck, you're feeling better, and that's what matters most!
Are you able to do most of the things you used to? Anyway, hope the benefits will remain sustainable and even accrue for you!
Thanks for dropping by and letting us know.

[bpl4269]

Yes! Amazingly i am able to do most things that I used to! I can even socialize at work with little issue. Im getting friends back again! Of course drug use is out of the question but people still seem to like who I am despite a the fact that I wont smoke with them. Although today, about five days after my stupid weed binge im starting to get head pressure. It sucks, but it probably wont last. Ive had it come and go before. I just have to be extra careful about what I put in my body for now. How are you doing oneday? Havent had the pleasure of speaking to you in a while. How ae ypur symptoms coming along?

[onedayillsailagain]

Wow that's great! Yes indeed, being extra mindful of your health from now on would be wise.
I wouldn't worry too much about the head pressure. Seeing as St. John's Wort has had such a profound impact, it'll probably stabilize in the next few months.
Care to share some more details on the SJW? Dosage, time it took for improvement, etc. I'm sure someone will benefit from that information in the future, should anyone decide to try SJW. Also, what are the supplements you're taking you mentioned? Perhaps they're also contributing to your welfare. I imagine if you're taking 5-HTP that it would have significant (possibly synergistic) effect as well.

I've been doing better lately, thank you for asking! Not nearly enough as I'd like, but definitely better.
I think it's because I saw a HPPD specialist, and have a little more faith in things getting better now.
Monday I'll hear whether I'm getting a prescription for Keppra or not, and it's likely the former will happen. So that's pretty awesome!
Visually I haven't had any changes, but mentally I'm in a better place. I've actually been able to relax now and then, which is nice.

Again, very glad to read you're feeling better. Have the visuals also subsided?
Cheers!

[bpl4269]

For the st johns wort, ive been taking the recommended dosage 3x a day. Other supplements ive been taking include probiotics ,omega 3s, inositol, choline, garlic, oregano oil, b complex, vit c, melatonin, gingko biloba, lions mane mushroom, gaba, vit e, and l theanine. Actually Im feeling cognitively slow again today which is a real downer. My stqmina seems down and my trails are slightly back. Alomg with positive afterimages really regretting smoking. I hope I can get on track again and rid myself of these anjoying visuals. Really angry at myself right now...

[onedayillsailagain]

Thanks for sharing! I don't know about the oregano oil (what should it do?). Also oral GABA seems to lack the ability for significant amounts to cross the BBB, moreover is an GABA receptor agonist, hence should be avoided so as to prevent GABA receptor downregulation. Other than that the supplements your are taking are very healthy (aside from some controversies on Ginkgo), so good going! Have you been taking myoInositol in dosages of 18 grams, as that seems to be the best therapeutic range?

Hope you've forgiven yourself. Surely the visuals have reduced by now?

[bpl4269]

Thanks for sharing! I don't know about the oregano oil (what should it do?). Also oral GABA seems to lack the ability for significant amounts to cross the BBB, moreover is an GABA receptor agonist, hence should be avoided so as to prevent GABA receptor downregulation. Other than that the supplements your are taking are very healthy (aside from some controversies on Ginkgo), so good going! Have you been taking myoInositol in dosages of 18 grams, as that seems to be the best therapeutic range?

Hope you've forgiven yourself. Surely the visuals have reduced by now?

Oregano oil is for my lyme disease. Its to break up cysts that the antibiotics cannot get to. Actually my visuals havent really calmed down much :-( The positive afterimages arent as bad, but oddly it seems as if im reexperiencing old symptoms for a couple days at a time and then they are vanishing. Very strange. Trails are same. Luckily they are only really noticable against a dark background. So i can count my blessings there. I dont even see them during the day. Head pressure is no longer constant. Its slowly vanishing. I attribute that to my strenuous exercise regimen. Honestly, im very thankful that I can even go on long bike rides now and get the blood flowing. I couldnt do this before because derealization made it too hard. But that is next to nothing now. I do feel that I can beat this back again. Faster than before as well. I predict that dp will no longer be an issue in a month or so. I dont even give a shit about visuals anymore. The mental shit is the real killer. I have already accepted that i wont be able to smoke again. Im fine with it. This whole relapse has made me realize how much progress was actually made in these past four months, and im never going to take my mental health for granted ever again. Nor my visual health. Im just grateful that the weed didnt send me into full blown hppd. My coping skills have improved remarkably though. Im positive I can deal with any future struggle ahead with ease after this awful experience. Anyway. Im getting off topic. And btw, thanks for theadvice on the gaba. I will no longer be taking that. Good luck oneday! Thanks for all your support in this dark time of mine. If i could give you a big hug I would :-) haha no homo.

[Kellen]

Were you smoking cigarettes or pot? (Edit: I read that It was pot)

I would hate to give up smokes right now. But if it helps with dp/dr I will.

Buying St. John's wart tomorrow

The foggy heavy head pressure is all too real right now. I need to get out if this

[Baseline]

Thanks for sharing! gonna pick some up. 

[Transform]

I got me some St. Johns Wort "Positive Thoughts" and feel a little better after taking it off and on but i never noticed much of a difference, of course it doesnt instanty start making you feel balanced out again. But hey if it works for you and makes all those nasty things seem invisible then my friend i hope it works for a thousand more people. As per my anxiety medication *sigh* (Alprazolam) just makes me want to unwind & catch up on eating and maybe enjoy not feeling crazy for an hour exactly before my damn engine starts up again....

 

 

Reading your OP makes me wanna test if those things really did work on me after all..

[zukov]

I got some St johns wort today too.... i let you know any change in two weeks.

 

All the best!

[onedayillsailagain]

Any updates on St. John's Wort? I was reading about opiod antagonism mitigating depersonalization, and found that Amentoflavone is a plant constituent found in Ginkgo Biloba and SJW, among others, that acts as an opiod antagonist, which I found quite interesting. I haven't given SJW a try myself, though now I'm considering it. Does anyone have any input? Cheers.

[onedayillsailagain]

Well I went ahead and ordered Perika SJW, along with Ginkgold Gingko Biloba, which are both supposedy the best of the best.
Should be here in a few days, so I'll start with them when they arrive. And I'll try to adhere to a regimen for sake of evaluation.
I'll post my experiences here.

[zukov]

I have tried st johns wort for two weeks and i cant really say nothing about it, it can be helpful with some mood issues but maybe was a placebo effect, no changes in visuals or DP. I will need to stay on it for 3 months to really talk about its effects. 

[NamelessUser]

Great to hear you are doing better! Remember the key to nutrition is balance- supplements included. Also exercise works wonders.