Newbie here: SJW questions 1 MO

[artsygal]

Hi, I am new to this forum and happy to have found it! :smile: I started taking SJW "Natural Factors" 1 mo. ago. Heres the history

-1 wk vivid pleasant dreams, sleeping better.
-2 wk anxiety dissapating/ carb craving going away
-3 wk depression lifting and wonderful floaty feelings!
-4 wk vision beginning to get blurry every day, cognitavely unable to concentrate at work, driving, etc. Tired and sleepy.

My brand of SJW I use is Natural Factors which has .3% Hypericin and 3% Hyperforin. I take it 3X per day morn, noon, night. My question is, any ideas on how to get rid of these side effects? Since I have stopped SJW the clouds of depression are back and reaking havoc in my life. :frown:

I heard somewhere that the Hypericin has some of these side effects and that if I could find a brand that had only Hyperforin it may help eleviate these? Is this true? Also, If I take them all at night would this help the sleepiness and would the herb still be in my body enough for the next day?

Thanks!
-artsygal

[alex]

I just wanted to post a new thread of my own about my first month but seems u have similar experiences so i'll just reply.
I am now at week 4,5 and actually i feel very bad. Like u mention sleepy, tired very tense actually. I hope this goes away soon, don't expect this to be the outcome of SJW :frown: . I also have constipation, this must go away too and my ears are ringing.
At week 3 I felt really good I was lifting out of my depression and then week 4 nothing. It's really going up and down at the moment. Looks like this SJW is trying to pull you out of it , one step at a time. But I do feel I am making progress in some way, that's why i'll keep on it just a little bit more.
I stopped also after week 3 for a while and i felt down again and low in energy.
I use one pill 425 mg at the moment.

Keep posting about ur progress, I will too.

[H2Obuffalo]

Hi Artsygal-

I had a similarly first postive and then disappointing experience with the Natural Factors brand. At first I really liked it. I was taking it for a couple months and felt good with it in the beginning. However in my case it then began to make me more and more anxious and agitated, which is the tell-tale sign for me of a SJW brand that has too much hyperforin for me. I know from trialing many brands that hyperforin makes me unnaturally and intolerably agitated and anxious. I find I need a hypercerin-standardized product in TABLET, not capsule, form. I have been using Planetary Formulas brand regular SJW extract since then, and it has been working best for me in the long run. Planetary Formulas also makes a "full spectrum" SJW extract, but that one didn't work as well as their regular SJW extract for me.

If you want to try a higher hyperforin product, it's probably hard to go wrong with Perika, Kira, or something like that. However, it's also very possible that hyperforin may actually be causing you trouble, as it does for many other people on this board. In that case, try a hypercerin-standardized brand, perhaps preferably in tablet form. In addition to Planetary formulas, Source Naturals also makes a similar SJW extract tablet.

In any case, best wishes.

-H2Obuffalo

[artsygal]

Thanks Buff-

I first bought Natrol SJW with .3% hypericin which is in a pill form but I read that they now think hyerforin is the most active against depression. Because of this I switched to the natural factors, but maybe I should switch back to natrol and give it a try. Is it usually hypericin or hyperforin that helps depression and which one gives the side effects?

[artsygal]

ps. Do you think it is important to get an "organic" brand since I will be taking it for so long? and how do we know it is not contaminated or the company is trustworthy in its percentages of active ingredients?

-artsy

[H2Obuffalo]

Is it usually hypericin or hyperforin that helps depression and which one gives the side effects?

Everyone seems to be different and react somewhat differently, so it seems to be a matter of individual trial and error. By the way, I also tried the Natrol tablets you mentioned, and wasn't particularly impressed. They didn't help me much, but again, that's just my own experience. If you can, try the Planetary Formulas regular (not full spectrum) SJW extract (standard three a day dose) before giving up on hypericin. These may be hard to find. I buy mine at the Vitaminlife.com website in the U.S. Alternatively, Source Naturals regular 3-a-day SJW extract comes in second place for me, and Source Naturals is easy to order from many websites in the U.S. I don't know whereabouts you are, or if these brands are available outside the U.S.

About the organic question, I've actually never heard the matter come up. There *are* concerns about purity, but until now it seems like most people have concentrated on testing the herbs themselves for contaminants, rather than checking if the SJW is grown organically. Personally I wouldn't worry about it, but instead try to find out if whatever brand you eventually like is tested responsibly by the manufacturer.

HTH.

-H2Obuffalo

[Lady Raven]

Hi Buffalo: Since I've started visiting this site I've enjoyed your posts as it seems you have quite a bit of experience with SJW and offer valuable insights to others on the board.
I was interested in your post about Planetary Formulas SJW. Why do you feel it works so well for you? Also why in tablet form and not capsule? I've been on SJW now for 8 months and have had a good experience with it except for several ups and downs which I guess is normal. I have been on the cheap Spring Valley brand purchased at WalMart for mild to moderate depression/PMS but have been having breakthrough bad days. I did try HBC Protocols but unfortunately had a horrible suicidal reaction to what I believe was the high hyperforin formula. Standardized hypercin seems to work better for me and leave me less anxious and agitated. I've been looking for a good research grade brand to try and was interested in your thoughts on Planetary Formula. Thanks in advance for your input! Raven

[H2Obuffalo]

Hi Lady Raven-

I don't mean to say that the Planetary Formulas product is somehow universally better than others, because clearly everyone is different. It just seems to work well for me and seems to be different from several other brands in some way.

I do have a weird theory about why the brands that work for me have all been tablets (although not all tablet brands work for me, if that makes sense). Here it goes. Hope you won't laugh. :- ) Okay in theory it shouldn't matter if something is in capsule or tablet form, right? Because the tablet is basically just the contents of the capsule punched/pounded into a tablet (with some sort of binding ingredient, I imagine). BUT if I'm not mistaken, the tablet punching generates heat, unless the machinary is carefully controlled. And HEAT is certainly known to alter and often *deactivate* medicine.

Now, the best SJW product for me ever by far was the *old*, no longer available GNC standardized SJW tablets. They had a funny appearance, as if the outside of the tablet had been a little bit toasted. Not very toasted, just partially. On the other hand, Solgar makes a SJW product in tablet form, but it does not show any sign of heat reaction. Perhaps they control the temperature of their machinary very well. BUT Solgar doesn't work for me. Moving right along to Natrol brand tablets, they have a very blackened, burnt appearance, and they also don't work for me. Source Naturals tablets are also quite toasted on the outside. They are reasonably effective for me, but not as effective as the Planetary Formulas, which appears partially toasted, but not completely.

Okay, what I think is happening is that the heat generated by the pounding process is disabling one or more components that are *not* good for me. Hyperforin is known to be rather unstable. I theorize that perhaps the heat produced by pounding is reducing the hyperforin that should still occur naturally even in hypercerin-standardized brands. If no heat occurs (e.g. in capsules) or too little heat occurs (e.g. in Solgar tablets), I get too much of some component that is bad for me. If too much heat occurs, perhaps some good components also get disabled, and that also isn't good for me.

Now don't get me wrong. There are plenty of posts here from people who did well on capsule brands (including Spring Valley), on Natrol tablets, and just about every other brand, and more power to them. It really seems to depend on one's individual physiology. However in my specific case, I seem to do best on the Planetary Formulas brand. My theory about the heat from pounding is completely speculative (and may even sound a bit loony), however it does seem possible.

Take care.

-H2Obuffalo

[luke647]

As I wrote in another post, I suggest that you try Pereika. I suffer from mild depression and once I began taking Perika 3 tablets, 3 times a day, within two weeks I felt like a different person.

Hang in there.

[alex]

For How long are u using perika now ? Is ur mood stabilized ? U really making me want to try it now :glasses:

[luke647]

I began taking Perika on Christmas Day. The only side effect that I temporaraily encountered was a little trouble getting to sleep. This is now ironic, because now I credit SJW with helping me sleep through the night (as other folks have said)!

I tried cutting back to 2 tablets a day, but for me, I began to feel those old clouds of depression reappear, so, now I take it as directed.

I do not know your symptoms, but as research and even the Perika states, it would best for mild to moderate depression.

What have you got to lose?!

[alex]

Well i bought kira forte today 450mg tablets 20€/40 tablets ... So im gonna try this one first maybe.
How much hypericine/hyperforine has perika ? The Kira says 560mcg hypericine/ 9000mcg hyperforine each tablet .

[Kelly]

How much hypericine/hyperforine has perika ? The Kira says 560mcg hypericine/ 9000mcg hyperforine each tablet .

Perika is 0.3% hypericin (900mcg) per capsule. Most websites don't indicate the hyperforin amount and I don't have any more Perika here. But I believe it's 3% hyperforins (9000mcg).

Kelly

[Lady Raven]

Hi Buffalo: Thanks for getting back to me. Actually, I don't think your theory is weird at all and probably has some very valid points to it. Ultimately the only thing that matters is that it works for you. I do think I'm going to give the Planetary Formulas brand a shot at this point. I was contemplating trying either Perika or Kira at first but quite honestly I'm a bit leery to try such a "strong" hyperforin brand after my mishap with HBC. At least I'll be more sensitive to any reaction I might start to develop with the new brand. I'll be sure to post on how things go. Thanks again for your input! Take care, Raven

[artsygal]

An update,

My boyfriend sent me some SJW in the mail because he knew I have been depressed lately. :talkface: Heres the catch. He sent me a bottle of New Chapter called supercritical upliftment. It cost him $25 and has 10% hyperforin per pill! I think I'm a little leary of taking that after what I went through with the Natural Factors brand. Yesterday I switched to Natrol which just has hypericin .3% and I feel much better, less side effects. I have heard that new studies say it's actually the hyperforin that relieves the depression. Do you think I am missing what "works" if I am just taking a hypericin pill? Has anyone tried the 10% hyperforin by New Chapter? I think Im scarred of taking it! I have been feeling much better in general since I started SJW again though, so thanks everyone! I am very glad to have found this forum. :wobblyeyes:

-artsygal

[Lady Raven]

Hi Artsygal: Glad you're starting to feel better on the Natrol brand. I would continue with that if you're finding it is working and has less side effects for you. The other brand does sound a bit high with 10% hyperforin. Hyperforin standardized SJW works wonders for some people but in others (like myself) the high hyperforin throws them for a loop. I had tried HBC Protocols which is also standarized for hyperforin content and it was way too "strong" for me and gave me a horrible reaction. I think it really varies with each person. From what I understand SJW formulations have both hypercin and hyperforin in them but they used to be standarized for just hypercin content. Now with recent findings there is debate about whether hyperforin is really the active ingredient that helps to relieve depression. Personally, I need the standardized Hypercin content SJW to continue with a much smoother, more even keel feeling. But again, it all depends on the person. Good luck with your journey and keep us posted! Raven