question about st john's wort and kava kava?

[proudmom]

hi. i am a 33 year old female and about 2 months ago i had my first anxiety attack. it's like everything has changed and i now am a different person. life seems so much harder now and i used to love life. still do, but not as much. anyway- my doctor told me after ruling out other possibilities with blood tests, that he felt i was suffering from anxiety. he sent me to a neurologist to make sure. the neurologist confirmed my doctor's diagnosis. neither my doctor nor the neurologist gave me any more info on the subject and possible treatments than that. they just gave me a diagnosis. so i read up all about it on the internet and educated myself about GAD and depression and realized that's what i now have. i immediately ordered the "attacking anxiety and depression" program from the midwest center and researched possible meds to help me through.
i'm still working through the program and it is helping with cognitive and behavioral therapy. i don't suffer from panic attacks, but from anxiety attacks that can last for quite a few days. i also feel i suffer from mild depression because of the apathy i sometimes feel towards my loved ones or just a feeling of sadness that last usually no more than a day. i often get a thought in my head which in turn frightens me and then i obsessively think about and analyze it until the anxiety subsides, which takes a few days usually. my thoughts and worries tend to focus on the kind of human being and mother i am. obviously real low self esteem and belief in myself.
anyway- now that i've given you an overview of myself and my symptoms, on to my question......
I've decided for now (because of fear) not to go for medications while working through and healing myself of this anxiety disorder. i've decided to try herbal supplements that are known to help- st john's and kava kava. they do help and make a difference for me. really can take the edge off. for the past 2 months i've only used them during an anxiety attack which like i said usually lasts for 3-5 days. as soon as i feel back to "normal" i stop. i feel normal anywhere from 3-5 days and then boom- the anxiety is back just from one thought i get into my head. i understand that this is part of the disorder and it won't go away until i learn the skills needed to get it under control. what i just got around to questioning and want to ask you is, could it be my stopping of taking these things that keeps bringing the anxiety back on like clock work? (a few days of anxiety, then a few days of "normal"). i never stopped to think that like medication, maybe i'm not suppose to stop cold turkey just because i feel better.
what i'm taking now is st john's wort extract; 200mg, either 2-3 times a day and kava kava extract; 60mg, either 2-3 times per day. and again- as soon as i feel better i stop in hopes that i now have my anxiety under better control.
can you let me know your thoughts on this. what do you think of herbal treatments to fight anxiety?

thanks, lyn

[Suse]

Hi
I started taking St Johns Wort a couple of months back, after being on SSRIs. I had bad withdrawl problems and once off, starting noticing return of mild anxiety and depressive bouts so decided to try SJW. A month after starting i went to Morroco on holiday and on my return to cold blustery London i started experiencing extremely sensitive skin, very painful and upsetting. focussed mainly on the face - burning, stinging, inflammed. Skin on body prickly. I at first put this down to my cosmetic junkie tendencies, but its continued while I've stopped using all my stuff and at the same time increased my dose of SJW. Things have got worse, more pain, after a week and now I think its SJW - apparently noted (belatedly) for photosensitivity side effects. However my face is painful and red at the moment and dunno what to do next, if get better etc, definitely dont want to slide into depression again so will stop taking SJW.I believe herbal remedies are dangerous because less is known about them  - anyone with any similar experiences please share. thank you.

[Keegan]

the thing about kava kava is it isn't FDA approved.  i'd look into that.  i was thinking of going on that and all my dr friends told me not to.

[ErinF]

See?  Told you he'd come in here and plug his site again.

Funny how my first post magically disappeared too, isn't it?

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

First, my thoughts about herbals.  I know they help people but you have to be cautious.  They all have active psychoactive ingredients that are very similar in function to the prescribed medications.  But they are not regulated and you don't always know what part of the 200 mg. actually contains active ingredients.

Regarding rebound effect, you wouldn't expect a rebound effect after taking for just a few days.  But certainly the medication effect may be present when taking it and suppressing the anxiety that then reappears when you stop taking it.  Its also possible that while taking it you are feeling better but not doing the cognitive work, which then awaits you when you are off of it.

I suggest you stay off of it for a prolonged time and see what your cycle is and do the cognitive work you need to do. You might want to consider supplemented that work with my masteringstress program (www.masteringstress.com) There you can tackle problems one at a time, from your home, and have an immediate cognitive guide while dealing with real problems that effect your self esteem.