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Zoloft, St. John's Wort & 5-Htp combo?

Biscophish

Bluelighter
Joined
Jan 11, 2002
Messages
211
Location
Upstate New York
Someone has probably asked this before but... I was recently prescribed Zoloft (actually I was prescribed it just today). I was wondering if I will have any problems mixing it with St. John's Wort and/or 5-Htp. Are these dangerous drug combinations that shouldn't be mixed?
[ 26 January 2002: Message edited by: Biscophish ]
 
Well, the medical community would tell you it would be bad to combine Zoloft and St. Johns Wart. The 5-HTP could actually make it worse too *TECHNICALLY*.... Zoloft blocks the reuptake of seretonin, St. Johns Wart is a MAOI and will stop the destruction of seretonin by monoamine oxidase. 5-HTP is a precursor for seretonin used by your body. So, from a medical standpoint this would be a potentially dangerous combonation. However the effectiveness of St. Johns Wart and 5-HTP is questionable. Still, I advise against taking them all, you only need the Zoloft.
 
Should one even be combining St. Johns Wort and 5-HTP? Seems to me that several serotonin syndrome cases come from combining 5-HTP with an MAOI.
 
Combining Zoloft and 5-htp is bad, this could lead to serotonin syndrome.
Combining st.john's wort with either Zoloft or 5-htp is okay, as st.john's wort is fairly weak in effect. Unless you were taking outlandishly high doses I don't think the st.john's wort would really matter.
But, as Deus said...I really think the Zoloft should do plenty, and it would be overkill to take anything else. Also, your doctor probably thinks you should stick to the Zoloft alone or he would have prescribed additional meds himself.
 
Oh, and st.john's wort is NOT a MAOI. It has some very mild MAOI-like qualities and also some very mild SSRI-like qualities. But it could not be accurately categorized as either of these drugs. It's effects along these lines are just so minimal.
 
St. Johns Wort is referred to as a very mild SSRI. As far as taking it with Zoloft, why would you take an over the counter "anti-depressant" with a prescription one. and for taking 5HTP, i don't see what the harm would be, but i really couldn't tell you for sure that it's safe.
if you are taking these all for depression, i would try just the zoloft and see how it works out for you.
and st. johns wort and 5htp are sold together as an over the counter "mood enhancer" so i don't see much potential danger combining the two, as they already come combined.
peace, outkast
[ 27 January 2002: Message edited by: outkast ]
 
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