Postnatal Depression & Rhodiola Root (St. John's Wort)

Member Name: clsparey

Product:	St. John's Wort
Date:	03/11/00 (2189 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: No Side effects.

Disadvantages: None I know of.

My Son was born on Good Friday this year, and it was a fantastic day, and really made up for the last nine months of hell that he had put me through.

As is always the case after having a baby you run on adrenalin for a few days, then shock sets in, and eventually when you least expect it here comes good old postnatal depression! As if you haven’t got enough on your plate already.

In my particular case things were quite difficult. My husband was working in Hampshire, my original home (we live in South Wales), and was away 2 nights a week, and I also have a 7 year old daughter, who is hard work at the best of times! Luckily I have my mum and dad close at hand, and they were a great help, and I thought that I was coping really well. Silly me!! I found myself doing everything, and at times felt like a single parent.

Then the tears started, they came out of nowhere, and over the silliest things. I didn’t want to go out, I didn’t want to talk to anybody, I was snappy, I couldn’t think straight, and when I went to bed exhausted I couldn’t sleep, and then there were the night feeds to contend with. I realised finally that the only explanation was postnatal depression, and that I needed to do something about it, but what? I hate my GP and only go there if I need to take the kids, and sitting around for an hour when I could be doing something else seemed pointless. And I didn’t want to be drugged up to the eyeballs, and no matter what is said prescription anti-depressants can become addictive one way or another.

Then once again my saint of a mother (she has to be to put up with me!) came to the rescue, and persuaded me to go to our local town shopping. Both her and my dad are great believers in herbal remedies and needed to stock up on some things in the local health food shop, so naturally I went in with them, and there was a leaflet on the counter about St Johns Wort, which is good for depre
ssion, so I talked to the assistant in the shop about it. Apparently, the only problem with St Johns Wort is that it can interfere with the Pill and as I wasn’t in a hurry for another baby decided against the risk. So she recommended Rhodiola Root, which is sometimes referred to as the Russian St Johns Wort, and has no nasty qualities.

So I bought a bottle of 30 capsules, and was advised that although it said one per day I could start off for a few days taking 2. These cost me about £7. So for the first week I took two per day, and then cut down to one. I noticed the difference within days. Some of the properties of Rhodiola are to help with depression, combat stress and they also give you energy, and it’s true.

I did buy a second bottle and have about half of them left, and if I’m having a very stressful time I take one or two at bedtime and the next day I feel great. But it is best to take them at bedtime.

I would recommend these to anybody, but it’s a good idea to talk to an assistant and check things out, and from my experience they are very helpful. I don’t know how well they work on other forms of depression, or even very severe postnatal depression, but from my point of view if they are herbal, non-addictive and save me sitting around for hours to see a GP that I don’t like then they have to be worth a try.

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