St. John's Wort

Generic Name: St. John's Wort

St. John's Wort is used for:

Treating mild to moderate depression nervousness, insomnia (difficulty sleeping), and infections. It may also have other uses. Check with your pharmacist for more details regarding the particular brand you use.

St. John's Wort is an herbal  product. It is thought to work by balancing certain chemicals in the brain, which improves mood.

Do NOT use St. John's Wort if:

• you are allergic to any ingredient in St. John's Wort
• you are pregnant
• you are taking an antidepressant, amphetamines, blood thinners (eg, warfarin), bromocriptine, narcotic analgesics, pramipexole, or ropinirole
• you are taking or have taken a serotonin reuptake blocker (eg, fluoxetine) within the past 14 days
• you have a history of severe depression or feel like harming yourself or others

Contact your doctor or health care provider right away if any of these apply to you.

Before using St. John's Wort :

Some medical conditions may interact with St. John's Wort . Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you have any medical conditions, especially if any of the following apply to you:

• if you are planning to become pregnant or breast-feeding
• if you are taking any prescription or nonprescription medicine herbal preparation, or dietary supplemen
• if you have allergies to medicines foods, or other substances
• if you have a history of bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness) or infertility

Some MEDICINES MAY INTERACT with St. John's Wort . Tell your health care provider if you are taking any other medicines, especially any of the following:

• Aldosterone blockers (eg, eplerenone), blood thinners (eg, warfarin), benzodiazepines (eg, alprazolam), cancer chemotherapy medicines, digoxin, HIV medicines (eg, delavirdine, efavirenz, indinavir), HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (eg, simvastatin), immunosuppressants (eg, cyclosporine, tacrolimus), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs; eg, fluoxetine), or verapamil because the effectiveness may be decreased by St. John's Wort

This may not be a complete list of all interactions that may occur. Ask your health care provider if St. John's Wort may interact with other medicines that you take. Check with your health care provider before you start, stop, or change the dose of any medicine.