Drug interactions making me psychotic?

Question

The past few days I have been taking St John's Wort (anti depressant) during the day and Valerian extract at night to help me sleep. Today though, i feel really up and down in my mood and have suicidal/self harm thoughts. This may be because something very depressing happened today, but Ive never had these feelings before. I also feel exhausted, and keep wanting to stab myself in the stomach. Could this be due to drug interactions? Ive never self-harmed

I dont want to stop taking the st johns wort cause I am studying the International Baccalaureate and I need to be concentrating (not depressed) for my work now, and when im unhappy I cant concentrate.

Answer 1

First of all i don't think you are psychotic, psycosis is a loss of touch with reality, delusions (fixed false beliefs) & hallucinations (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasing things that are not there). You are obviously fully aware that something is wrong, psychotic people rarely do. Are you sure you really want to stab yourself or have you just become obsessed with thinking those thoughts, if so then that is nothing other than an anxiety disorder (OCD) probably induced by the st johns wart. St johns wart is like taking a mild ssri anti depressant & many anti depressants cuse side effects at the begingin of treatment, depression, suicidal thoughts, worstened anxiety etc... You could either try taking the herb until these unwanted side effects most liekly wear off over a 1-2 week period & start to prove more beneficial, or if you think you are having an adverse effect to these herbs then stop taking them or consult your doctor. I do doubt that there is an interaction her & personally i would say its the st johns wart causing you these unwanted thoughts & feelings. Good luck

Answer 2

Distract yourself so you don't self harm - it can be v hard not to and hard to stop once you start! Drug combinations can interact to have effects like this - if you've not been prescribed the st john's wort by a dr I'd stop taking it. Try to get an appointment to see a dr tomorrow - be prepaired to feel like this for a few days as effects like this can take a few days to wear off. It's also possible that this is about something else - if you are feeling really bad there will be emergency numbers on your gps answering machine, eg. for nhs 24 or sim. for local to you - give someone a call or go to a friends house if you can - you don't need to go through this alone. Be possitive, hopefully it will not last long - try to focus on that. I had a similar problem when I started taking a new tablet but I felt really really fat and couldn't bring myself to eat (extra bad cos I have diabetes!) - the fact it would end soon was what got me through n took a week to feel better from stoping taking the tablets but I'm ok now. Good luck - I hope you feel better soon - thinking of you xxx

ps NEVER stop taking prescribed medication without consulting a dr first - this could make you feel even worse!!!

Answer 3

I'm not familar with Valerian but St John's Wort (although considered herbal) is analagous to SSRI's (eg Fluoxetine/Prozac) both interms of it's mode of action and side effects. SSRI's are known to cause ideas of deliberate self harm and suicide. If they cause these symptoms early on you should stop taking them and consult your Physician as soon as possible.

I would recommend stopping both treatments. Consult your doctor

Answer 4

Yes it could be the drugs interacting. Are you taking any other drugs (e.g. prescription drugs)?

To be honest, I would really recommend you make an appointment to see your GP first thing tomorrow (ask for an emergency appointment). Feeling like you want to hurt yourself is really quite serious - it isn't something that you should go through on your own. Please, if you can, speak to your GP about how you are feeling.

Answer 5

Seems like you need to take different kind of antidepressant. Not all antidepressant suit everyone. You better go and seek help through right channel and see a good psychiatric. Exercise, good sleep, right kind of food and watching happy movies can help lift up moods.

Answer 6

YES!!! it no doubt is an inter reaction. Drop the night thing, and GET TO A DR. He can help you with the sleep problem. Both problems SCREAM of a depression problem!!!

Answer 7

stop taking the drugs (yes they are drugs) go to the ER and tell them what is going on. Bring the drugs with you
Yes this could be a reaction to the drugs

Answer 8

Sure.Any 2 drugs u take at once culd conflict.That's a chance u take every time u combine 2 meds.I'd b careful...if it is the meds,it culd get alot worste.Good luck!*

Answer 9

I can suggest a book that i think you will find extremely helpfull.Its called "optimum nutrition for the mind" and i think the author is patrick holford.Im sure you may be worrying more than you need to but please take a look at this book!

Answer 10

Check with your doctor. The two herbal remedies in combination can be causing the problem.