[skill]

Does anyone know whether it is safe to take Piriton and St. John's Wort extract at the same time ?

I was prescribed a two week course of sertraline 50 mg od for anxiety and mild depression, but found it made me feel much worse and I could not tolerate the side effects (nausea and retching, urinary retention and, especially, insomnia, which was one of my worst symptoms initially). I read on one of these message boards that Piriton tablets, which contain 4mg of the antihistamine chlorphenamine/chlorpheniramine maleate, are sedating but also possess SSRI activity. I took one tablet before bed last night and slept for the first time in 5 days !

Do I need to take more than 4 mg tablet of Piriton per day to benefit from SSRI activity and can I safely add one 30 mg tablet of concentrated extract St. John's Wort ?

Many thanks

skill

[Daigaisai_Taren]

I've taken st. Johns wort with caffeine pills, valium, hydrocodone, alcohol, diet pills, and various combinations thereof and haven't seen any...never with SSRIs or antihistamines though, so I'm not sure...if memory serves the main problems with st. john's wort have to do with photosensitivity, so you'd probably be in more danger if you were taking it with artifiicial sweeteners than with piriton.

[Daigaisai_Taren]

no wait...strike that..it's not dangerous but it can make the side effects form the SSRIs worse.