St. John's and Eve Prmrose - A tad long

January 28, 2004

I have a question regarding St. John's. I have heard that Evening Primrose Oil shouldn't be taken with St John's Wort because EPO cannot be taken with an MAO inhibitor, which is what I understand SJW to be - a natural MAO inhibitor. However, I have also read that St John's Wort works *like* an MAO, but since it is not a drug, it works on the system. Not in the blood stream .

I googled for info, but I couldn't find anything to support either one. So, I thought that I'd ask you guys, because to me - if it looks like a duck, and it swims like a duck, then it must be a duck.

Just a quick note for why I'm asking - I have been taking SJW for post partum depression - and it is doing a nice job, not "great" but it's better than prescription anti-depressants any day. I had to wait until my son was six months old before I could take it, since I am breastfeeding - He's 15 mos. now. I have recently started having a menstrual cycle again - only the "cycle" seems to be every 5-6 weeks - My doctor told me this was due to the fact that I'm still breastfeeding.

The length of the cycle doesn't bother me - It's the mood swings - I go from calm to neurotic or very angry for the stupidest things in a split second - This happens only for a week and a half before, during, and about a week after my cycle. I basically have 1-2 weeks of sanity between cycles.

My doctor told me to try vitex - worked like a charm - I felt wonderful - only one problem - I produced buckets of milk. Nathan started having colicky symptoms, because of the over-supply issue.

I asked my doc about Eve. Prim. Oil. She said she wasn't sure if it could be taken with SJW or not - She's asked around but hasn't found anything out. She's a traditional medicine doctor, but she prefers to treat with herbs before writing a prescription. I like her attitude - "If god had intended for use to isolate only one part of a plant - he wouldn't have given us the whole plant."

Anyway, if you know the answer, great - please pass it on:-) If you have any other suggestions, I'll take them too - I'm getting pretty desperate. I can keep taking the vitex, and deal with the supply issue by changing the nursing times and positions, but I'd honestly rather not. We have a nursing routine that both of us are happy with, and Nathan is not much for changing things!

Another quick note - I have also managed to start substituting stevia in my tea and the occasional cup of decaf coffee - I also don't "indulge" in pound cake and applesauce like I used to do around the time of my cycle. This has helped some, more with fatigue issues than mood though.

Tammi Upshaw