Focus Formula

[Lunacie]

Originally Posted by Geno

You're right about all of them except possibly St. John's Wort. The active chemicals in them have been shown to do pretty much exactly what SSRI antidepressants do only at a lower level, and their efficacy in depression has been shown (in clinical trials)to be equal to SSRIs. (something like 60%)

Other than that, your post is totally spot on.

Some people should not take St John's Wart, and there are contraindications for other meds being taken.
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It can also exercabate symptoms of mania such as Bipolar.

http://www.personalhealthzone.com/stjohnswort.html

[Geno]

Originally Posted by ccom5100

Opium is not poisonous. It is natural, but also used as a drug to kill pain. Of course there are poisonous plants out there, but no one uses them, or entices others to use them, for medicinal purposes.

I didn't say Opium was poisonous. I said it wasn't safe in the sense the withdrawals you get are hellish and, since opium has morphine in it, it can kill you relatively easily if you take too much.The only drugs/plants that are completely safe are the ones that don't do anything. It's up to you to decide if the good it does outweighs the risk.

[Silvermoonstone]

If you REALLY want to try for no medication idea, coffee might work. Might, because there's no real concrete proof on it being effective. Some say it helps, others say it doesn't.

[ccom5100]

Originally Posted by Geno

I didn't say Opium was poisonous. I said it wasn't safe in the sense the withdrawals you get are hellish and, since opium has morphine in it, it can kill you relatively easily if you take too much.The only drugs/plants that are completely safe are the ones that don't do anything. It's up to you to decide if the good it does outweighs the risk.

True, but an overdose of many drugs can kill you, including the stimulants prescribed for adhd.

[Lunacie]

An overdose of anything can kill you, from aspirin to plain old water.

[Amtram]

Yes - the dose makes the poison.

Geno, I didn't hear anything about scientists isolating the active ingredient in St. John's Wort. Any links for that?

[Geno]

Originally Posted by Amtram

Yes - the dose makes the poison.

Geno, I didn't hear anything about scientists isolating the active ingredient in St. John's Wort. Any links for that?

Hyperforin and Hypericin, they believed for a while Hypericin was the main antidepressant as it's a mild MAOI, but turns out it's too mild to have any effect. Hyperforin is now postulated to be the primary antidepressant, being a triple(no, quadruple) reuptake inhibitor (dopamine norepinephrine serotonin and GABA, glutamate too but that doesn't contribute to it's effects). Although Wikipedia claims Hypericin is an inhibitor of the enzyme that turns dopamine in to norepinephrine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypericin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperforin

In addition, Hyperforin is also an anti-inflammatory and an antibiotic. They've done lots and lots of studies and research on these two, I can dig up some clinical trials showing their efficacy in depression compared to other ADs, if you'd like. The bad news is, trials have shown no benefit for ADHD although some anecdotal evidence suggests it may be.