Depression---Peri-menopause---St. John's Wort

St John's Wort is great, other helpful herbs are 5 HTP, Soy Issoflavins, and a combination pills of Calicium, Magnesium and Potassium.

If you had an infection and the doctor recommended anti-biotics, would you take them? This is really no different. The doctor is trying to help you through a difficult time. Why would you not take a medicine that really could help you?

Several recent studies have shown that antidepressants are no more effective than placebos for people with mild or even moderate depression. So, unless you and your doctor characterize your depression as more severe than that, I would look for other solutions. Antidepressants can work wonders for people with severe depression (my ex-husband is one) but for the rest of us, things like exercise are most effective, without the possible negative side effects.

I would look for reasons that this is happening in the morning - low blood sugar, sleep disturbances, other things? Then look to change your habits to address these possibilities - a protein snack before bed, a change in sleep habits or environment, ...

I haven't used St. John's Wort or similar remedies, so I can't directly answer that. If your research shows it doesn't have potential harmful side effects, it could be worth a try. If you can find a way to exercise every morning, in some capacity, I would do it.

And I recommend reading the book "SPARK: the revolutionary new science of exercise and the brain". Written by John Ratey, M.D. and full of evidence that exercise changes our brain chemistry and relieves depression and anxiety.

st john's wort can help. but it doesn't help everybody, as we're all different, and our causes for depression are different. my husband found it briefly very helpful, it didn't do squat for me.
it's not likely to harm you if you want to give 'er a whirl.
rather than 'exercise' which sounds like such a chore, can you go for a 15 minute walk every morning? it's amazing how much that can put a lift in your step, especially if your mood naturally brightens by later in the morning.
but if nothing helps, and your doctor recommends an anti-depression med, don't rule it out. i think it's wise to explore other options first, but sometimes better living through pharmaceutical intervention is the best answer, and often it can be brief.
khairete
S.

Are you familiar with Dr. Christiane Northrup? She has some amazing books that are very comprehensive when it comes to perimenopause and all of the symptoms and the many ways to address them. She is really clear about the mind/body connection and how our physical symptoms are created by what is going on in our lives. Another great author is Dr. Lissa Rankin.

If you are looking for an alternative to meds, you can try writing first thing in the morning. Just pour out all of your thoughts on paper. Even if it is just "I am depressed, I am depressed, I am depressed." Allow yourself to just free-flow what is going on in your head. Do not worry about sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, or if it even makes sense. Give yourself at least three pages to really get it all out. You will be shocked and amazed as you uncover issues that you have probably been completely unaware of.

Don't be surprised if anger is the predominant feeling that starts to show up after a couple of days of writing. Often depression is anger that we have stuffed because we feel we shouldn't be angry. If you are having issues that are creating anger and are stuffing that anger it could be that you are processing in your sleep and that is why the depression is showing up first thing in the morning.

I've never taken St Johns but I've been where you are with bad morning moods, brain fog, terrible trouble sleeping and the resulting crabbiness.

For me a hormone replacement therapy, HRT, was my saving grace.
They said it would take two weeks to start to work but I felt 50 percent better the first day after I really slept the night before! I took it for three yrs and consider it one of the best decisions for me ...and my family.

Be very, very careful with natural supplements like that. They can have side effects and interact with medications. I'd only take St. John's Wort with the supervision of a doctor. That one is notorious for causing issues.

you can try progesterone cream.. it might help a little.. it is over the counter at a health food store.

however.. the dr has antidepressants that will help more.. this perimenopause can go on for a while... I would take the drugs from the dr.

It might be that you need an antidepressant for a while. These symptoms will eventually pass but in the mean time the depression could be the result of something else.

Please consider taking an antidepressant for a period of time. A low dose will help you overcome this stage then you'll be back to normal.

There are also some birth control pills that are specifically for perimenopause to slow it down if it's too early.