Lesson Learned the Hard Way.

I have a real habit of self- and google-diagnosing my suspected afflictions, and even determining what medication the doctor should prescribe before I darken the door to the office.

But today I learned that that’s not exactly the best course of action.

I read somewhere online about the effects of St. John’s Wort on minor depression, something that I’ve struggled with for years. I did some digging (aka google searching) and found that St. John’s Wort is often used in place of anti-depressants and that it has similar benefits but less side effects.

Because here’s the thing. Regardless of what is or isn’t going on in my life, I’m a better person when I’m on a low dose of an anti-depressant. I’m a better wife, mother, employee, friend, (blogger? Probably, but it’s yet to be tested) person in general when I have a little prescribed boost in my serotonin level.

Better living through chemistry, that’s what I always say.

But the problem is that I don’t like the side effects this medication has on me. Each time I’ve given it a go, I’ve almost immediately gained a good amount of weight. Which is another thing I’ve struggled with for years and I just can’t stand it.

SO… when I read about the possibility of getting similar results with St. John’s Wort, and after checking it out on mayoclinic.com and various other sites, I bought some and took the first dose last night.

I have no scientific evidence that what happened this morning was in any way related to my self-prescribed medication – it’s circumstantial at best – but it seems like quite a coincidence that this morning I had what I’m pretty sure was the first migraine of my life.

When I woke up, I had a bit of a headache, but I thought it might be allergies because we had slept with the windows open. By the time I was getting close to my office, I was realllly starting to feel bad, and about an hour and a half into the work day I absolutely had to leave. I practically ran out the door.

My headache had gotten tremendously worse, I was nauseated and I just felt horrible. I was so out of it that I was sort of afraid to drive – I even contemplated having my dad come and pick me up, but that would have just delayed getting home, which is all I wanted to do. I called Jenny and talked to her most of the way because I thought it would keep me more alert. I am pretty sure I didn’t say a coherent thing the entire time!

When I got home, I barely had the energy to change my clothes, but I managed to get into some pajamas and I immediately hit the bed. I slept soundly until the middle of the afternoon (which would have been glorious had I not been feeling so awful). When I finally woke up for real, my head was still hurting but all the other stuff had pretty much gone away. I was able to eat some cheese and crackers and watched a rerun of Scrubs. Fortunately, I got to feeling better quickly after that and when it was time to pick up the kids, I was feeling pretty much back to normal.

In any case, the most likely culprit of today’s disaster is the St. John’s Wort. I did some more googling and only found vague references to the possibility of headaches as a side effect (and actually some stuff said it can be used to treat migraines), so apparently if that’s what caused my problem, it’s not common. But regardless, the more I read about it the more I realized that herbal remedies are serious business and can have serious consequences. And should be prescribed by a doctor, not by a dork with a computer and internet connection.

So, I don’t know if there’s a direct correlation between the St. John’s Wort and my crippling headache, but I’m not going to take any more of it just to be on the safe side. In addition, I’m going to talk to my doctor before I create anymore supplement cocktails, no matter how many people on the internetz say it worked for them.

But I could still be talked into the ShamWow.