My recent post on avoiding medical scams in the name of non-prescription ADD / ADHD treatment options, drew a heavy response, including a lot of people who were interested in what the non-prescription vitamin and supplement choices were that I referenced.
There are literally hundreds of vitamins or supplements that various people purport to have a positive affect on ADD behavior. However, none of these treatments have received the kind of scientific study required to actually say that they do or do not work. That isn’t surprising since there is no money in finding out that Vitamin X treats ADD symptoms better than Ritalin in children, getting funding for such research can be difficult.
(Incidentally, if you are a non-profit organization or scientific researcher or group that does ADD/ADHD research, and you would like some grant writing help, please feel free to contact me. I’m a professional writer and I would love to help out by doing SOME pro bono work if it would bring some funding to your research. — Note: I’ve had one bad experience with a group in the past who thought that my offer to help gave them a free full-time grant writer. I am willing to help, but I also have a family and a business to run, so please contact me with the right expectations in mind. I will work hard to help get grants to fund this important research, but I can only do so with the flexibility my schedule allows.)
Some treatments only seem to have ADD benefits in children, while others only seem to work in adults. And, most concerning of all, is the lack of data on side affects or other drug interactions. So, make sure you do your own research and investigate all of the details.
I have done my best to list sources when I can remember them or re-find them.
St. John’s Wort For ADD / ADHD
St. John’s Wort is actually most commonly indicated for the treatment of low-grade depression. As such, it seems to help with certain ADD symptoms in some individuals, most likely because it treats some of the depression-like symptoms that occasionally manifest with certain types of ADHD. That being said, it does have a widespread following of ADDers who insist that it provides some relief for their symptoms.
St. John’s Wort has been shown to inhibit the reuptake of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. This allows these neurotransmitters to build up to greater levels in the brain. Depression is thought to be caused by low levels of these chemicals and that is why St. John’s Wort is effective in helping treat certain kinds of depression, according to research.
Theoretically, the same kind of mechanism may have something to do with ADD. However, the research on that is still out.
What is known is that a large number of people with ADD/ADHD also show certain symptoms of depression. Whether there is a correlation at a physical, biological, level, or if this there is just a correlation due to the lifelong burdens carried by some ADDers isn’t known. However, if children, teens, and adults with ADHD do have some sort of depression in association with their ADD, then St. John’s Wort would help with the depression, which would provide an improved mental state overall, which could be misinterpreted as helping the ADD part of the issue.
Indeed, recent research from the National Institute of Health showed no improvement in ADD symptoms over a placebo in children and adolescents.
However, this was a very small study over a very small period of time. Ironically, this is exactly the kind of research that gets dismissed by the medical establishment as non-conclusive when the study makes conclusions the other way around. That is, if this study had found vast improvement, you could be sure that the researchers would conclude by saying that this was only a small sample and that further research was needed. The fact that they don’t say that here, is disturbing to those of us who want to think that medical research gets a level playing field regardless of the outcome and whose profits might be hurt.
The study in question was 54 children aged 6 to 17 who were otherwise healthy and taking no other medications. In standard scientific methodology half were giving St. Johns Wort and the other half were giving a placebo. The two groups were generated randomly from the participants. Then monitored for changes to inattentiveness and hyperactivity at 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks.
In other words, 27 children were tested to see how they responded to St. Johns Wort. The good news is that the study lasted 8 weeks, because the research on St. Johns Wort suggests that it takes several weeks to become effective. But, the bad news is that at weeks 1 and 2, and maybe even week 4, there should not be any expected benefit.
The other bad news is that this study used the older weaker form of St. Johns Wort commonly sold in grocery stores and health food stores. The newer form, called High Hyperforin contains 3% – 5% of hyperforin, versus the 0.14% used in the study. However, since that form is relatively new and people have been claiming benefits since before it became available, this is still good research.
The really weird part of the study is that symptom improvement was noted to IMPROVE in BOTH groups! While that lets the scientists conclude that there is no benefit of the supplement over the placebo, it raises an interesting question for those of us who actually care about those with ADD, namely, why did the symptoms improve for everyone?
Was it just that actually having some attention paid to their condition provided some help? Was it that a new an interesting environment (where the observation took place) was enough to stimulate the minds of these children to help with symptoms?
Is The Criteria Too High?
Another interesting factor is that the researchers actively expected this outcome. They anticipated a 5-point reduction on the ADHD RS-IV total score in the placebo group!
Further, it was determined that in order to count as a “meaningful” improvement, the St. John’s Wort group would require a 13-point improvement on the same scale.
The ADHD RS-IV scale has 18 items. Each item is ranked from 0 to 3 with 0 being never or seldom, 1 being sometimes, 2 being often, and 3 being very often. In other words, the lowest possible score is 0 and the highest possible score is 54. So, for a meaningful result to be obtained, subjects needed to show a minimum of a 24% improvement! Considering that most people with ADD/ADHD aren’t necessarily looking for a result that would give a zero, and would be very happy to move down to a one on their major symptoms, this seems to be a very large requirement.
Obviously, more study is needed and there are interesting facts that should be looked at.
Should You Try St. Johns Wort for Your ADD?
Obviously, everyone has to make their own health decisions, and I am not a doctor, nor do I have any other certification or qualification, so take this a general knowledge only.
St. John’s Wort has been subjected to extensive study around the world, mostly in Europe. During those studies no major immediate side effects have been reported. Indicating that St. John’s Wort can’t hurt, even if it doesn’t help. This makes it a perfect treatment to try out and see if it can help you, even if it doesn’t meet the scientific criteria set out for clinical trials.
There is one area that is a concern and that is that St. John’s Wort does interact extensively with a wide array of medications. In other words, St. John’s Worth is NOT the treatment for you to try if you currently take any prescription medication!
Talk to your doctor first to fully understand what affect St. John’s Wort might have on your medications BEFORE you try anything out.
Also, St. Jons Wort can be very stimulating to the brain. That means that it can make it difficult for some people to sleep. If you are taking St. Johns Wort, do it first thing in the morning. If you develop trouble sleeping, or it feels like your brain is “buzzing” then, cut back the dose or stop altogether. You’ll be way better off with your usual ADD symptoms than you will be with long-term sleep deprivation.
Otherwise, if you are going to try alternative therapies, you could do a lot worse than St. John’s Wort. Be careful, and listen to your body. If it doesn’t feel right or you seem to have problems flare up, stop.
Also, remember that St. Johns Wort is not an instant-on treatment. Depression patients report that it takes WEEKS for the herbal supplement to provide any noticeable improvement. This is because inhibiting the re-uptake of neurotransmitters doesn’t mean you get the full smash right away, so if you are going to try it, don’t just take it for a week and decide it doesn’t work.
Pay attention to what you are buying. Shifty supplement manufacturers and retailers want to capture your dollars no matter what, and they know that some people won’t pay certain prices. That means that the lower concentration St. Johns will sell right next to the higher concentration supplements and no one will make that clear on the front facing label. Turn the bottle around and make sure that you are getting the right amount that you have decided to start taking. You’ll need a lot more of the 0.14% kind than you will of the 3% or 5% kind (and vice versa).
Good luck, and let me know how it goes for you by posting a comment or shooting me an email.
- Alternative ADD / ADHD Treatment Resources for St. John’s Wort:
ADD, ADHD, ADD/ADHD, Non-Prescription Treatment, ADD Mediction, ADHD Medication
P.S. If you noticed a couple of mispellings of key words like “Wort”, that is to allow those who search for information with mispelled words can still find this page. That is also why I actively alternate between ADD, ADHD, and ADD/ADHD.
Since they stopped giving me antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications and realized that I had ADD-ADHD and not depression and anxiety, I have been taking Adderall generic AKA amphetamine salts. Today, I start taking Vyvanse at the recommendation of my doc who says that some patients report a "smoother delivery." Also, I only have to take one pill a day instead of pills 3 times a day.
