Perika (St. John's Wort) Nature's Way 60 Tabs (Packaging May vary)

I have been using Perika brand St John's wort for mild to moderate chronic depression for about 6 years. In that time, I've found Perika to be the most consistently effective brand, except for Wegman's store brand which you can only get if you shop at a Wegman's. Either of those is very good. I have personally not found any side effects and the cost is very low.I also caution that people should consult their doctor before starting a regimen of any drug, especially an antidepressant. I started using it at the suggestion of my doctor years ago.Of course different people will have different reactions to any drug (and St John's wort IS a drug) so be very attentive when you start to see how it affects you. I do find this effective. I take it three times a day with or without food.

I have discovered an unmentioned side effect. My throat and tongue has swollen up considerably within 7 days of taking this supplement. I was taking one after breakfast and one after dinner.I developed sores all over my tongue and mouth. No dizziness. No nausea. Some headaches. I even tried reducing to one pill per day. Once I stopped taking them, the swelling and sores went away.

This seems to be the best formulation of St. John's Wort (SJW) I could easily find in the United States. SJW is routinely used as a *prescription* medication in Germany, but because it is a prescription there, its production is also well-regulated. So when you buy it SJW in Germany, you actually get SJW. In the US, there is no FDA regulation of SJW as a "herbal supplement", so you have little idea of what you're getting. There's a consumer labs article that highlights this.Some of the best data for SJW in general is summarized in a Cochrane Review article from 2008 (Listed in the NIH Pubmed site - Pubmed ID#18843608 - can get full-text article for free if follow links). The most studied preparations used for these scientific trials were "LI 160" and "WS 5570/5572". These higher dose preparations (2-3% hyperforin instead of the 0.1-3% hyperforin often available in the US) are the ones actually shown to be effective. This Perika product is a WS 5570 preparation, and so that gives me at least some confidence it is an effective SJW product - although it's still not regulated here.Keep in mind, just because this is an effective SJW preparation, does not mean SJW itself is the right thing for you. It is the same as trying a prescription SSRI or other antidepressant - maybe it will work for you, maybe it won't. SJW is a real pharmaceutical, and as such it can interact with other medications in dangerous ways, so be very cautious if you take any other medications simultaneously.Get advice from a trusted source - whether that's an M.D., an alternative medicine practitioner, a licensed therapist or a good friend. When you're in a bad spot, it's okay to ask for help. You deserve to feel good!

Pretty good product only can be too strong if you take the whole pill which will sometimes cause headaches if you're not used to the dosage in my case i just take half the pill and it works wonders that's why the three stars otherwise i would give it five.

I was excited to come back to this product after several years of not using it. Unfortunately, the product has changed: the pills look different, suggesting a different formulation or that the product wasn't the freshest, and the efficacy wasn't what it used to be.

I started taking this mid-July. By September I could notice a positive difference. October was even more amazing! And now that November is almost over, I am a very pleased customer. My life is so much better with this stuff- depression has lifted and PMS is so much better! I can handle stress now that I have been taking this Perika regularly. I do take three a day. Sometimes I miss one but I can't say I notice. They are easy to swallow and they have been extremely effective. Years ago I tried an SSRI and stopped because I didn't like the side effects. I have no side effects on the Perika and it works just as well. You do need to be careful about drug interactions though. St. John's Wort will cause your liver to metabolize drugs at a different rate (often faster, sometimes slower from what I have read). This includes alcohol, perhaps that's why some use it to deter drinking.

Not the same packaging I received. Still same product but different looking bottle. I don't know if something changed in the igredients but this used to have a different effect before the change of the packaging. It still works but not as well as it did before. I stopped taking it due to sun sensitivity. It did help with my anxiety and quiting my mind down from the million and one thought that tend to run through it all day. Overall a good product.

When I was struggling the most with severe depression, panic, and PTSD, I was skeptical about meds but tried using St John's Wort because it was recommended by a friend. To my great surprise it took the edge off, even if just a little. I started to take like 6 or 7 of these a day until I realized that I was ready for real prescription meds, and here I am, 5 years later, in recovery and doing really well. I never would have sought medical help without this St John's Wort, and if you're skeptical like I was about the prescription stuff, it's worth every penny to try it out. (It can't take care of or fix moderate or severe problems, but it helps a little, trust me.)