Side effects of St. John’s wort

Side effects

When taking St. John’s wort, as a side effect it can cause sensitivity to sunlight. Therefore, you should not take or rub St. John’s wort before sunbathing. Immune depressive medications are attenuated by St. John’s wort. Rarely, allergic skin reactions, tiredness, restlessness or gastrointestinal complaints may occur as side effects.

Weight gain as side effect

Some people seem to gain weight while taking St. John’s wort preparations. The exact cause is relatively unclear. Other, especially older antidepressants can also cause weight gain.

However, the mechanisms of action of these substances are much better understood. In addition, St. John’s wort preparations are a mixture of many ingredients, each of which in turn could have a variety of different effects. It is speculated that the weight gain is due to a change in the state of health.

It is possible that the appetite simply increases due to the changed mood. Above all, the consumption of sugar- and calorie-rich food can also briefly improve the mood. This is one of the reasons why depression and weight gain are often related. The following topic may also be of interest to you: Antidepressants without weight gain

Side effects on the skin

St. John’s wort can increase the light sensitivity of the skin. Especially light-sensitive people with fair skin can develop blistered sunburn when taking higher doses of St. John’s wort in combination with excessive sun exposure. The increased light sensitivity caused by St. John’s wort is called hypericism after the plant pigment responsible for this.

Care should be taken when taking other drugs that can also cause a similar effect. In addition, when taking St. John’s wort, care must be taken to ensure adequate sun protection. Visiting a tanning salon or prolonged sunbathing in an outdoor pool is also not recommended due to the high UV exposure.

Also some medical interventions work with artificial jets, which can have a clearly stronger effect than usual sunlight. An example for this is the laser treatment or the purposeful irradiation with UV light. Due to the higher intensity, even low doses of St. John’s wort may be sufficient to trigger a reaction.

However, some studies also give the all-clear. In most cases, the dose of St. John’s wort normally taken is too low to trigger hypericism. However, St. John’s wort is also used in higher doses due to its antiviral effect. Sufficient sun protection should always be ensured.