# St. John's Wort - weird flush side effect? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 24, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-johns-wort-weird-flush-side-effect/276513 "2004-11-24T19:28:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jgroub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b77776/32.png) [@jgroub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jgroub)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-johns-wort-weird-flush-side-effect/276513/1 "2004-11-24T19:28:58Z")
I am taking STJW for SAD (seasonal affective disorder; i.e., the winter blues, due to less sunlight). I take a daily dose of one capsule of 166.7 mg of “hypericum perforatum” which the bottle says is from 1000mg of St. John’s Wort leaves and flowers. It’s from GNC, by the way, if that matters. Twice since starting to take it (I started about a month or so ago), I have experienced what I can only describe as a flush or maybe a hot flash: the whole top half of my body felt warm; especially my head and face. I felt as if I was actually glowing with heat. I wasn’t sweaty or anything - it just felt like I could warm up a room. It wasn’t so much uncomfortable as it was extremely unnerving, and distracting to the point of - what the hell is wrong with me? Am I going to spontaneously combust? It just felt plain weird. My internet research says that STJW is actually supposed to prevent hot flashes (obviously, in women). I read nothing about it causing them. However, my doctor (M.D., internist) says that this flush/flash is a side effect, and not to worry. I’m not seriously worried, I have a vague suspicion that he’s talking out his ass. Anyone got the straight dope on this? ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-johns-wort-weird-flush-side-effect/276513/2 "2004-11-24T21:48:22Z")
[http://www.supplementwatch.com/supatoz/supplement.asp?supplementId=269](http://www.supplementwatch.com/supatoz/supplement.asp?supplementId=269) > [@](#): > > St. John’s wort is quite safe in terms of observed side effects, the most common of which are typically mild gastrointestinal upset, mild allergic reactions (skin rash), tiredness and insomnia/restlessness. There have been no published reports of serious adverse side effects from taking the herb alone and animal studies with large doses of St. John’s wort have not shown any serious problems. The most commonly studied adverse effect of St. John’s wort is its ability to cause photosensitivity, especially in fair-skinned individuals. ---
**Author:** ![jgroub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b77776/32.png) [@jgroub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jgroub)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-johns-wort-weird-flush-side-effect/276513/3 "2004-11-24T22:05:11Z")
> [@barbitu8](#): > > [http://www.supplementwatch.com/supatoz/supplement.asp?supplementId=269](http://www.supplementwatch.com/supatoz/supplement.asp?supplementId=269) Yeh, thanks, but I know this already! I am looking for some confirmation that STJW causes hot flashes, and that this is normal and OK. (Sorry to sound ungrateful. ☹ ) ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-johns-wort-weird-flush-side-effect/276513/4 "2004-11-24T22:54:10Z")
Well at least two other people have noticed the same flush after taking SJW; [here](http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/hypericum/printadd?id=118&pid=1106682) and [here](http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/hypericum/vpost?id=113) It doesn’t seem to be a very common reaction, or there’d be more on it. By contrast, the flush some people develop after taking niacin is well known. ---
**Author:** ![professor\_folk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df788c/32.png) [@professor\_folk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/professor_folk)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-johns-wort-weird-flush-side-effect/276513/5 "2004-11-24T23:16:10Z")
can someone cite definitive proof that the stuff does anything to begin with? I used it for a long time to no avail, and my doctor actually laughed at me for suggesting it. But…here I sit in progressive Canada. [http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q="st.+john's+wort"+%2Bplacebo&meta=](http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=%22st.+john%27s+wort%22+%2Bplacebo&meta=) here’s what I found. Maybe not worth the flush? Or maybe worthy of a different ‘flush’. ---
**Author:** ![jgroub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b77776/32.png) [@jgroub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jgroub)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-johns-wort-weird-flush-side-effect/276513/6 "2004-11-24T23:55:53Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > Well at least two other people have noticed the same flush after taking SJW; [here](http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/hypericum/printadd?id=118&pid=1106682) and [here](http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/hypericum/vpost?id=113) > It doesn’t seem to be a very common reaction, or there’d be more on it. By contrast, the flush some people develop after taking niacin is well known. \*\*Really? \*\*Because I am taking that too! I started taking it at the same time as the STJW - 100mg per day. I am taking a bunch of stuff in an attempt to lower my cholesterol. I heard that niacin is one of the things that helps. I’m also taking garlic, fish oil, metamucil, and folic acid. The reason I’m doing this is to avoid going on Lipitor, or whatever. I would rather try to deal with the problem like this than to go on the drugs. ---
**Author:** ![jgroub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b77776/32.png) [@jgroub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jgroub)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-johns-wort-weird-flush-side-effect/276513/7 "2004-11-25T00:01:58Z")
Hey **squink** , thanks a lot! I think you’ve solved this one. I did some internet checking on “niacin flush” and it sounds exactly like what I had. Here’s a quote from a website (I don’t know how to paste the url in): “When you flush, you can literally see and feel that you’ve taken enough niacin. The idea is to initially take just enough niacin to have a slight flush. This means a pinkness about the cheeks, ears, neck, forearms and perhaps elsewhere. A slight niacin flush should end in about ten minutes or so. If you take too much niacin, the flush may be more pronounced and longer lasting. If you flush beet red for half an hour and feel weird, well, you took too much. And large doses of niacin on an empty stomach is certain to cause profound flushing.” This is exactly what happened to me. It lasted about ten minutes. And I think I even took it on an empty stomach. Thanks again! Consider this thread closed. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-johns-wort-weird-flush-side-effect/276513/8 "2004-11-25T05:04:18Z")
> [@jgroub](#): > > \*\*Really? \*\*Because I am taking (niacin) too! > > I am taking a bunch of stuff in an attempt to lower my cholesterol. I heard that niacin is one of the things that helps. > > The reason I’m doing this is to avoid going on Lipitor, or whatever. I would rather try to deal with the problem like this than to go on the drugs. Just to be clear about this, Niacin, in the doses needed to affect cholesterol _is a drug_. In fact, its side effects are much more common and generally more serious than those that might occur with Lipitor. I would MUCH rather take Lipitor than Niacin. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-johns-wort-weird-flush-side-effect/276513/9 "2004-11-25T07:54:33Z")
> [@jgroub](#): > > \*\*Really? \*\*Because I am taking that too! I started taking it at the same time as the STJW - 100mg per day. > > I am taking a bunch of stuff in an attempt to lower my cholesterol. I heard that niacin is one of the things that helps. I’m also taking garlic, fish oil, metamucil, and folic acid. Yep- it’s the Niacin. Although- it is not impossible that there is some sort of StJW/Niacin synergy going there. Some get the same Chol-lowering results without flushing by taking a time-release Niacin. Try it. Note that some find a mild Niacin flush pleasant. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME- at a very severe Niacin flush dosage- some also claim they have gotten “high”. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.