Medicaid Will No Longer Pay For My Son's Prozac. Is St. John's Wort A Reliable Alternative?

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Question: Medicaid Will No Longer Pay For My Son's Prozac. Is St. John's Wort A Reliable Alternative?

Hi, my name is Brenda, and I have a 17 year old son, who has been on Prozac for two years now. He was diagnosed with OCD. Well about a month ago they terminated his SSI and Medicaid If you were on Prozac, then you I don't need to tell you how expensive it is. My husband is also on social security and I just cannot afford to buy the Prozac and Respierdal that the doctors are giving him. I heard that Johns Wart is like generic Prozac. Please tell me more if you can. I really am in a desperate situation here and need information on this. Please, if you can help me I would be so appreciative!!!

Thanks,
A very concerned mother

Answer #1

Sorry to hear that Prozac will no longer be paid for by "the red tape of government." I personally have found an herbal product that has worked for me. And I know of one person who was able to quit taking Prozac and go onto this herbal product. Another lady I know was able to quit taking Zoloft. The product is called "Nutrizac" and it contains St. John's as well as Siberian ginseng, kava kava and a few others. I buy it at the health food store. It is also available over the internet, but you need to do some searching to find the stores that offer it. Good luck.

Answer #2

An excellent (and I do mean excellent, in my opinion) alternative to Prozac is St. John's Wort. I myself have taken St. John's Wort as an alternative to prescription medication (it's so much better, trust me). St. John's Wort is relatively inexpensive and comes without the side affects other SSRI's do. You can pick it up at any health store. I also encourage you to research St. John's Wort yourself before you give it to your son.

I will also give you some advice regarding St. John's Wort. You're going to need to taper your son off of Prozac slowly. Unfortunately, this will be hard and will disrupt his progress (if any). It is good to do this over a month, and if you can wait 3 months (it takes at least a month for Prozac to get out of your system, 3 is best for the amount of time he has been on it). A very important thing to remember about SJW is that it is a mild MOA inhibitor. Other prescription drugs can interfere with that. You do NOT take SJW for the rest of your life. It's advised that you stop taking SJW after 3 months. Progress should be seen within 2 weeks of the first dose. If you need SJW again, it is alright for another 3 months (the majority of people report not having to take it again). It is not wise to mix SJW or any herbal/natural product with other prescription drugs.

Prozac and SJW are usually used to balance out mood swings and help fight depression. I'm going to assume that since your son was on Prozac he had depression also. Prozac can be used to treat OCD, but I find there are better drugs for it. Since OCD seems to be the main problem, I would try Kava Kava together with SJW. Kava Kava helps tame the anxiety that can accompany OCD.

Keep us posted on the situation, and do your homework. I've been in the situation your son is in. If you have any questions or need more information, post them here. I have done a lot of research on SSRI's, SJW, and other herbal products. Don't forget. I'm not a doctor.

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