Hypericum and fertility

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone! I have a 38 year old patient who's been seeing me for a few

months for help with fertility. She has 3 children (including twins conceived

after one cycle with clomid). Throughout her life she has experienced recurrent

bouts of depression for which she has taken Prozac intermittently. She also had

severe post natal depression. There is a strong family history of depression.

When she initially came in Autumn last year she was having a regular 19 day

cycle -following tests this was put down to stress. She has an extremely high

pressured and high powered job. Her cycle is now back to a regular 28 day.

However, she stopped anti-depressants last year when she decided she wanted

another child and now feels that her mood is gradually sliding further into

depression. I have used a variety of nervines and adaptogens in her Rx

including , Verbena and Withania and although her energy has improved

considerably (not least, I think, because she has reduced her days at work and

decided to defer the OU degree she was doing) her mood is worsening.I'm sure

this is also related to the fact that she hasn't yet become pregnant - I do

wonder, though I haven't voiced this, about whether she's not becoming pregnant

because it would simply be too much in an already stressful life/ and why

there's the drive to become pregnant when it has been at such great cost to her

mental health in the past. I have wanted to put Hypericum in her mixture for a

while but she is reluctant because she has read somewhere that it is

contraindicated in pregnancy and can reduce fertility. I can't find these

references anywhere. I have discussed this with her and talked about the

detrimental effect that stress and low mood can have on fertility. Personally,

I've found it counterproductive to include something in a mixture when a patient

has negative feelings about that herb and as I list all ingredients in a mixture

on the bottle, they always know what they're taking. So, I wondered if anyone

else has any information about using Hypericum when helping with fertility? I'd

be really grateful for any insight/advice.

Sue Salmon

Huddersfield