Godshaer.co.uk :: SAD

sad - seasonal affective disorder

Sad - symptoms and treatment

SAD - Seasonal Affective Disorder symptoms appear in late Autumn and last through the Winter to early Spring. Generally, the condition is due to the low sunlight of these months, and the long periods of darkness. The symptoms and treatment can be found below.

SAD symptoms disappear in spring, either suddenly with a short period (e.g. four weeks) of hypomania or hyperactivity, or gradually, depending on the intensity of sunlight in the spring and early summer.

In sub-syndromal SAD, symptoms such as tiredness, lethargy, sleep and eating problems occur, but depression and anxiety are absent or mild.

SAD may begin at any age but the main age of onset is between 18 and 30 years.
SAD occurs throughout the northern and southern hemispheres but is extremely rare in those living within 30 degrees of the Equator, where daylight hours are long, constant and extremely bright.

Regarding the general symptoms of SAD, I recommend the following herbal tonics:

The best supplement to take throughout the year to reduce the symptoms of SAD is the ABC Daily 50 Herbal Powder. Take just half a teaspoon 1-2 times a day for a nutritional supplement of over 5000 constituents of organic whole herbal proteins (complete range of amino acids), vitamins, and minerals and hundreds of micro-constituents to feed and support your cells, organs and systems.

Depression - take Godshaer's DepressionLess Tonic

    * Low mood, worse than and different from normal sadness
    * Negative thoughts and feelings
    * Guilt and loss of self-esteem
    * Sometimes hopelessness and despair
    * Sometimes apathy and inability to feel

Sleep Problems - take Godshaer's SleepMore Tonic to improve the depth and length of sleep at night

    * The need to sleep more
    * A tendency to oversleep
    * Difficulty staying awake during the day and/or disturbed sleep with
      very early morning wakening

Lethargy - take Godshaer's EnergyMore Tonic

* Fatigue, often incapacitating, making it very difficult or impossible to carry out normal routines

Over Eating - take Godshaer's Stevia which is very sweet, and if necessary WeightLess Tonic to improve metabolism

* Craving for carbohydrates and sweet foods leading to an increase in weight

Cognitive Function - take Godshaer's MentalPepTalk Tonic

* Difficulty with concentration and memory
* The brain does not work as well, or as quickly

Anxiety - take Godshaer's WorryLess Tonic

* Tension
* Stress is harder to deal with

Loss of Libido - take Godshaer's Herbal V8 or Herbal VW Tonic

* Less interest in sex and physical contact

Immune system. Most sufferers show signs of a weakened immune system during the winter, and are more vulnerable to infections and other illnesses. - take Godshaer's HerbShield or ColdLess AntiViral Tonic

For the range of treatment sizes and prices click here

Prescriptions

To make a donation to Godshaer Herbalist via PayPal click here

Our herbal tonic medicines are carefully prepared on a personal and individual basis for your healing by medical herbalist Alan Hopking MA MNIMH MRCHM FINEH. Only whole herbs are used in our herbal medicines. Nothing else is added. If you have symptoms which you consider might be helped with herbal medicine please contact herbal practitioner Alan Hopking for a friendly confidential professional consultation. Telphone using our freephone 0500 90 96 97.
Once you have received your herbal prescription you can contact Alan Hopking at any time for more free advice (preferably by email). When you have completed your bottle of herbal medicine and if you want a repeat prescription you are requested to phone or email so that your progress can be assessed and adjustments made if necessary so that there is no break in your treatment. To order or re-order, click here.

UK Government Dept - MHRA

General advice to consumers on the use of herbal remedies from the Medicines Healthcare products Regulatory Agency

From the website of the Medicines Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (www.mhra.gov.uk) Department of Health, UK

• Remember that herbal remedies are medicines. As with any other medicine they are likely to have an effect on the body and should be used with care.
• Herbal remedies may sometimes interact with other medicines. This makes it particularly important to tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking a herbal remedy with other medicines such as prescribed medicines (those provided through your doctor or dentist).
• Treat with caution any suggestion that a herbal remedy is '100% safe' or is 'safe because it is natural'. Many plants, trees, fungi and algae can be poisonous to humans. It is worth remembering that many pharmaceuticals have been developed or derived from these sources because of the powerful compounds they contain. Any medicine, including herbal remedies, which have an effect on the body should be used with care.
• Treat with caution any herbalist or other person who supplies herbal remedies if they are unwilling or unable to provide written information, in English, listing the ingredients of the herbal remedy they are providing.
• If you are due to have a surgical operation you should always remember to tell your doctor about any herbal remedy that you are taking.
• Anyone who has previously experienced any liver complaint, or any other serious health complaint is advised not to take any herbal remedy without speaking to their doctor first.

PRECAUTIONS:

Pregnant/Breast-feeding mothers
Few conventional medicines have been established as safe to take during pregnancy and it is generally recognised that no medicine should be taken unless the benefit to the mother outweighs any possible risk to the foetus. This rule should also be applied to herbal medicinal products. However, herbal products are often promoted to the public as being “natural” and completely “safe” alternatives to conventional medicines. Some herbal ingredients that specifically should be avoided or used with caution during pregnancy. As with conventional medicines, no herbal products should be taken during pregnancy unless the benefit outweighs the potential risk.

Volatile Oils

Many herbs are traditionally reputed to be abortifacient and for some this reputation can be attributed to their volatile oil component.(6) A number of volatile oils are irritant to the genito-urinary tract if ingested and may induce uterine contractions. Herbs that contain irritant volatile oils include ground ivy, juniper, parsley, pennyroyal, sage, tansy and yarrow. Some of these oils contain the terpenoid constituent, thujone, which is known to be abortifacient. Pennyroyal oil also contains the hepatotoxic terpenoid constituent, pulegone. A case of liver failure in a woman who ingested pennyroyal oil as an abortifacient has been documented.

Uteroactivity

A stimulant or spasmolytic action on uterine muscle has been documented for some herbal ingredients including blue cohosh, burdock, fenugreek, golden seal, hawthorn, jamaica dogwood, motherwort, nettle, raspberry, and vervain. Herbal Teas Increased awareness of the harmful effects associated with excessive tea and coffee consumption has prompted many individuals to switch to herbal teas. Whilst some herbal teas may offer pleasant alternatives to tea and coffee, some contain pharmacologically active herbal ingredients, which may have unpredictable effects depending on the quantity of tea consumed and strength of the brew. Some herbal teas contain laxative herbal ingredients such as senna, frangula, and cascara. In general stimulant laxative preparations are not recommended during pregnancy and the use of unstandardised laxative preparations is particularly unsuitable. A case of hepatotoxicity in a newborn baby has been documented in which the mother consumed a herbal tea during pregnancy as an expectorant. Following analysis the herbal tea was reported to contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids which are known to be hepatotoxic.

Breast-feeding mothers

A drug substance taken by a breast-feeding mother presents a hazard if it is transferred to the breast milk in pharmacologically or toxicologically significant amounts. Limited information is available regarding the safety of conventional medicines taken during breast-feeding. Much less information exists for herbal ingredients, and generally the use of herbal remedies is not recommended during lactation.

Paediatric Use

Herbal remedies have traditionally been used to treat both adults and children. Herbal remedies may offer a milder alternative to some conventional medicines, although the suitability of a herbal remedy needs to be considered with respect to quality, safety and efficacy. Herbal remedies should be used with caution in children and medical advice should be sought if in doubt. Chamomile is a popular remedy used to treat teething pains in babies. However, chamomile is known to contain allergenic sesquiterpene lactones and should therefore be used with caution. The administration of herbal teas to children needs to be considered carefully and professional advice may be needed.

Perioperative use

The need for patients to discontinue herbal medicinal products prior to surgery has recently been proposed. The authors considered eight commonly used herbal medicinal products (echinacea, ephedra, garlic, ginkgo, ginseng, kava, St John’s Wort, valerian). On the evidence available they concluded that the potential existed for direct pharmacological effects, pharmacodynamic interactions and pharmacokinetic interactions. The need for physicians to have a clear understanding of the herbal medicinal products being used by patients and to take a detailed history was highlighted. The American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) has advised patients to tell their doctor if they are taking herbal products before surgery and has reported that a number of anaesthesiologists have reported significant changes in heart rate or blood pressure in some patients who have been taking herbal medicinal products including St John’s Wort, ginkgo and ginseng. MCA is currently investigating a serious adverse reaction associated with the use of ginkgo prior to surgery. In this case, the patient who was undergoing hip replacement experienced uncontrolled bleeding thought to be related to the use of ginkgo.

From the website of the Medicines Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (www.mhra.gov.uk) Department of Health, UK

Quick links menu

Order by email

Herbal health
you thought you'd
never find

Site Map Index

Contact details

Post

Alan N Hopking MA MNIMH MRCHM
HERBACTIVE ABC
Advanced Botanical Centre of Medicine
5 Station Road
New Milton
Hampshire
BH25 6HN
UK

Telephone

+44 (0) 1425 839280
Freephone UK 0500 909697

alanhopking@herbactive.co.uk
for general information: info@herbactive.co.uk

Road and Rail

HERBACTIVE Clinic and Shop is near the New Milton Train Station
Take the train from London Waterloo to Bournemouth, Poole or Weymouth and get off at New Milton; turn left at Station Road; 2 mins walk to Herbactive.
Buses from Bournemouth or Lymington take Wilts and Dorset X1 or X2 to Whitefield Road, New Milton (2-3 minutes walk over the rail bridge).
Buses from Winchester and Salisbury take Wilts and Dorset X3 to Bournemouth Hospital then take X1 or X2 to Whitefield Road, New Milton (2-3 minutes walk over the rail bridge).
Directions and maps

How to Pay

You can pay by card (by phone), BACS, or by PayPal Secure (see below) or by Western Union Money Transfer (see below).
To make your order click here

This service is 100% secure and encrypted and confidential. To use PayPal do the following:
1. Email your order. Please say what country you live in.
2. I will then email you back the exact amount to pay, including p&p (shipping).

We take all card payments.
There is a 3.89% handling charge for credit cards and PayPal. For UK debit cards there is no charge.
With PayPal:
Pay for purchases in your selected currency. Payment is automatically converted to your desired currency. No need to hold a balance in another currency to send a payment.
We accept payments in:
Pounds Sterling
US Dollars
Euros
Swiss Francs
Swedish Krona
Danish Krone
Norwegian Krone
Polish Zloty
Hungarian Forint
Czech Koruna
Australian Dollars
New Zealand Dollars
Canadian Dollars
Yen
Hong Kong Dollars
Singapore Dollars

http://www.ukmoneytransfer.com), first email us for the total UK pounds you need to send; or simply tell us your credit card details by telephone and we'll do the rest.

Disclaimer and pledge
As a professional herbal practitioner I am in practice in conformity with the laws of England and the 1968 Medicines Act. The UK legislative provisions for herbal medicine are to be found in the Medicines Act 1968, Section 12, paragraphs 1 & 2, and Section 56, paragraphs 1 & 2.
Section 12:1 specifies exemption for herbal medicines from licensing provided that they are supplied subsequent to private personal consultation. Section 12:2 exempts herbal medicines provided that they are produced according to standard traditional, non-industrial methods. It also specifies that no written claims may be made for the use of the remedy.
Therefore at HERBACTIVE no claims about any medical condition regarding the herbal medicines prescribed by Alan Hopking are made. Indeed, be it a doctor, surgeon or herbal practitioner, the successful outcome of our treatments cannot with any certainty be predicted, let alone guaranteed. Further, following UK and EU law, the information on this web site attach no medical claims and no claims concerning the medicinal herbs mentioned relating to any medical conditions listed. All the herbal prescriptions are unlicensed and made by Alan N. Hopking at the address of HERBACTIVE for patients of Alan N. Hopking.
I pledge that, I shall do all I can, using my knowledge of herbal medicines and natural treatment, to help you regain your deserved health.
Alan Hopking MA MNIMH MRCHM
All our herbal medicines are made from the raw herb at our dedicated clinic and dispensary at HERBACTIVE Botanicals. We collect the fresh herbs, or import the dry herb. They are organic if at all possible. We only use whole herbs. We are against the use of standardized extracts, or the concentration of herbs by adding more of the active constituent. We recommend you do not use such products in any form (dry, in capsules or as tincture extracts). To use our herbal tonics you should follow the prescribed dose. Any side effects or problems should be reported to us.