I’ve tried St. John’s Wort. It was superficially helpful, energy levels improved. But over time it began to feel sort of “speedy,” and I experienced anxiety attacks for the first and only time in my life. Also got an odd metallic taste in my mouth.
Turmeric capsules led to a sort of warm pleasant feeling of well-being, fairly immediately. There can be digestive upset from high dosage. Very high dosage can lead to yellowing. I use a fair amount of curry in my food now, so I stopped supplementing. You can feel it in sore joints, they warm up and ache less.
SAM-e was very good. Over a period of weeks I just felt better, very subtle, more energy but not jittery or speedy. It’s a little pricey though. No problems from stopping use of it once I felt better. I’d take it again if the need appeared to be there.
Dried St. John’s Wort is weaker than a fresh plant tincture. But no one responsibly recommends it for serious depressive states. Like the majority of herbal remedies it works best on sub-pathological conditions.