Posted by JohnL on November 10, 2000, at 4:14:42
In reply to Drug Interaction Info - Your Wisdom Please, posted by GLYN on November 9, 2000, at 6:58:10
> I've decided to build a web site which has info on the interactions and possible problems which can arise between prescription meds and the little known herbal remedies. I reckon people on prescription meds want to know which herbals are safe with what prescription meds - any wisdom, experience or knowledge of existing sources of this info would be appreciated.
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> ANybody had a bad interaction between certain herbs and AD's? Personal experiences and scientific knoledge please.
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> Glyn
Glyn,
I've tried all kinds of herbs with all kinds of meds. You name it, I've probably tried it. There were only three situations that were troublesome.
1. Paxil+SJW can produce a situation very similar to serotonin syndrome, with extreme stupor, oversedation, and diarrhea. This never happened with any other ADs, even with doses of SJW up to 1500mg per day. Oddly, it only took 600mg+10mg Paxil to result in the horrible reaction, which occurred within 12 hours of dosing.
2. Yohimbe typically causes agitation, nervousness, angriness, anxiety. It's almost an agitated pyschosis-like condition. This can happen with or without drugs. But since it is an adrenergic herb, any AD that works on norepinephrine will increase these side effects. I think in very low doses Yohimbe could actually be a good potentiator of ADs. But in normal doses it is often just too much to handle.
3. Ma Huang. Since this is like taking ephedrine, it also increases the anxiety-like side effects that can be caused by elevated norephinephrine. Though it works by a different mechanism, the overall result is similar to the comments on Yohimbe.I've never had any problems combining Ginkgo, various Ginsengs, Valerian or anything else I can think of with ADs. But the above three examples warrant extra caution.
The PDR book used by physicians also has a volume for herbs. It states known reactions for each herb when combined with drugs. If you could get your hands on this book, it could be useful. I mean, for example, combining aspirin and ginkgo is not a cool idea. Another example, SJW can reverse the desired effects of H.I.V. medicines.
I was also browsing through one of those paperback all-about-herbs kind of books at a local pharmacy and it too had listed known contraindications of herb/drug combinations. But neither of the books I've mentioned are at all complete. They could however at least allow your own research to match equally what is available on the market, and then your own private research could add to it.
You could also go to www.mentalhealth.com and do research there. In the medication research section, you could erase the name of the medication and type in whatever herb you are interested in. If any studies on that herb have been done, you'll get to read abstracts of them. They often describe case reports of bad interactions of certain herbs with certain drugs. There is one such case describing exactly what I experienced on Paxil+SJW.
I wish researchers would put the effort into learning this stuff as much as you are. You deserve a lot of credit for your work.
John
poster:JohnL
thread:48523
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20001102/msgs/48600.html