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        New Message Board Archives >> Jul-Sep 2003 >> Are you making your meds ineffective or toxic?
        
(Message started by: Ted on Jul 18^th, 2003, 4:50pm)

Title: Are you making your meds ineffective or toxic?
Post by Ted on Jul 18^th, 2003, 4:50pm

http://headaches.about.com/cs/alternative/a/ahs_herbal.htm

Caution: Herbals + Migraine/Cluster Meds Could = Danger

Some supplements can make Migraine meds ineffective or toxic.
Jun 23 2003

At the annual meeting of the American Headache Society. researchers from the University of Utah Health Sciences Center will be presenting findings based on more than 20 studies on possible interactions between Migraine and cluster headache medications and herbal products. Please continue reading below...

They conclude that the combination of some herbal products and medications used for Migraine and other head pain disorders could render the medications ineffective or even toxic because they can interact with the liver enzymes that metabolize the medications.

Many patients view anything "natural" as being safe. Since they're "just dietary supplements," patients often don't list them with their medications or tell their doctors and pharmacists that they're taking them. Carla Rubingh, a clinical pharmacist specializing in headache and pain management at the Utah Health Sciences Center commented, "Unless we specifically ask, they don't tell us ... People see them as natural, and people continue to take them, but don't tell doctors."¹ In another interview, she commented, "These supplements need to be recognized as medications ... Patients need to tell their physicians they are taking them, and physicians need to ask if they are taking them and know how they might interact with medications."²

Some of the herbal product under discussion are:

ginko biloba
St. John's Wort
ginseng
echinacea
large quantities of garlic
valerian root
Specific medications studied included:

The triptans — Imitrex®/sumatriptan, Zomig®/zolmitriptan, Maxalt®/rizatriptan, Amerge®/naratriptan, Axert®/almotriptan, Frova®/frovatriptan, Relpax®/eletriptan
Tricyclic antidepressants such as Elavil®/amitriptyline, Pamelor®/nortriptyline, Tofranil®/imipramine, Vivactil®/protriptyline, and others
In some studies, researchers also found that some herbal remedies including ginko biloba, ginseng, valerian root, and St. John's Wort may even trigger or worse Migraine attacks and cluster headaches.

The researchers found studies that some herbal remedies -- ginkgo biloba, ginseng, St. John's wort and valerian root -- also may cause or worsen migraine or cluster headaches.

Founder and executive director of the American Botanical Council, Mark Blumenthal, is critical of the study, saying, ""It's totally speculative, and it's irresponsible in the sense that it's not based on pharmacology."¹ The American Botanical Council is a non-profit group created to educate the public about the responsible use of medicinal plants.

Part of the problem with herbal products is that they are not regulated or standardized by the Food and Drug Administration. There is little consistency between brands or even lots (batches) in some cases since they don't have to meet the standards for purity, testing, or clinical trials that have been set for medications. Without information similar to what we receive regarding our medications, consumers simply don't have as much information about potential drug or adverse reactions with herbal products.

So, how do we know what's safe? The best advice is to always check with your physician before taking herbal products or dietary supplements. When asked to list your medications, always include these products as well. These products have their place in health care and can be very valuable, but consider them to be the medications they are, and always check with your doctor.

¹ Herbs, Headache Meds Could Be Dangerous Combination. Gary Gately for HealthScoutNews. ² Herbal Products May Interfere with Migraine Drugs. Alan Mozes for Reuters Health.

Title: Re: Are you making your meds ineffective or toxic?
Post by oringkid on Jul 18^th, 2003, 8:50pm

Well crap.. I guess that means no more Coral Calcium for me...... ;D

I'm terribly sorry, just couldn't help myself

Title: Re: Are you making your meds ineffective or toxic?
Post by kim on Jul 18^th, 2003, 9:16pm

I think it's the nail polish remover ..............really.

Ginkobubba

Title: Re: Are you making your meds ineffective or toxic?
Post by cbolony on Jul 19^th, 2003, 7:00am

Quote:

toxic because they can interact with the liver enzymes that metabolize the medications.

Ted that was a great article people should listen i get my liver checked every 3 months
because of the Lipitor and now that i take the Depakote have to watch even more

Title: Other meds which can cause headache
Post by Bob_Johnson on Jul 19^th, 2003, 8:13am

Tagging on to your helpful message: Here is a related issue--how other prescription drugs can cause headache or make them worse. The lesson: self-medication is not benign; we need to check with doc and pharmacist re. interactions.
-----------------------------------------
(This message first posted several years ago.)
Among the regulars here we have a general awareness of the potential for rebound headaches which can develop from the over use of any abortive or pain medications commonly used for headache.

What has never been discussed here, to my recollection, is the potential for other kinds of prescription drugs to "...initiate a new type of headache or exercerbate a preexisting headache disorder." (This information from: "Drug-Induced Headache", Au. Stephen D. Silberstein, M.D. [Jefferson Headache Center, Philadelphia], in NEUROLOGIC CLINICS OF NORTH AMERICA, v. 16, 1, February, 1998.)

It's important to keep in mind that this list of medications have been associated, in varying degrees, with this problem. Listing them is NOT a prediction that they will cause headache.

If you are using any of these medications, it would be useful to tell the doc who is treating your headache about the potential reported in this article.

alcohol (of course!)
atenonol
benoxaprofen
captopril
cimetidine
diclofenac
glyceryl trinitrate
indomethacin
isosorbide dinitrate
isotretinoin
methyldopa
metoprolol
metronidazole
MSG
nifedipine
nitrate/nitrite (in some foods)
piroxicam
propranolol
ranitidine
sex hormones
SSRI antidepressants (during first days of starting treatment)
terfenadine
trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole
zimeldine
zomepirac

Title: Re: Are you making your meds ineffective or toxic?
Post by don on Jul 19^th, 2003, 10:45am

Quote:

i get my liver checked every 3 months

Me too. I go to the Docs office, he takes out the jar of formaldihyde from the closet shelf and me and the liver visit for awhile.

Title: Re: Are you making your meds ineffective or toxic?
Post by cbolony on Jul 19^th, 2003, 10:54am

Good one Don ;D

Title: Re: Are you making your meds ineffective or toxic?
Post by BobG on Jul 20^th, 2003, 3:56am

As long as we're talking about warnings.......
let's go to the archives.

http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=medsarchive;action=display;num=1017668184;start=10

Ueli, 4-10-02….Grapefruit juice & verapamil warning

Title: Re: Are you making your meds ineffective or toxic?
Post by Charlie on Jul 20^th, 2003, 10:30pm

Nice posts.

Natural and herbal shouldn't be synomyns for better or safer. This stuff is very expensive too. Going overboard with this stuff is risky.

Charlie

Title: Re: Are you making your meds ineffective or toxic?
Post by ozzman on Jul 21^st, 2003, 7:55am

I never saw Ueli's original message but, my pharmacist told me.
I forgot about once. Whoa! Picture this, I take my Verap. (240 I think, regular, not retard) anyway I take it with a glass of graprefruit juice AND have my morning smoke. Talk about pressure drop. I was fine after a while. But do be careful.

Ozzy