HERB - Fwd

RAISYA@aol.com RAISYA at aol.com
Fri Jun 16 04:38:40 PDT 2000


Sorry about this Grania, but this one went to me first - Raisya 

================

Clinically, we do not want patients who are taking SSRIs to be also
taking St. Johns Wort.  While the actions are not specifically the same,
the are contraindicated because there is a sufficient enough similarity. 
No assumptions being made.  The question was did Prozac and St Johns
can*el each other out; the answer is no.  They are way too similar.  As
for BCPs, there is clinical evidence that St. Johns renders 49% of the
hormone inert, making the contraceptive ineffectual.  I don't like all
the chemicals in today's meds, however, we are just now beginning to
study contraindications of mixing herbals with prescriptions.  There are
many who need their Rx meds who could get into a lot of difficulty self
medicating with herbals.  I certainly would be even more depressed if my
BCP failed.  And I don't want to see folks in a near vegatative state
from over doing antidepressants. 

Grania

On Thu, 15 Jun 2000 06:24:41 -0700 Maggie MacDonald <maggie5 at home.com>
writes:
> At 04:24 AM 6/15/00 -0400,GypsyRomany at aol.com said something like:
> >I heard from a friend whose husband is bi-polar, that it also 
> cancels out
> >Prozac...
> >Not sure...could just be a doc not wanting to step over for an herb 
> :)
> >
> >Antonia
> 
> I'd probably be very careful once we start making assumptions like 
> these. 
> What you need to do before making the decision to take any of these 
> things 
> is to educate yourself as to how they work.
> 
> There are also the mechanics of how each of these things work. 
> Prozac is a 
> SSRI, and effects the balance of seratonin in the brain. St. John's 
> Wort 
> however affects the balance of seratonin, dopamine and 
> norepinephrine. So 
> while they are close, they aren't the same thing at all.
> 
> As always, YMMV
> 
> Regards,
> Maggie MacD.
> 
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