St Johns Wort

fatmanandbobbin · Jan 22, 2009

Hi there,

Can anybody tell me if it is safe for my Father (61) to take St Johns Wort when hes is taking oral medication for diabetes? There seem to be many conflicting articles online regarding its safety.

Thanks,
John

ChocFish · Jan 22, 2009

Hi John and welcome to the forum

You do not say which medications you father is taking, and you are right there is a lot of conflicting advice on the net and st johns wort does have some interactions and side effects, http://www.personalhealthzone.com/stjohnswort.html as with any kind of medicine, whether it is conventional or complimentary or alternative there is always a risk of side effects or interaction so
I suggest that your father consults with his doctor before he takes any medication, even if it is over the counter medicine or from a health store, better to be safe than sorry?

All the best

Karen

Trinkwasser · Jan 23, 2009

There's a pretty good interraction checker here

http://www.drugs.com/

Another excellent resource

http://www.rxlist.com/script/main/hp.asp

jenrose · Jan 24, 2009

Hi

I have read that St. John's Wort does interact with some anti-depressants but I don't know about medicines for diabetes, blood pressure, heart conditions etc. Here is another medicine guide link.

http://medguides.medicines.org.uk/default.aspx

milly mole · Jan 24, 2009

The biggest problem with St. John's wort is that it interferes with lots of other medicines.[5] [6] [7] For example, you shouldn't take St. John's wort if you are taking:[8]

* The contraceptive pill. St. John's wort makes the pill less effective, so there is a higher chance you'll get pregnant
* A drug called simvastatin (brand name Zocor). This is a medicine used to treat or prevent high cholesterol and heart disease.
* Drugs for migraine called triptans, such as sumatriptan (brand name Imigran) and eletriptan (brand name Relpax)
* Drugs for epilepsy
* Warfarin, and similar drugs used to prevent blood clots
* A drug for eczema called tacrolimus (brand name Protopic)
* Drugs for HIV called indinavir, efavirenz and nevirapine
* Antidepressants.

Taken from this link,

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... johns-wort

St Johns Wort

fatmanandbobbin

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ChocFish

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Trinkwasser

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jenrose

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milly mole

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St Johns Wort

fatmanandbobbin

Newbie

ChocFish

Well-Known Member

Trinkwasser

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jenrose

Well-Known Member

milly mole

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