Alternative Remedies and Regular Medication: Can They Mix?

Supplements and conventional medical treatment can interact in strange ways. Even food can interact with medicine -- a lot of people, including myself, have been surprised when drinking coffee with a grapefruit: the caffeine hits twice as hard!

Here are some ways that alternative supplements and conventional medicine can interact, and some cautionary advice on avoiding negative interactions. Remember, this article does not replace real medical advice about your own situation.

Occupying the same liver enzyme or metabolic pathway. This is why grapefruit has its strange effect -- it interacts with the liver enzyme CYP3A4, which means that drugs which use this enzyme will be processed differently, often more strongly, sometimes instead more weakly.¹ Alternative remedies can interact with liver enzymes, too.

Having similar effects in the body. For example, natural, herbal supplements 5-HTP and St. John's Wort, often used against depression, should never be taken together with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant such as Prozac or Paxil, unless under a doctor's direct supervision. 5-HTP works by directly boosting serotonin; SSRIs work by making serotonin stay in the receptors longer. Combining them can cause a potentially life-threatening overdose of serotonin, known as serotonin syndrome².

Similarly, herbs with a relaxant effect should not be taken with relaxant medications, and often should not be taken with alcohol. Combining drugs which relax the muscles can lead to dangerous and even life-threatening side effects: we use our muscles to breathe.

Not all combinations of similar effects are dangerous. For example, a psyllium husk supplement can be taken with either laxatives or antidiarrheal drugs. The fiber is like a bowl of oatmeal: it has medicinal effects, but it's a food, not a drug.

Multivitamins and common mineral supplements are usually free of side effects, and so are supplements directly derived from food -- such as green tea extract, turmeric, ginger, garlic, and any other pill that has the same name as something you see on the grocery store shelf. It is still possible for drugs to have negative interactions with food, but rare, and normally your doctor will tell you if there are any foods you must avoid.

Remember, these are only a few examples. Many other drugs and supplements can have negative interactions, and I cannot list them all. Use your common sense, and when in doubt, check the facts.

Which brings us to the only solution for the problem of drug interactions:

Research, research, research. Just because it grows in the ground, or occurs naturally in our bodies, doesn't make it safe. Check the label of any supplement you plan to take; also do your own research.

The same goes for pharmaceuticals. You know that little fine-print handout your doctor gave you with your prescription medicine? That's a good starting point. A search through Entrez Pub-Med, the National Institutes of Health library of studies, is time-consuming but worth the trouble. The database includes trials of both alternative and conventional medicine. Remember, your health and safety is worth everything.

Finally, one more tip: If you're interested in what natural medicine and conventional medicine can do together for your benefit, try seeing a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). This practice includes the use of herbs you've never heard of, acupuncture, and other unusual treatments -- and a Chinese doctor is often familiar with the effects of conventional drugs, and how to work around them!