The Downside of Herbal Medicine & MS . . .
 

I was checking on the dextromethorphan and MS on PubMed based on the thread that mrsD started for us. I wanted to see what studies were done or have been done in regards to this. Hey, I get curious, I can't help it. :p Anyhow, I came across this and thought I would post it here. While herbs are great, there is a downside. I am not saying all herbs are bad or anything like that. In this woman's case, it may have been a combination of what she was taking and her medicines. Some herbs react poorly with meds - like green tea and AD's, green tea and ginger both react poorly with blood thinners, etc. I'm sure there is many more but those are the few that I know of.

So, I thought I would share this with you all. Of course, we all know that we have a demyelinating disease but for this woman and the whatever she took it caused some demyelination and eventually was fatal, like within days.:(

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3130893/

Be careful with what you are mixing your meds with. I would hate for any of us to have this type of reaction.

Herbs are "little drugs".... they are not to be lumped in with other interventions. Some of the drugs we use today, come from herbs from the past. Digoxin from foxglove is one.

Many herbs are not regulated and may be contaminated as well.
(beware of Chinese products which may be adulterated with potent drugs).

Alternative therapies or complementary medicine uses many things...only ONE of which are herbs.

I stay away from most herbs myself. I only use ginger for nausea.

But many do use some, after doing good research on them.

Some herbal products like goldenseal, or long term use of echinacea are not advised for MS patients. Usually the ones that stimulate the immune system in particular ways, are the problematic ones.

Thanks for the reminder.