Can herbal teas that are made to relax you interact with anxiety, depression, bipolar meds?
Ive been wondering this for a long long time now. I take meds for all of that. Right now I’m going off of the anxiety meds and probabley the depression meds but sometimes at night I feel really anxious and need something to calm me down so I drink teas that are for sleep or relaxation. I’m pretty paranoid about all of this, pills, what mixes with what etc.
So I was wondering. Is it dangerous? Can I over sedate?
To some extent, it depends on the quirks of your personal metabolism. I once had a bad reaction between a drug I was taking and peppermint tea. The combination triggered an episode of vertigo that went on for hours (I was fine with either one alone). I don’t know if that’s happened to anyone else, but it definitely caused me some grief. I also had a very nasty reaction to St. John’s wort and I know others with the same complaint.
"Herbal" does not equal "safe." Some of the nastiest poisons on the planet are derived from plants. There’s no testing requirement, so no one knows for certain how various herbs interact with various drugs, even ignoring the quirks of individual metabolisms.
Be sure to tell your doctor(s) about all the drugs you’re taking, including OTC remedies, herbals and vitamins. Maybe your personal metabolism can handle them and maybe it will have problems. All you can do is keep track of things and monitor yourself for odd symptoms.
February 27th, 2010 at 1:53 am
doubt it…what harm could a little tea do
References :
February 27th, 2010 at 2:30 am
You are probably fine if it is a relaxing tea like chamomile but there are surprisingly a number of herbs that can be counterproductive. Ask your prescribing physician or the physician assistant.
References :
February 27th, 2010 at 2:54 am
To some extent, it depends on the quirks of your personal metabolism. I once had a bad reaction between a drug I was taking and peppermint tea. The combination triggered an episode of vertigo that went on for hours (I was fine with either one alone). I don’t know if that’s happened to anyone else, but it definitely caused me some grief. I also had a very nasty reaction to St. John’s wort and I know others with the same complaint.
"Herbal" does not equal "safe." Some of the nastiest poisons on the planet are derived from plants. There’s no testing requirement, so no one knows for certain how various herbs interact with various drugs, even ignoring the quirks of individual metabolisms.
Be sure to tell your doctor(s) about all the drugs you’re taking, including OTC remedies, herbals and vitamins. Maybe your personal metabolism can handle them and maybe it will have problems. All you can do is keep track of things and monitor yourself for odd symptoms.
References :
Been there. Done that. Stopped doing it.