Taking Prescribed Medicine And Gym Supplements- Warning!
Pay attention to this gym supplements warning if you take any type of prescription medications. While people often seek out gym supplements to help improve their health and well being, this is not always the result. In certain cases, taking supplements can actually make people less healthy than they would have been without the supplements.
People who take any type of prescription medicines should be very careful when adding gym supplements to their nutritional regimens. If you are taking any type of prescription medication, you must check with your physician or pharmacist before adding any type of supplements.
Even though most gym supplements are natural products, there is a risk of harmful drug interactions any time they are mixed with prescription medications.
Some gym supplements actually keep some prescription medications from doing what they are supposed to do.
Many people take Saint John’s wort supplements as a means of relieving symptoms associated with anxiety and depression. If the person is also taking a prescription selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) drug such as Prozac or Zoloft, this combination can result in fatal serotonin syndrome.
Saint John’s wort supplements also reduce the effectiveness of a number of different prescription medications, including birth control pills, blood thinners, and a number of medications that treat life threatening conditions such as acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and heart disease.
Most people who are taking birth control pills probably are not wiling to risk pregnancy just to take Saint John’s wort. Obviously it is not in the best interest of AIDS or heart disease patients to risk keeping life sustaining medications from working just to take Saint John’s wort supplements.
Many people take aspirin every day at the suggestion of their physicians, to help prevent heart attacks. However there are certain herbal supplements that should not be taken in combination with aspirin. Taking iron supplements with aspirin puts patients at an increased risk of experiencing gastro-intestinal bleeding.
Gingko Biloba, which many people take to help enhance their memories, has a side effect of increased bleeding. Therefore it is not advisable to take this supplement in combination with aspirin or any other type of blood thinner.
Even Echinacea, many people take to boost their immune system which, can be harmful when mixed with a number of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and cholesterol medications. Mixing Echinacea with drugs such as Lipitor and Aleve can lead to liver damage.
People who conditions including lupus, diabetes, and any type of infection also should not take Echinacea. The herb’s immune system boosting properties can actually be harmful to patients with these diseases.
It is common for patients with kidney disease or liver disease to have problems metabolizing supplements. For such patients, even without considering drug interaction effects, taking gym supplements can be very dangerous, perhaps even fatal.
By no means is this article a comprehensive resource for all of the considerations regarding interactions between prescription medications and supplements. If you are on any type of prescription medication or have any serious illness, do not add supplements to your diet without first checking with a medical professional.
Be sure that your physician knows every supplement that you take. What seems like a harmless vitamin to you can mean something else entirely to a medical professional. While supplements can promote weight loss and well being in many people it is important to heed all gym supplements warnings about potential prescription interactions.