I have searched the drug interactions on the internet for Artemisinin but it is really not considered a medicine so there is not much information about drug interactions.
If anyone knows a site that shows what not to take with this, please let me know.
I am being treated by an LLMD but sometimes I like to double check things with medicines.
Thanks
Posted by Dania84 (Member # 26278) on :
Up.
I would love to know as well!
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- I think there are a lot of drugs that just should not be taken at all, including statins, most sleep meds - and even OTC acetaminophen (as it is hard on the liver and also on the ears). But, my guess is that you are talking about the medicines needed to treat lyme and coinfections.
Your LLMD will know this, really. Artemisinin HAS to be taken with other drugs (or very specific herbs) in order for it to work. Single drug therapy for babesia is bound to fail. However, one might be started on each one separately to see how each drub/herb is tolerated. And Artemisinin has other properties beyond its use with malaria and babesia so you could be taking it for another reason.
Still, it's not the most easily tolerated thing in the world. But, if with supportive supplements, that helps.
Generally, stick to the drugs that are necessary to treat the infections. Other non-essential meds or OTC products just add to the stress on the liver and kidneys.
Anything that specifically adds to the work of the liver Cytochrome P-450 liver detox pathway will put even more stress on the liver as that pathway is already usually stressed for many lyme patients and artemisinin requires that pathway - adding other P450 meds will add stress.
When you look up a Rx, it usually tells what organ does most of the work metabolizing it. And, for those that used the liver, sometimes the literature will state if it uses the P450 pathway, and even specifically, within that, what one.
Good liver support is vital but as you are being treated for Babesia, some kinds of liver support are not to be used with some anti-babesia meds. Other kinds are okay, or okay if just timed at opposite times from the meds.
Your LLMD should know all that, too.
============================
ITM is the INSTITUTE OF TRADITIONAL MEDICINE. They have good links about herbal supplements.
MENU on left of page will take you to the BASICS OF HERBS - and beyond.
Amazon also carries it. This book does not discuss lyme or TBI protocol, still it is an excellent resource for so much, especially understand our liver, etc. Diets for certain kinds of illness are suggested.
Repeat: this book does NOT discuss any treatment for lyme (other than a passing reference to sarsaparilla at http://tinyurl.com/2eeqct ).
Still, it is an excellent place to start for understanding so much about human and plant life and how they work together.
By DAN CHILDS and LAUREN COX - ABC News Medical Unit
May 28, 2009--
When Antonio Benedi of Springfield, Va., felt a case of the flu coming on one weekend in February 1993, he did what millions of others do -- he reached for a common over-the-counter pain medication.
"I was taking Tylenol like I was supposed to, by the label," he said. A few days later the then 37-year-old Benedi was in a coma and in desperate need of a liver transplant.
Benedi, like hundreds of Americans each year, experienced acute liver failure as a result of taking acetaminophen, the most commonly used painkiller in the country today. . . .
. . . But Benedi, who was formerly a special assistant to President George H.W. Bush, said that while he did take the medicine on a mostly empty stomach, he neither overdosed on acetaminophen, nor had an alcoholic beverage while he was taking the drug. He said he did occasionally enjoy a glass of wine, but never while taking acetaminophen. . . .
. . . "Surprisingly, the only anti-chlamydial agent that did not cause hepatitis in some patients was NAC. In fact, NAC is recognized as being protective.
======================
As sleep and pain meds can be very hard on the liver and kidneys, here are some other considerations: -------------
You can look inside this book and read customer reviews here:
Ototoxic Drugs Exposed: Prescription Drugs and Other Chemicals That Can (and Do) Damage Our Ears
- by Neil G. Bauman
========================
There are many lists at the links here regarding Cytochrome P-450 liver metabolism/detox pathway. Specifically, see the "Secondary Porphyria" link first as that sheds a lot of light on what we have to shuffle. ---------
PORPHYRIA Thread -
Posted by pj1954 (Member # 11722) on :
just make sure you dont take for more than 21 days straight . bhunner says in his book to take a break every 21 days otherwise it becomes less effective!
Posted by Haley (Member # 22008) on :
Thanks everyone!
Keebler - you are always a wealth of information. Thanks for the tips. I need to learn more about the P450 pathway.
PJ - I have never heard to not take it for more than 21 days. This is why I post these questions. My LLMD knows what she is doing but she never tells me things like that. Or, you should not be on this medicine for more than ...... My regular physician is much more aware of the dangers of certain medicines or combination of medicines etc...
I am taking Malarone 3 pills a day and I take Art 3 days a week. I also take Zith every other day.
The Art seems to help more than anything these days. I really am hoping that it will help me to turn a corner.
Posted by pj1954 (Member # 11722) on :
zith and malarone is a good combo I took zith 2x per day and 4 malarone per day, when you add in the art it really added to the mix. I just started lumbrokinase and it must have stripped off some biofilm somewhere I have been herxing since last friday.
currently im on minocycline 3x per day and malarone still 4 x per day also a good combo for me the mino really cleared the cobwebs out of my head and its putting the film back in my once photographic memory !
Posted by sparkle7 (Member # 10397) on :
re: just make sure you dont take for more than 21 days straight
I read it was 5 days from another source I can't mention here...
Posted by Haley (Member # 22008) on :
Wow that's great to hear PJ. I always like to hear about progress made and how it was done.
Yes, my files in my brain will hopefully be re-booting one day in the near future. I can't say that I ever had a photographic memory but I did have a memory
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