Might energy or herbal supplements cause a drug interaction with medication for AD-HD?
We are going to check with the doctor first but that may take a while since he is booked for several weeks. In the interim, we are looking for basic guidance, hopefully from someone who has had experience with AD-HD medication or is a medical professional in the know.
This is for a 13 year old male who is active in sports and would like some nutritional supplements, specifically to boost energy / build strength. He has a good diet and takes a good general multivitamin supplement. We know about increasing Vitamin B in the diet. But there are other herbals and amino acids one can choose in addition to regular vitamins and minerals to help boost energy, improve strength, build lean muscle, etc.
In particular, we are looking at legal anabolic activators we have used successfully in the past and which teens have used safely in their sports nutrition. One anabolic activator we are looking at does include creatine, royal jelly, chromium, yohimbe, kola nut, and various amino acids.
But this was outside the inclusion of AD-HD medication, and there are several AD-HD drugs doctors can choose from beyond Ritalin which include:
* Adderol
* Adderol XR
* Focalin
* Concerta
* Stratera
* Dexedrine
* Metadate ER
* Metadate CD
So as a general rule, are legal anabolic activators and/or energy supplements from the nutrition store (e.g. GNC or The Vitamin Shoppe) safe to use with teens if they are taking AD-HD medication?
As I began this question with “We are going to ask the doctor”, I’m not looking for a response, “Ask your doctor.” We are simply making a decision as to HOW MUCH anabolic activator to order (10 days shipping time) because if it is safe for a teen on AD-HD medication, we’ll order more. If not, we’ll order less and still put it to good use as there is more than one athlete in this household.
I’m looking for BASIC guidance, not a prescription or a diagnosis.
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Okay. This is in general here.
While your general vitamin and mineral supplement is going to be fine, as long as you stay within normal ranges (for example, you want about 35 µg of chromium daily), as will most amino acids – though I wouldn’t bar some company out there from selling some pretty odd things as amino acids.
On the other hand, most plant extracts or ‘herbal’ products should be avoided. Most of these have never been through any sort of safety testing, and as the toxicology is slowly worked through on a lot of these are coming out to have major impacts on such systems as the Cytochrome P450 mixed function monooxygenase enzymes. Within the last few years for example, it has been worked out that some forms of echinacea are potent blockers of not just one, but all of the major enzymes in this system, which makes it readily possible for it to induce overdose while taking normal doses of medication.
Yohimbine, (the chemical) I can cite as a disastrous idea. Yohimbine is active in the adrenergic receptors, and is notorious for causing blood pressure problems. Most of the ADD drugs you list are sympathetomimetic stimulants – which could cause a variety of nasty problems with yohimbine, up to hypertensive emergencies.
As a general rule, if it is a product containing your basic vitamins and minerals in normal doses, yes. If, however, it is a product that contains an exotic variety of plant extracts, or rather exotic compounds purported for altering physiological chemistry – these would not be considered safe with most prescription medications, and especially not considered safe when dealing with ADD medications.
The fact of the matter is there’s virtually no safety monitoring or testing of herbal products, and many of the plants that have been tested for physiological activity have turned out to have some very unwanted properties.
Might energy or herbal supplements cause a drug interaction with medication for AD-HD? | Yohimbe Bark…
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