GinsengPosting Date: 09/04/2002
Her physicians blamed the ginseng, but it may be difficult to determine whether an interaction with the antidepressants or their discontinuation contributed to the manic reaction. Using ginseng together with the MAO inhibitor phenelzine (Nardil) has also resulted in mania. A potentially fatal interaction was reported in a man with severe kidney disease. Ten days after he began taking a ginseng preparation that also contained germanium, he was hospitalized with severe edema and high blood pressure. In the hospital, where he did not have access to his dietary supplements, his diuretic started working again. He lost twenty-five pounds of fluid, and his blood pressure dropped. But after discharge, he resumed taking supplements and once more wound up with fluid retention and hypertension. The physicians from Vanderbilt and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Memphis where he was treated hypothesized that the germanium in the supplements damaged the already compromised kidney and interfered with the action of the furosemide (Lasix). There is no way to determine whether ginseng itself might have interacted with the man's medications, furosemide and cyclosporine. Copyright (c) 1999 by Graedon Enterprises, Inc. From The People's Pharmacy Guide To Home And Herbal Remedies by Joe Graedon and Teresa Graedon. Reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Press, LLC. Related Stories |
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