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Potential Supplement Interference with Common Medication

Many of us take prescription or over-the-counter medications, but have you ever wondered whether they might interact with the dietary supplements you take?

While this is not an extensive drug interaction checker and one that doesn’t have many herb drug interactions like many people are after, we believe it’s important to keep yourself informed of this information before you purchase from a company.

This article discusses what medications interact with vitamins and supplements that Xandro Lab produces, answering questions like:

• Can You Take Supplements While on Medication?
• What Medications and Supplements Should Not be Taken Together?
• Do Xandro Lab Supplements Interact with Medications?

Can You Take Supplements While on Medication?

Many supplements are perfectly fine to take while on a range of medications, so yes, you can mix vitamins and medications. It just depends on which ones.

Before taking anything new, speak with your medical professional to learn of any interactions and side effects that might arise, especially if you’re treating a medical condition that you cannot afford to interfere with.

The question of, ‘Do supplements interact with medications’, is still valid, though, as some supplements have been found to increase a medication’s effects, whether making the medication too strong, countering its effect altogether or even increasing the risk of side effects.

Certain dietary supplements have been found to change the absorption, metabolism or excretion of medications. This doesn’t just apply to prescription medications either, it’s also true for various over-the-counter drugs.

What Medications and Supplements Should Not be Taken Together?

While this article primarily focuses on Xandro Lab’s supplements, it would be a disservice if we didn’t inform you of some of the common interactions.

• St. John’s Wort: known to interfere with the effectiveness of fexofenadine (Allegra), as well as many prescription and over-the-counter drugs, like antidepressants, birth control, cyclosporine, some heart, HIV and cancer medications and warfarin, a blood thinner.
• Goldenseal: known to interact with most medications and over-the-counter drugs.
• Glucosamine: known to increase the effects of blood thinners, like warfarin.
• Ginkgo Biloba: while no clinical trials have found bleeding risks, one analysis of a medical record database found a potential link between Ginkgo and warfarin and bleeding risk. On that note, taking aspirin or vitamin E with warfarin may also increase warfarin’s effects as they can all thin the blood.
• Green Tea Extract: avoid using in combination with drugs that are transported by P-gp, OATP1A1 and OATP1A2, like statins and some beta blockers.

If you’re using carbamazepine (to prevent seizures), cyclosporine (to prevent organ transplant rejection), digoxin (to treat heart problems), phenytoin (to prevent seizures) or warfarin (a blood thinner), make sure to speak with your doctor before taking supplements.

If you’re about to have surgery, tell your doctor about the procedure as far in advance as possible to they can determine if you need to stop the supplements you’re taking, especially herbal supplements, as some may affect your response to aesthetics, may increase your risk of bleeding or may cause serious changes in your heart rate or blood pressure.

Do Xandro Lab Supplements Interact with Medications?

As a supplement manufacturer, we believe it’s our duty to inform you of potential risks when taking our supplements, so here’s a list of our supplements and any possible interactions they have with medications.

Ashwagandha Interactions with Medications

• Don’t use if pregnant and breastfeeding and use cautiously if you have autoimmune conditions.
• Don’t take if taking glucose-lowering, blood pressure, immune suppressant, sleep aid or thyroid hormone medications.
• It’s not recommended to take Ashwagandha before surgery, or those who have autoimmune or thyroid disorders.
• May increase the effects of sedatives like Valium and anti-anxiety drugs, like Xanax.
• May interact with medications for diabetes, high blood pressure, medicines that decrease our immune system response, sedatives, anti-seizure medications and thyroid medications.
• People with hormone-sensitive prostate cancer should avoid it as it may increase testosterone levels.

See how Xandro Lab’s patented Ashwagandha may help your sleep and stress!

Calcium AKG Interactions with Medications

• Decreases the absorption of tetracycline, doxycycline, thyroxine and fluoroquinolones.
• While currently there are no known significant concerns between taking calcium AKG with other supplements and medications, since the AKG is bound with calcium, it might be best to follow some of the recommendations around taking calcium supplements.
• This includes not taking calcium together with iron and always combining calcium with vitamin D and vitamin K to help with absorption.
• One animal study found taking a high dosage of magnesium supplements alongside Ca-AKG was toxic to colon cancer cells, but more human clinical trials are needed.

Try out Calcium AKG today!

Curcumin Interactions with Medications

• Don’t take if you have liver problems or with blood-thinning medications like warfarin (Coumadin), clopidogrel (Plavix) and aspirin as it can enhance their effects.
• Turmeric curcumin may increase the production of stomach acid when taken with antacids.
• Curcumin may increase the effects of medications used to control type 2 diabetes, increasing the risk of hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar).
• One study found it may decrease levels of various antidepressant and antipsychotic medications, as well as may increase sulfasalazine (Azulfidine) levels. Despite this, a few human clinical trials have found no effect on various important enzymes, but make sure to speak with your doctor before taking, just to be certain.
• As an antioxidant, curcumin may decrease the effects of medications used for cancer, but speak with your doctor first.

How can Turmeric Curcumin help your body? Learn here.

Magnesium Glycinate Interactions with Medications

• Magnesium has been found to decrease the absorption of certain medications and antibiotics like fluoroquinolones, tetracycline and doxycycline.
• Magnesium supplement interactions with medications are due to it preventing their full absorption. Speak with your doctor or pharmacist to learn how long you should wait between doses so that it aligns with your medications.
• It’s been found that taking cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) with magnesium glycinate may lead to elevated magnesium blood levels, especially for those with reduced kidney function.
• It’s also been found to possibly interfere with certain statin drugs, sotalol (for atrial fibrillation), gabapentin (for seizures) and levothyroxine (for thyroid disorders).

Learn more about the benefits of Magnesium Glycinate!

NMN Capsules/Powder Interactions with Medications

• No established interference with other supplements. It is a good practice to keep a gap of 30 minutes to 1 hour between supplements to prevent any interference.
• Keep in mind that some NMN supplements may contain other ingredients, like herbs, which may interact with medications, so check the ingredients before buying.
• NMN may lower blood pressure, so speak with your doctor or monitor your blood pressure when taking medications that lower blood pressure.

Try Xandro Lab’s Pure NMN Capsules and Powder today!

Pom-Q10 Interactions with Medications

• Amla Fruit Extract (Indian Gooseberry)
  • May interfere with medications that slow blood clotting, like aspirin and clopidogrel.
  • May increase blood sugar levels, interacting with medications for diabetes.
• Pomegranate Fruit Extract
  • Combining pomegranate with statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs) may be dangerous.
  • May interfere with antiarrhythmics, anticoagulants (warfarin), calcium channel blockers, immunosuppressants and protease inhibitors.
  • Might decrease how quickly the body breaks down some medications, especially those changed by the liver.
• Coenzyme Q10
  • May lower the effect of blood thinners.
  • May enhance the effect of blood pressure medications.
  • May interfere with chemotherapy drugs.

Learn more about the benefits of POM-Q10!

Spermidine Interactions with Medications

• No established interference with other supplements. It is a good practice to keep a gap of 30 minutes to 1 hour between supplements to prevent any interference.
• Certain drugs can increase the side effects of Spermidine, such as codeine, amantadine and Nicotine.
• May interact with specific medications, like antidepressants and blood thinners, so speak with your doctor before taking.

Learn how Spermidine can benefit you.

Trans-Resveratrol Interactions with Medications

• It may mimic estrogen and worsen certain medical conditions.
• Medications metabolised by the liver may interact with resveratrol, so speak with a doctor before taking. Do not take after surgery to reduce bleeding risks.
• May slow blood clotting, so don’t take alongside other medications that do this, like aspirin and warfarin.
• No established interference with other supplements. It is good practice to keep a gap of 30 minutes to 1 hour between supplements to prevent any interference.

Buy Xandro Lab’s Trans-Resveratrol!

Remember, it’s not just supplements that may interfere with the medications you take. Genetics, weight changes, age, sex, diet and exercise can all also impede howmedications affect your body.

As you can tell, we’ve spoken again and again about speaking with your doctor before taking any new supplement, even if you don’t take medications. We all have different health conditions and goals, so it’s best to get another opinion before starting a supplement regime.

If you’re interested in learning about the research behind Xandro Lab supplements, browse our research page. We aim to be transparent with the scientific research behind our products, as we ourselves want to know what goes into a supplement before we take it.