A-Z Guide to Drug-Herb-Vitamin Interactions Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition: Improve Your Health and Avoid Side Effects When Using Common Medications

There are many interactions between medicines, medicines & herbs, and herbs. Even doctors are not aware of them all. A responsible person should be aware. All families should have this book, or one like it, if there are any medicines, supplements, herbs, or vitamins being taken in the home. Examples: St. John's Wort-the sun should be avoided. Valerian should not be taken with pharmaceuticals for the depression, sleep, or nervous conditions.

The "A-Z" Guide is an essential reference book for anyone who take supplements (vitamins, minerals, or herbs) and also takes medication of any kind--whether over-the-counter or prescription. This is a comprehensive and very easy-to-use reference guide. You can look up either the medicine or the supplement and found out whether there are any known interactions--positive or negative. Sometimes the Guide recommends supplements to take along with the medication because the drug either depletes a nutrient (e.g. Lipitor and Coenzyme Q10) or reduces a drug's side effects (e.g. Zoloft and Ginkgo). At other times you shouldn't take the drug and the supplement together because. Thousands and thousands of well-referenced interactions are included in this valuable book. NOTE: Some of the earlier reviews of this book refer to the first edition. They cite some legitimate concerns--which appear to have been remedied in the 2nd Edition.

I purchased this book as I have fibromyalgia and wanted to try some alternative therapies, and ensure their safety with my prescription medications. I feel that it is an excellent guide for that, and actually is quite useful as a simplified prescription medication guide. It is easy to use, easy to understand, and does a great job of listing and describing medication/herbal/vitamin/supplement interactions. I purchased one for my parents, and my sister purchased one as well. Very useful book if you take any medications and any other type of supplement. Includes just about every medication available, with the exception of those released after its publication.

The authors of this book have made a significant contribution to the resources available for today's health consumer. By providing this current, well-organized and useful "guide" they are helping those of us trying to protect or improve our own health, and those of us facilitating others in doing that, tremendously! Their research is thorough and and unbiased - I highly recommend it.

The editors and authors of this HealthNotes publication have presented the most up-to-date information in an easy to read format without compromising scientific judgement. In the information world of alternative medicine, it is all to easy for conventional medical texts to react out of fear by recommending "extreme caution" for just about any prescription or possible nutrient/herbal interaction. "The A-Z Guide..." does a tremendous job of integrating insights of physicians form several different disciplines (the book is written by an MD, ND, and DC, et. al.), which provides the reader with a diverse and thorough scientific review of known and suspected interactions. I have personally found this book extremely helpful in the waiting room and on my desk as a quick refernce.