I have asked a similar question to this in the past and got some very knowledgeable answers so I am hoping someone can help me again. My Dr. is very "anti-herbal" anything so he won't give me any advice whatsoever. I want to know if it is ok to take certain supplements together. I take GNC's Hair, Skin Nails Vitamin (ingredients are below). In addition, I take Co-Q10, 27mg of Iron and black currant oil. I know the last 3 are ok together but I am worried about some of the weird things in the Combo vitamin. These are mostly for skin care and also trying to restore my hair after losing a bunch due to an iron deficiency after I stopped eating meat. I don't take any other medications. Thanks!
GNC's Hair Skin Nails Contains:
Vitamin A (50% as beta-Carotene; 50% as Retinyl Acetate) 5000.00 IU 100%
Vitamin C (as Calcium Ascorbate) 120.00 mg 200%
Vitamin D (as Cholecalciferol D-3) 200.00 IU 50%
Vitamin E (as Natural d-alpha Tocopheryl Acetate) 30.00 IU 100%
Thiamin (Vitamin B-1)(as Thiamin Mononitrate) 1.50 mg 100%
Riboflavin (as Vitamin B2) 1.70 mg **
Niacin (as Niacinamide) 20.00 mg 100%
Folic Acid 200.00 mcg 50%
Biotin 3000.00 mcg 1000%
Pantothenic Acid (as Calcium d-Pantothenate) 13.50 mg 135%
Calcium (as Calcium Carbonate) 200.00 mg 20%
Phosphorus (as di-calcium phosphate) 100.00 mg **
Zinc (as Zinc Oxide) 15.00 mg 100%
L-Cysteine 200.00 mg **
MSM (Methylsulfonyl-methane) 100.00 mg **
Hydrolyzed Gelatin 100.00 mg **
L-Methionine 50.00 mg **
alpha-Lipoic Acid 10.00 mg **
DMAE 10.00 mg **
Green tea leaf extract (as Camellia sinensis) 10.00 mg **
Horsetail Rush Stems Powder (Equisetum arvense) 3.00 mg **
Boron (as Boron Citrate) 1.00 mg **
Pantethine 1500.00 mcg **
Lutein 500.00 mcg **
I am not a doctor but I think that since the GNC supplement doesn't contain any CoQ10, iron or black currant oil in it, and visa-versa, you should be fine. The Hair/Nail/Skin supplement looks to me like its a supercharged multi-vitamin with some extras in there.
Don't forget, your liver has to process all the supplements you take. It is best to get your vitamins from your foods, however I hear ya saying you stopped eating meat.
The person to show this list to is actually your pharmacist (not pharm tech). Pharmacists go through years of schooling JUST studying medications/ chemicals and their interactions with each other and the human body. If my cousin was in country, I'd ask her, but she's out of contact for the next few months. (She actually focuses on herbal pharmacology, working on classifying antimicrobial properties of native or historical religious and healing ceremonies; for example some incenses have antiviral properties that the drug companies are seeeeeeeriously trying to isolate... but they only work inhaled, only on some viruses, and have some rather serious side effects. It'll be years if not decades before those are on the market).
ANYHOW... Your pharmacist will need to know the chemical composition of horsetail rush (and anything else that doesn't list out what the comp is) and then they'll be able to tell you very easily.
Go to the natural food store they are very knowledgeable in all these ingredients & what you can/can't mix togetherr & what to drink with them since some juices will create an adverse reaction to herbal/medications OTC or prescribed.
Robyn,
Unless there is someone here that is extremely familiar with all of these ingredients and knows and understands how they react to each other when taken together, this is not a question that any of us can answer for you.
It would be great if someone would create a website that you could put ingredients into and see if there is any negative reaction, wouldn't it? I'd love to see something out there like that. But until then, with questions like this, it's better to talk to a professional. I'd even try a pharmacist. At least they know about the vitamins.
Good luck!
This is a very complex question, and I hesitate to answer since I am not a homeopathic physician. Why don't you switch to a homeopathic doctor who can answer these questions for you? Without knowing your complete medical history, no one here can help you with your question.
