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Kava & Drug Interaction Can Someone Please Help Me?

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Hey KavaForums. I'm a new user to Kava and I wanted to ask you guys a question.

I'm on a few different medications for severe, debilitating Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and I've been struggling with crippling anxiety all of my life. So much that I can't even leave my house. I asked my psychiatrist if the medications I were on would interact with Kava, and he said that his system that he checked only said that it interacted badly with Alcohol. However I wanted to be more careful and do more research before taking Kava for anxiety.

My current medications are:
- Buspirone (BusPar) 30mg a day
- Risperidone (Risperdal) 2mg a day
- Fluvoxamine (Luvox) 300mg a day

I did some research and found this forum that Kava interacted with the enzymes or something that process Buspirone (BusPar), but I didn't see anything else. I also read on a Kava vendors site that you're not supposed to take Kava with anti-psychotics, but I couldn't find anything to support that claim. Maybe I'm just not looking hard enough.

I've tried almost every benzodiazepine under the sun, and none have worked. The medicines I'm on are all downers, making me extremely sleepy. I'm eye-ing up a type of kava that can provide mental alertness and not that sluggishness so I can maybe get some work done and feel good.

I'm really struggling guys and I'm hoping Kava can be my hope. However if not, I'll just keep trucking along. :)

Thanks,
AnxietyRidden
 

DirTJerz

Error 404
Welcome! I hope somebody here can help you with the specific interactions, but it's a good sign that your Dr. is potentially on board. I also hope you're able to decide it's worth a try - it sounds like it might be great for you.
 

Roaddog

Kava Who?
As long as you research if any of the meds you are on cause problems with the Liver, I would say you will be fine. Enjoy Kava, and get out and walk in the park. You will love it. I have similar issues, as I am trying to come off Benzos. So I struggle from day to day with that. But Kava sure dose help. Just enter it with caution, and ask a Doc, If ya can.
much Love. Roaddog...
 
I just found a potential problem with Fluvoxamine (Luvox) and Kava. Luvox is changed by Cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) substrates and Kava is too. So that may be a problem which will prohibit me from taking Kava. :( Dang! My doctor probably didn't find any problems with Kava because I asked him whilst I was on Lexapro (escitalopram) and not recently on Luvox. Man, this blows..
 
D

Deleted User01

Welcome to the Forum. I'm so sorry that you have to face that daily battle. If the meds are not working then drop the Luvox and go to something else so you can try Kava. Hey, if you are on these drugs and you are till very anxious, then they are not working anyway. The only problem is that it might take a week for the Kava to take effect due to reverse tolerance. And I'm not saying that Kava is the answer but a lot of members here would say that it helps them a lot. If it were me, and my meds were not helping that much, I would switch over during my vacation. At least you wouldn't have to worry about work stress during the transition. And if it didn't work, you could go back to your meds before you return to work. Now remember, I'm not a doctor, I only play one on the Kava Forums. :D
 
I feel for you massively, life shouldn't be this way but unfortunately for many it is. We all suffer to varying degrees with various ailments but you seem to have it pretty damn bad.

I am no doctor and I am no chemist and cannot give a proper answer but do check back here regularly as you will get more concrete answers from the more educated members here who haven't seen your post yet. I would be tempted to just drink Kava anyway, no matter what medication I was on but that is just me...
 
Hey all of you beautiful people! I'm back. I didn't see that I was getting more replies to this post! I thank all of you for your encouraging words. You all rock! @Deleted User I had to taper down my BusPar (buspirone) when I started Luvox (Fluvoxamine). Before I was on 60mg BusPar, and 100mg Luvox. Well BusPar acts weakly as an SSRI and it is "supposed" to work like a Benzodiazepine without any of the addicting properties or bad side effects. However once my Luvox was raised to 300mg I had to go down to 30mg to prevent me from possibly dying of Serotonin Syndrome. Luckily I have such little serotonin in my body that I'm doing okay with the current combination. They just have to watch me very closely with it. :) However I've been on so many medications that I've developed permanent muscle spasms and twitches that resembles Tourette's Syndrome, which happened when I was on Seroquel (Quetiapine).

I sent a letter to my doctor asking about Luvox and Kava, however most doctors seem to know little about Kava at all and just go by what the interactions say. Honestly I think I'm going to do what Global Kava Exports said they would do in that situation and just try it with my current med combo. It wouldn't be every day I did it, just because I don't want to rely on Kava to feel normal. I would use it as a back-up kind of "escape" when I'm feeling particularly down. I'm going to try some Gourmet Hawaiian Kava Moi cultivar because it says it's very heady and GHK seems to have stellar reviews here on the KavaForums.

I'm glad to be on this forum and participating especially once I receive the GHK Kava sometime in the next couple of weeks when I decide to place an order!
 
I know most of you are probably tired of me rambling about this, but I found some more information online about Luvox (fluvoxamine) and Kava that I'd like to share with all of you and anyone who happens to come across this searching for interactions with Kava and their meds online.

I was reading a few books today (digital versions) that both echoed a few things about Kava and Luvox. I finally figured out why the one site I found listed a moderate interaction between Kava and Luvox. This is because both Kava and Luvox STRONGLY INHIBIT cytochrome CYP1A2. This means that both used together can POSSIBLY cause one or the other to have the effects become more pronounced. I haven't found anything definitive that stated if both used together would raise the plasma concentration levels of either Kava or Luvox, and I need to somehow figure it out. However I am leaning towards the fact that it just may be dangerous enough by raising plasma levels because of one thing I know. Caffeine is a weak inhibitor of CYP1A2, and caffeine used along with Luvox is a big "no-no." I'll put it this way. Caffeine usually eliminates itself by half every 4-8hrs in a normal, healthy individual. However with Luvox caffeine eliminates by half in 56 hours. Luvox greatly raises the plasma concentrations of caffeine by almost five-fold, making a standard 90mg of caffeine in a bottle of Mountain Dew into a monstrous 450mg of caffeine. Scary stuff.

Just wanted to update that I probably won't be trying it. I'll still be making batches to give out to people just for fun, but after more thorough research I don't think it would be for me with my current medication cocktail. I'm insanely intrigued with the culture behind Kava, so even if I can't partake in it physically I can still participate emotionally by doing my research into it!

Bula everyone!
 

ciamarco

Newbie
Hey AnxietyRidden,

Just read your post. I'm so sorry you are dealing with such severe anxiety. I also have anxiety and I understand how you feel. I hope that you are doing better since its been 4 years. Have you tried Kava? How are you doing now? Let me know :)

-Marco
 

violet

Do all things with love
Hi @noblekavaman and welcome to the KavaForums :)

The poster AnxietyRidden hasn't logged in here since right after they last replied to this thread, making it likely they may no longer be active to see and reply to your post.

If you have a similar situation and would like feedback from the community you may wish to start a new thread in the appropriate forum area, perhaps the New Members Forum or maybe Health and Wellness, if you are looking for opinions on med interactions.

It's not medical advice but many members have experience with certain meds and can share their experience. Many of us have suffered with anxiety that kava has helped, and may have been what called us to the root in the first place. Feel free to ask away, we'll help you all that we can :).
 
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