Kava and Cough Suppresants

[Zaphod]

Anybody have any experience or advice in taking cough suppressants along with kava specifically:
the ingredients in Delsym DM Dextromethorphan HBr (20 mg), Guaifenesin (400 mg)

I should state emphatically I am not trying to robotrip while on kava. I do however have a wicked chest/throat cold that is kicking my butt. While normally when I have cold I stop my kava consumption, it has been helping the soreness in my neck shoulders and throat from coughing so much. I would like to add a bit of cough suppressant before I go to bed tonight but I read the warning label and it had this :
Warnings: Do not use: if you are now taking a prescription monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) (certain drugs for depression, psychiatric, or emotional conditions, or Parkinson's disease), or for 2 weeks after stopping the MAOI drug. If you do not know if your prescription drug contains an MAOI, ask a doctor or pharmacist before taking this product.
Which gave me some pause. @verticity you are usually pretty good with this type of possible drug interactions what do you think?

 

[Dr.Krunk]

Don’t know why but I found it funny that you put the robo-trip disclaimer in. Anyhow I’m gonna leave this to someone more qualified.

 

[The Kap'n]

The mixture of the guaifenesin and the kava will be a doozy in your stomach, and

dextromethorphan hbr oral and kava (piper methysticum) oral

dextromethorphan hbr oral increases effects of kava (piper methysticum) oral by added drug effects. May enhance central nervous system (CNS) depression.

https://www.rxlist.com/drug-interac...d-kava-piper-methysticum-oral-interaction.htm

 

[verticity]

Anybody have any experience or advice in taking cough suppressants along with kava specifically:
the ingredients in Delsym DM Dextromethorphan HBr (20 mg), Guaifenesin (400 mg)

I should state emphatically I am not trying to robotrip while on kava. I do however have a wicked chest/throat cold that is kicking my butt. While normally when I have cold I stop my kava consumption, it has been helping the soreness in my neck shoulders and throat from coughing so much. I would like to add a bit of cough suppressant before I go to bed tonight but I read the warning label and it had this :
Warnings: Do not use: if you are now taking a prescription monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) (certain drugs for depression, psychiatric, or emotional conditions, or Parkinson's disease), or for 2 weeks after stopping the MAOI drug. If you do not know if your prescription drug contains an MAOI, ask a doctor or pharmacist before taking this product.
Which gave me some pause. @verticity you are usually pretty good with this type of possible drug interactions what do you think?

The interaction between dextromethorphan and MAOIs is likely related to serotonin. Kava is mild inhibitor of MAO-B, which does not effect serotonin. The traditional antidepressant MAOIs act on a different monamine oxidase enzyme, MAO-A, which does cause serotonin to be elevated. So the MAOI warning is not relevant.

However dextromethorphan is metabolized by one of the enzymes that is involved in kava metabolism, so there is the potential for a metabolic interaction. Also the mechanism of action for cough suppression is believed to involve sigma-1 receptors, which I don't know much about but are apparently involved with voltage-gated calcium channels. Kava is also believed to act on voltage gated cation channels, so there could also possibly be a functional interaction. I'm not sure if it would be an additive effect or what..

So, if you take a single dose it probably won't kill you, but if you are prone to nausea there is the possibility, like Kapm said, that the guaifenesin could make it worse, and a small possibility of increased side effects from both the med and from kava due to metabolic and functional interaction.

 

[Zaphod]

Thanks all for your responses. I stopped my kava consumption a bit early and went light on the dose. About an hour before bed I went ahead and took a dose of the cough suppressant. It may have made me a bit more drowsy, but I have not been getting much sleep with this cold so it is hard to tell. Otherwise no other ill effects. I had a pretty good night sleep, with less coughing then the previous night, and woke this morning still a bit groggy but no worse for the wear. I don't tend to have any nausea issues with kava (or much else for that matter) and the addition of the guaifenesin didn't bother my stomach.

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

Get some good ol fashion herbs!

Cough suppressing is an odd thing.

In herbalism we dont do that but we have stimulating expectorants and relaxing expectorants. Stim helps you cough when you cant seem to get that deep mucous out... Relaxing for when your cough ing compulsively and you cant sleep and it hurts and nothing is coming up anyway or too much is .
Mullein and lobelia are good relaxing expectorants... Any antispasmodic is but they have a particular affinity for lungs.

Coltsfoot garlic are good stimulating expectorants.

I reccommend combing any of those with honey for added benefit..

Only use lobelia as fresh tincture all others as tea

 

[Zaphod]

Get some good ol fashion herbs!

Cough suppressing is an odd thing.

In herbalism we dont do that but we have stimulating expectorants and relaxing expectorants. Stim helps you cough when you cant seem to get that deep mucous out... Relaxing for when your cough ing compulsively and you cant sleep and it hurts and nothing is coming up anyway or too much is .
Mullein and lobelia are good relaxing expectorants... Any antispasmodic is but they have a particular affinity for lungs.

Coltsfoot garlic are good stimulating expectorants.

I reccommend combing any of those with honey for added benefit..

Only use lobelia as fresh tincture all others as tea

I will give them a try. I agree the cough suppressing is a very odd thing. I can have essentially clear nose and throat with very little to no mucous and all of a sudden go into a uncontrolled coughing. Clearly the cough reflex is a very sensitive and involuntary (for good reason) reaction. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[SelfBiasResistor]

FWIW, I've been dealing with a very bad respiratory illness and have used this combination of meds (in addition to pseudoephedrine) along with kava and have had no negative side effects to report.