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The Avonex consumer information booklet says you should tell your doctor if you are taking any vitamins, mineral supplements or herbal products. Does anybody know why this is? What vitamins, supplements and herbal products are a no-no when taking Avonex? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

One of Avonex's stated means of activity is to shift the immune response from Th1 based to Th2. Some supplements do the opposite, i.e., they increase Th1 cytokines such as gamma-interferon. One such supplement is grape seed extract. Another is rooibos tea which increases IL-2 (another Th1 cytokine). In addition, garlic has been reported to increase macrophage activity. These are the cells of the immune system that eat other cells which they detect as bad, e.g., infected by either virus or bacteria. In the case of MS, macrophages can attack myelin.

In contrast, there are several supplements which are anti-inflammatory. An abbreviated list includes epicgallocatechin gallate (EGCG) from green tea, curcumin from the spice turmeric, and r-lipoic acid just to name a few.

If you want to know what a particular supplement does, try searching on PubMed for related papers. In addition, many supplements have been discussed here on the forums.

NHE

PopKorn wrote:The Avonex consumer information booklet says you should tell your doctor if you are taking any vitamins, mineral supplements or herbal products. Does anybody know why this is? What vitamins, supplements and herbal products are a no-no when taking Avonex? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

I did a huge posting on HOW TO MAXIMIZE AVONEX with suplements and other "thingies". Check it out.

http://www.thisisms.com/ftopict-4186.html

jackD

Thank you for the replies and info.