Tamarind

[momander]

Since my double bypass I have suffered constipation. I am 20 weeks post op now . I got some tablets ( chewy ones) to try from my local healthfood store. The staff are are trained with medicine interactions. I looked at the packet ladt night and noticed tamarind was an ingredient ( 0.5) per tablet. It is safe to take up to 10g a day apparently? My point is that it appears to interract with aspirin!!?? I am constantly amazed at what we perceive to be very ordinary foods / herbs, and yet they have the potential to interract with our medications. Has anyone else taken tamarind, either as a fruit on its own, or a suppliment, as well as taking aspirin. The company will refer me back to my GP and my GP will say very little as rhey inly deal withntraditional medication and not herbal/ homeopathic etc. I dont know whether it will be OK/ safe to take this tablet once a day with taking aspirin?

[Tos92]

Hi momander

I hope you’re well this morning.

Tamarind can interact with Aspirin in terms of how well the Aspirin is absorbed by the body. However, I do believe if Tamarind is taken in small quantities, this shouldn’t have a massive effect on how the Aspirin works.

This is a question which you can ask your local pharmacist if you cannot get in touch with your doctor. You can also call 111 and talk to a pharmacist as well I believe on the interaction of medications.

I will tag Captain_Birdseye as I believe she has some pharmaceutical knowledge.

All the best.

Tos

[momander in reply to Tos92]

Oh thank you so much Tos92, I know of quite a lot of interactions but hadn't heard of this one!? I'm quite strict with my meds and won't take anything unlesss I'm 100 % sure it's safe!! My husband, on the other hand, would just swallow anything!!! I sometimes wish I had his confidence!!?? In 2021 when my heart problems started , I was on clopidogrel. I also took omeprazole. It wasn't until I read a post here that I realised I shouldn't be taking it with clopidogrel as it can effect the way it works!? It was a pure fluke I read the post!! When I asked my GP she merely said it was a balance between needing both drugs!! and there only being a slight risk!!! I asked to be swapped from omeprazole!!! I know that nowadays drug companies have to give a full list of interactions so they cannot be held responsible for anything going wrong!!

[Tos92 in reply to momander]

I’m quite like that too. I can get anxiety just reading about the side effects and interactions between meds even if the risk is low. I suppose we can’t help it can we? But I also do have faith in the doctor’s that prescribe us the medications and I believe they wouldn’t prescribe us something if it wasn’t for our betterment. The good thing is, if we do have adverse or unpleasant reactions to medications, there is almost always an alternative.

[momander in reply to Tos92]

Hi Tos92I'm definitely getting better with my health anxiety which is a good thing. I'm just annoyed sometimes that because I'm.in such a cocktail of meds, there are suppliments I just can't take!! Immalive though so I'm very blessed!!!

[Captain_Birdseye]

Hi!

It's incredible what interactions are out there that we don't tend to think about on a day to day basis really - but its good to have a bit of awareness in regards to what is going on in our bodies.

I'll preface this next part by saying I'm not a trained health professional, however I have qualifications in pharmacology/biochemistry/medicinal chemistry and have worked for some time in the biotech/pharma sector - so I have an understanding of how things work in the body. There is a pharmacist and and pharmacologist on this site, so hopefully if they see this and I've missed something they'll correct me as well...

Everything we take in through our mouths (food, supplements, medicines) gets digested and processed through our gut. In our intestine lining (as well as other areas of the body), we have proteins called cytochromes that metabolise what we digest. That can involve changing the medicine we take into it's active drug state or to a state that it can be absorbed into the bloodstream, or metabolised so the body can get rid of it.

Certain chemicals can alter how these cytochromes (abbreviated to CYP) work. The one everyone has heard of is grapefruit - there's a chemical in grapefruit that causes a cytochrome called CYP3A4 (this one works on many different drugs) to stop working... this leads to more drug being left in the body, and stays there longer instead of being metabolised out - too much drug in the body can lead to overdose.

Another is CYP2D6 (another heavily used one), which can be slowed down by St. John's Wort, milk thistle, echinacea, kava kava and other supplements. Again, this can lead to drug build up in the body.

In the case of Aspirin (and ibuprofen) - this is metabolised mainly by CYP2C9. Tamarind slows the activity of this cytochrome, so can lead to a build up of aspirin in the body and this can lead to an increased chance of side effects.

Edited to remove the dose makes the poison statement... OP's pharmacist advised Tamarind and Aspirin should not be taken together.

[momander in reply to Captain_Birdseye]

Thank you so so much!!! My pharmacist said its a no no!!!??? I guess that's no then!!!

[Captain_Birdseye in reply to momander]

Absolutely!! If the pharmacist says no, I'd 100% go with that... and I'll amend my reply to say so!

[momander in reply to Captain_Birdseye]

oh dear!!!! you have been so helpful so please do not feel you have to change your reply!? my pharmacist was otherwise embroiled in something else yesterday and I don't really think he was properly listening to be honest!!!

[Gundoglady]

If you're looking for a remedy for constipation that won't react with your meds, you could try using a raw came sugar with a high molasses content, dissolved in some hot water, there is some science involved, the sugar helps the water to cross from the stomach into the bowels, therefore softening your stools.It's an old fashioned solution quite often used for bottle fed babies.

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to Gundoglady]

Midwives usually suggest water these days for formula fed babies not sugar to help soften their stools.

nhs.uk/start4life/baby/feed...

[Silvertail]

I am wary of taking health remedies - a lot of them have ill effects when combined with conventional therapy and some are not recommended at all because of known side effects - St John's Wort for one. I find sachets of Movicol very helpful when needed. - they are gentle on your body. It was prescribed for me for diverticulosis and I've been given it in hospital so it is obviously OK to take. Best wishes.

[momander in reply to Silvertail]

thank you so much. I think ill stick to lactulose and ride it out

[Alison_L]

My GP & local pharmacist recommended Lactulose for constipation, although it is very sugary!

[momander in reply to Alison_L]

hi, yes it is sugary but it seems to be the one GP's recommend, and also it is the go to one in hospital

[scout70]

Consume more fibre. For example, psyllium. Worked wonders for me and it's just a plant.

[momander in reply to scout70]

My problem is constipation due to opiods, then on top of that the after effects of a double cabg. I eat plenty fruit veg and fibre. I will carry on researching. Thanks for your advice though. Glad it works for you. I'll check if there is any interraction with my meds. Sometimes things that are " just plants" have properties that interact with medication.