Posted by mtom on August 11, 2019, at 13:21:29
In reply to Curcuma with CYP substrates, posted by Lamdage22 on July 30, 2019, at 21:25:07
I investigated this a while ago. There are a number of studies that indicate curcumin potentially interacts with other medications, including antidepressants, based on its effects on a number of P450 CYP enzymes.
Here are a few:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5424325/
Scroll down to the section "Effects of curcumin on P450-mediated metabolism" and the accompanying Figure 5.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28734960 which states "Curcumin can induce pharmacokinetic alterations such as changes in Cmax and AUC when concomitantly used with pharmacological agents like cardiovascular drugs, antidepressants, anticoagulants, antibiotics, chemotherapeutic agents, and antihistamines".
This study found that curcumin alone had antidepressant effects (on mice) similar to fluoxetine and imipramine, but did not enhance the effects of the AD's when taken in combination: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21928724
Most of these were done In Vitro or with Animals, and the curcumin doses may have been large in at least some cases. E.g. the last one quoted used 50 to 100mg/kg curcumin.
I had bookmarked a number of other studies with more information but lost these after a computer crash unfortunately. Did just a quick internet search this morning to find the above. A more through search would I'm sure bring up more studies. I doubt though that many, if any, would be Human studies.
When I initially researched this, I found studies indicating a whole bunch of supplements, herbals and even common foods interact with the same P450 enzymes as antidepressants! It's really beyond trying to figure out how supplements, diet and medications might or might not interact.
There are other studies that indicate curcumin may have anti-depressant activity. You can google these (you probably have already if you're thinking of adding it).
I've tried curcumin in past with no effect but was taking a very low dose. A while ago I tried again taking higher doses as indicated on the product label. However I was also experiencing adverse affects from my AD at that time and was in the process of switching. I wasn't sure if the curcumin was adding to the side effects based on its CYP activity, so I stopped taking it just in case.
I think it might take some time for the effects of curcumin to be noticeable, if indeed it is effective. You might consider starting low and waiting several weeks between dose increases.
And the challenge of decreasing your other meds at the same time is, if adverse effects come up, not knowing if it is because of medication dose reduction, or interaction with curcumin.
I'll be interested in hearing how it goes if you go ahead with this.....
poster:mtom
thread:1105521
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20180212/msgs/1105684.html