Bacopa and AD drugs interactions?

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Ana
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Bacopa and AD drugs interactions?

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Hi all, my mom had cognitive and memory decline in past few months and 2 months ago she was put on donepezil for a month, and now on exelon and ymana. In the meantime I found out about Dr. Bredesen Protocol, and we started following it. Recently I've ordered Bacopa and Ashwagandha from Cytoplan, and Bacopa came with a warning that it is not suitable for people taking cholinergic and anti-cholinergic drugs and acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. From what I understand most of the supplements from Protocol are suitable with conventional AD treatment. Can someone clarify?
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slacker
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Re: Bacopa and AD drugs interactions?

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Ana wrote:Hi all, my mom had cognitive and memory decline in past few months and 2 months ago she was put on donepezil for a month, and now on exelon and ymana. In the meantime I found out about Dr. Bredesen Protocol, and we started following it. Recently I've ordered Bacopa and Ashwagandha from Cytoplan, and Bacopa came with a warning that it is not suitable for people taking cholinergic and anti-cholinergic drugs and acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. From what I understand most of the supplements from Protocol are suitable with conventional AD treatment. Can someone clarify?
Welcome Ana;

It's hard to find good herb-to-drug interaction information. One great source is Consumer Labs, which does require a reasonable annual fee. I'm no longer subscribe, otherwise would have looked this up for you!

Dr Andrew Weil is a well known integrative physician who has studied herbal treatments extensively. Here is his take on Bacopa, its benefit for cognition, and possible drug interactions.

I blinked at "ymana!" It appears to be the UK brand name for memantine. :D It's helpful to use generic names for this international (and often US centric) crew!
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Chameleon
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Re: Bacopa and AD drugs interactions?

Post by Chameleon »

Hi Ana!

Welcome to the APOE4 community! That seems like you made a good catch with the Bacopa. Not many people take the time to read the labels or inserts, but they seem to have a wealth of information.

Here is another link I found for you: https://www.rxlist.com/brahmi/supplements.htm
I would also encourage you to look in the Wiki for more info on Bacopa.

Now armed with this information what do you think you will do?
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Re: Bacopa and AD drugs interactions?

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Ana wrote:Hi all, my mom had cognitive and memory decline in past few months and 2 months ago she was put on donepezil for a month, and now on exelon and ymana. In the meantime I found out about Dr. Bredesen Protocol, and we started following it. Recently I've ordered Bacopa and Ashwagandha from Cytoplan, and Bacopa came with a warning that it is not suitable for people taking cholinergic and anti-cholinergic drugs and acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. From what I understand most of the supplements from Protocol are suitable with conventional AD treatment. Can someone clarify?
Is her cognition worse since taking Memantine? Oddly, a neurologist told me that Memantine itself can contribute to cognitive dysfunction as a side effect, yet rxlist.com, as one example, doesn’t mention it.

Given the warning I personally would not use Bacopa without her doctor’s okay or at least awareness.
ApoE 3/4 > Thanks in advance for any responses made to my posts.
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Re: Bacopa and AD drugs interactions?

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Thank you all for answers and advice!
slacker - yes, i've realized there isn't that much info on herb-drug interaction :( Only study I found was done on rats (evaluation of bacopas synergistic activity with rivastigmine). I was hoping that this topic was mentioned in Bredesen Training program since majority of patients are already on some AD drugs...
I will look into Consumers labs, i didn't know they provide herbs interactions info also-thanks!

Chameleon - she will not use Bacopa for now, she was using it for 1.5-2 months (while she was on rivastigmine smaller doses, now she is switching to double dose and it looks like it has synergistic activity with Bacopa so we will check with our new neurologist in few weeks).

circular : I wouldn't say her cognition is getting worse, it looks like she's reacting well, but also- few weeks before switching to mementine she started exercising, eating more vegetables, nuts, seeds, fruits, using some supplements etc.
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Re: Bacopa and AD drugs interactions?

Post by circular »

Sounds like you're doing a great job Ana!
ApoE 3/4 > Thanks in advance for any responses made to my posts.
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