Expert: Dr. Kristina Conner - 3/16/2011

Question
Dr. Conner--

Hi. Thanks for taking my question. I'm a 26 year old male. I take a number of supplements to help my Bipolar I disorder (for which I also take 30mgs/day Abilify and 20mgs/day Celexa). I also take Propecia for hair loss and use Retin-A on my skin.  

I started taking supplements because I was only getting so-so results out of medications, especially psychiatric meds, and I was getting all sorts of side-effects.  I live in a kind of rural area, so there aren't any alternative health care providers to guide me; I had to put a program together by myself.  Below is a list of what I take--could you please let me know what you think? Thanks.

6 grams taurine; 2.4 grams NAC; 3 grams green tea extract; 2 b-100 capsules; 3 grams niacinamide; 6-12 grams vitamin C; 1200 IU vitamin E; 300 micrograms selenium; 2.126 grams fish oil; 10 drops BioSil; 30mgs OptiZinc; daily multivitamin.  

My overall health seems to have improved since I started taking all these supplements.  My response to the psychiatric medications (Abilify and Celexa), as well my response to the Propecia, seem better than before I started the supplements.  I just wanted to make sure I'm not doing something dangerous.  

Thanks for your time,

Ian

Answer
Hello Ian,
It's great that you are being pro-active with your health and trying to do things on your own.  Ideally, some individual guidance would be desirable but as you mention may not be possible; there is however, some research you can do that can educate you about the supplements you've decided on.  A nutrient-medication interaction checker is a good place to start.  Some pharmacies and health food stores have these in store or on-line, also online ones like drugs.com or drugdigest.org, all free sites.  There are paid ones or books that are even better if you'd like to invest in those.  Since individual reactions can vary depending on one's underlying conditions and health, if you're not under that care of a knowledgeable practitioner in this area make sure you know the common side effects, methods of monitoring and can get advice if anything does arise.  For the supplements you mention several are in the high dose range (like vit E, vit C)so these are especially important to check.  
In health,
Dr Conner