AboutDr. Candice Davis, ScD Expertise I specialize in answering questions about children's health and diseases. My answers are very empowering in that I teach home remedies and nutrition first. But also am an expert in pediatric herbal medicine. If you want a natural cure or natural mode of healing common to serious childhood diseases/illnesses--Ask Me!
Experience I have 5 children and have seen everything--if not in my own family, but in my clinic as well. With that said, I have tons of personal experience. On the academic side, I have years of clinical training and apprenticeship in herbal medicine, specifically Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. And further education in pediatric herbal medicine. Plus I have been through it all with my own kids and my neices/nephews.
Organizations I am a member of the American Herbalist Guilde, East-West Herbal Guilde of Arizona, and National Association of Professional Women.
Publications URTV-Asheville, NC. I was a guest speaker on the Dale Joyner Show LIve on televison. I discussed healthly lifestyles for the Asheville community.
Education/Credentials I am a certified medical herbalist specializing in Ayurvedic and chinese medicine. From the Asian Botanical College. I have a doctorate from Ashewood University in Health Sciences. Good Manufacturing Procedures (GMP) for health supplements Certified.
Awards and Honors International Who's Who Award in Medicine--November 2008.
Past/Present Clients many. one famous one Matt. www.mattannecharico.com
Question Hi thx for your previous email. I suffer badly from anxiety and so i now take 1200mg skullcap, 500mg niacinamide, 500mg of valerian+passion flower and 300mg of 5-htp daily. my first question is can alcohol (beer) be taken with these herbs and second question is can i take other medications with 5-htp such as migraine medication or will this increase the risk of serotonin syndrome? thx.
Answer Hello,
Alcohol in the long run, can increase symptoms of anxiety because of the strain it puts on the Liver. According to Eastern Medicine, the Liver, being the organ that predominately controls and effects the release of hormones in the body, does not like being constrained energetically. Alcohol, as well as other medications decrease the Liver's effectiveness regulating hormones. Therefore, causing imbalances in the body that can manifest as depression or anxiety among others. I would not recommend taking any alcohol with anti-depressants, whether or not they are herbal or synthetic. If the valerian+passionflower herbs are already in tincture form--that is all right. But adding additional alcohol on top of the supplementation several times a week, may not be the most helpful for you right now.
I am not sure what migraine medication you are taking or in what dosage. So I would not know for sure if there would be a bad reaction. But 5-HTP when combined with MAOIs or anti-depressants in LARGE dosages has been shown to cause some type of Serotonin syndrome.
It seems that a lot of what you are taking is patching up the problem, and not really getting to the root cause of it all. In order to really heal from anxiety in Chinese medicine we look at the functioning of the Heart and the Liver organs mainly. When those organs are functioning harmoniously, there is no need for supplements like 5htp. And I suspect your migraines are caused by the same disharmony that is causing your anxiety. There is hope. And I would recommend finding a Chinese herbalist in your area that can truly find the cause of the imbalance and put you on the right path towards healing--not just suppressing symptoms.
I hope in someway I've helped you.
Cheers,
C
