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Are Vitamin C Supplement Advisable While On Allegra And Citalopram?
Question: I am taking numerous medications: daily I take 180 mg allegra, 40mg citalopram, 40mg pantoprazole, 300 mg buprpopion, 100 mcg levothyrixine, flonase and amfinishing up a course of sulfamethoxale. I also have chronic ideopathic neutropenia. My question is that i seem to be catching more colds and was wondering if it would be ok to try vitamin c supplements with all these meds and if so how much is safe? Thanks
Brief Answer:
Vit C does not interact with them, is safe to use but not sure it will help
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thank you for asking at HCM.
I carefully read your question and understand your concern.
You are actually taking many medication and it is fair the concern you have with the possible interactions. I checked all the drugs you use and if they interact with Vitamin C supplements and found that there is no interaction and it is safe to take vitamin C while you are taking the rest of the medications.
The next question I would raise is if vitamin C really helps prevent common colds? Literature does not support use of Vitamin C supplements to prevent common colds. Vitamin C has been used a lot before for this purpose but when evidences were studied and was found that it does not really help.
The only time literature found Vitamin C helpful in infection is while treating patients with pneumonia- Vitamin C is found to help patients with pneumonia recover better but they have to take the treatment with the proper antibiotics meanwhile.
So to conclude i would say :
- taking vitamin C with the rest of the medications will not cause any interactions and is safe
- I am not sure if vitamin C will really help prevent those colds
- You can try it for a month or two and if no affect than it is clear you should not use it
- Make sure you avoid close rooms with many people, avoid people that might be going through viruses and also wash your hands frequently with warm water and soap to reduce riks of getting contaminated.
- I would also recommend you to repeat the test to see how much are the neutrophils, as you menitoned you do have problems with neutrophils. This might be in itself a cause of common infections.
I hope this is helpful and answers to your question. Feel free to ask in case of any further queries.
Kind Regards
Dr Antoneta
Vit C does not interact with them, is safe to use but not sure it will help
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thank you for asking at HCM.
I carefully read your question and understand your concern.
You are actually taking many medication and it is fair the concern you have with the possible interactions. I checked all the drugs you use and if they interact with Vitamin C supplements and found that there is no interaction and it is safe to take vitamin C while you are taking the rest of the medications.
The next question I would raise is if vitamin C really helps prevent common colds? Literature does not support use of Vitamin C supplements to prevent common colds. Vitamin C has been used a lot before for this purpose but when evidences were studied and was found that it does not really help.
The only time literature found Vitamin C helpful in infection is while treating patients with pneumonia- Vitamin C is found to help patients with pneumonia recover better but they have to take the treatment with the proper antibiotics meanwhile.
So to conclude i would say :
- taking vitamin C with the rest of the medications will not cause any interactions and is safe
- I am not sure if vitamin C will really help prevent those colds
- You can try it for a month or two and if no affect than it is clear you should not use it
- Make sure you avoid close rooms with many people, avoid people that might be going through viruses and also wash your hands frequently with warm water and soap to reduce riks of getting contaminated.
- I would also recommend you to repeat the test to see how much are the neutrophils, as you menitoned you do have problems with neutrophils. This might be in itself a cause of common infections.
I hope this is helpful and answers to your question. Feel free to ask in case of any further queries.
Kind Regards
Dr Antoneta
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Arnab Banerjee
Thanks for the reply. I know that I should be skeptical of vitamin c helping with colds but i thought i felt a cold coming on and thought i might give it a try. Saw my hematologist right before christmas. Cant remember my neutrophils count but i know he wasn't concerned and i did memtion that i'd had several colds but he seemed to think it wasnt excessive. I just hate having colds! Manythanks for the answers!
Brief Answer:
It is reassuring the hematologist was not concerned
Detailed Answer:
Hi dear, Welcome back,
It is good that you had the visit with the hematologist and the neurtophil levels were not concerning to him- this is reassuring.
If the colds do not cause you fever for longer than 3 days and you recover without needing much help with antibiotics this is reassuring also. I understand it does not feel nice to have those colds often but at least it seems your body is able go through them very well without any complications.
Wishing you all the best
Kind regards
Dr Antoneta
It is reassuring the hematologist was not concerned
Detailed Answer:
Hi dear, Welcome back,
It is good that you had the visit with the hematologist and the neurtophil levels were not concerning to him- this is reassuring.
If the colds do not cause you fever for longer than 3 days and you recover without needing much help with antibiotics this is reassuring also. I understand it does not feel nice to have those colds often but at least it seems your body is able go through them very well without any complications.
Wishing you all the best
Kind regards
Dr Antoneta
Note: For more detailed guidance, please consult an Internal Medicine Specialist, with your latest reports. Click here..
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Arnab Banerjee
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