Yesterday I had a great visit at my neuro's. My internal meds doc had advised
me
that flu shots were not a good idea with my history but suggested that I ask
my
neuro about taking Symmetrel (amantadine) to help me avoid the flu since this
year's
Virus appears to be a strong strain. This med was originally put out to fight
the ef-
fects of influenza A several years ago and was very effective. Today it is
used most
often to fight fatigue. My neuro was glad that this was suggested and thinks
that it
will serve me well for both purposes.
Next, he said I'd have to go off St. John's Wort in order to take it. But,
more impor-
tantly, he said that St. John's often interacts with other meds and I was
smart to get
off. He said that a big problem exists with SJW in that many people don't
tell their
docs that they are on it because it's an herb and they don't think their dr
will sanc-
tion its use, thus the dr may prescribes a med that interacts and is unaware
of the
cause. I had no problem listing it with him earlier as my other doc had said
to try it
before we went with another drug. Please consider this info if you are on STW
and
have not informed your dr.
Another piece of information he gave me was that he wants to see me early in
'99
as there are three new drugs coming out supposedly in January that may be of
benefit to my tm. Two are pain meds that appear to have few side effects and
may
work better than the neurontin I'm on now. The third is one that has
something to
do with possible regeneration.
Needless to say, as soon as I have weaned myself off ST. John's (he said
withdrawal
symptoms were big possibility-thus the weaning process) I am going on the Sym-
metrel for both flu protection and the fatigue factor. And it goes unsaid, I
will be in
his office early next year.
Have a good day! JanH