PSA: do NOT try herbal remedies for IC if you think you have allergies

Okay, since my parents won't let me wear diapers and I cant afford them, I tried an herbal remedy one of my homeopathic remedy friends recommended. Long story short, I had a terrible reaction and am now sick as a dog. Turns out the remedy wasn't even for IC, it was for something COMPLETELY different.

I suggest talking with your doctor about choices and could help support your discussions at home.

Fireband said:

Okay, since my parents won't let me wear diapers and I cant afford them, I tried an herbal remedy one of my homeopathic remedy friends recommended. Long story short, I had a terrible reaction and am now sick as a dog. Turns out the remedy wasn't even for IC, it was for something COMPLETELY different.

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Keep this in mind: Herbal medicines do not have to go through the testing that drugs do, some herbs, such as comfrey and ephedra, can cause serious harm. Some herbs can interact with prescription or over-the-counter medicines.

Eh. You gotta know what the herbal stuff can do. Some of them can actually cause miscarriages and other horrible side-effects.

And sometimes they'll actually interact with each other, too.

So no, they're not all 'safe, harmless and effective' remedies. Just because it's natural doesn't mean it won't screw you up!

If you're going to get into herbal stuff, I suggest getting a well-respected guide to herbs and reading it. (Note I did NOT say 'homopathy', they'll tell you EVERYTHING is good and safe sometimes. Herbs. As in an herbalist's manual. It tells you about the plants themselves and any measured effects from consumption. Not recommendations for treatments.)

Just about any food (which is pretty much what these "supplements" are) can cause allergies as can many drugs. At least you know what is in most drugs. Not often obvious with some of the supplements. If you've got food allergies, you always need to be careful. My mother is allergic to eggs and you wouldn't believe what that shows up in (both in supplements and drugs).

willnotwill said:

Just about any food (which is pretty much what these "supplements" are) can cause allergies as can many drugs. At least you know what is in most drugs. Not often obvious with some of the supplements. If you've got food allergies, you always need to be careful. My mother is allergic to eggs and you wouldn't believe what that shows up in (both in supplements and drugs).

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She's probably like me...always walking around the store and staring at ingredient panels to look for the dreaded evil ingredient. (For me, it's the devil's own red dye, for her, evil eggs.)

That's like this bottle of stuff I found that was supposed to help with restless legs. I flipped it over and read the ingredients and "Arsenica" was at the top. And I'm going "Oh, so we're poisoning ourselves now? Like Arsenic and Old Lace? How fun." XD

Apparently it's supposed to be diluted to the point that there is nothing left of the original arsenic...and I'm just going "But why even put it in if it's not got anything left in it?"