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Opioids Does Milk Thistle Potentate or Decrease Codeine's Effects?

muie

Bluelighter
Joined
Dec 18, 2008
Messages
849
Location
Canada
I am aware that you can use certain herbs to potentate certain drugs, for example Milk Thistle works (without a doubt) to potentate and prolong Methadone.

On the other hand St. John's wort is said to lesen the effects of methadone and codeine, and I did notice this when I was using it for minor depression.

The paradox is this; people have recomended taking phenobarbital or if lucky amobarbital/secobarbital, even St. John's Wort (all which inhibit the same enzymes more or less) with codeine and/or tramadol so that one can convert more of the codeine to morphine or tramadol to o-deso, doing this via the inhibition of certain enzymes responsible in the metabolism process. This however is very much contradicted by medical sources and in my opinion as well.

I believe when it comes to codeine, none of the barbiturates potentate it as we are led to believe if anything they are lessend and the same with St. John's wort which some people say increases codeine's effects. The only way barbiturates would potentate codeine is if one was high on codeine previous to taking the barbies (since barbies inhibit said enzyme which codeine is also competing for to metabolise into morphine, thus it is the competing for the same enzyme that makes the codeine less effective).

Can someone please give me a direct answer from experience if possible regarding Milk Thistle and codeine with regards to potentation or a loss of effect?

I take a lot of tylenol 3's and would like taking Milk Thistle almost immediatley after my dose but I'm afraid it would decrease codeine's effect.

p.s. We can apply everything about codeine to tramadol since they are both pro drugs

Thanks
 
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We all know milk thistle helps the liver. How it works and what it does is yet to be fully understood. So my answer for you would be to give it a try, and let us know what happens.
 
Milk thistle is nothing more than a very powerful antioxidant and protectant...

It will not have any major effect on metabolism...

It will however protect mainly your liver from oxidative damage and detoxify a variety of poisons.
 
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