Herbal Medicine

"Herbal" covers a lot of ground in Australia, from AHPRA-registered Chinese herbal medicine to products sold off a shelf with no consultation at all, and the word itself tells you nothing about safety. So here is what is worth asking, of us or of anyone.

What are the actual ingredients and amounts. What is this for, specifically. How long am I meant to take it and when do we review. What does it interact with, given the medications I already take. What should make me stop and call you. And can I have that in writing to show my GP or pharmacist. Every one of those should get a straight answer.

Interactions are the part people underestimate. Anticoagulants, antidepressants, immunosuppressants, thyroid medication, diabetes medication and chemotherapy all have real interactions with real herbs. St John\u{2019}s wort alone interacts with a long list of prescriptions. This is why we ask for your medication list and why "it is natural" is not an answer.

Where herbs are not appropriate, we say so: in pregnancy unless your maternity carer has cleared it, during IVF stimulation unless your specialist has, in significant liver or kidney disease, and in anyone who cannot tell us what else they are taking. Chinese herbal practitioners are AHPRA-registered; Western herbalists and naturopaths are accredited through associations instead. Ask which you are seeing. The clinic is in Lane Cove, five minutes from the village.