Q. I take Xanax to sleep at night. I now understand that you can’t eat grapefruit when you use Xanax. I’ve done that in the past before I learned about the issue. How long do I need to wait after drinking a grapefruit-flavored Shasta soda or a Smirnoff or a mixed drink that has grapefruit?
A. You don’t need to worry about grapefruit interacting with Xanax (alprazolam), but we sure are concerned about the Smirnoff. Mixing an anti-anxiety agent like Xanax with alcohol could cause excessive sedation. If you needed to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night you might become dizzy and fall.
Q. I just wanted to give you a heads-up that Acomplia is available online from the UK without a prescription. The trouble is that you run the risk of having the drug seized by US Customs.
I know because when I ordered my second pack of 28 pills, the package was seized and all I received for my $158 investment was a letter from Customs. I was really disappointed because I had lost 7 pounds in my first month on the drug with only mild side effects.
If I could find a safe way to order Acomplia, I would do it in a heartbeat. I read that this medication might be hazardous during pregnancy. Perhaps that is why the FDA is dragging its feet on approving Acomplia.
A. Acomplia (rimonabant) is a new weight-loss medicine that has recently been approved in Europe. It is available in the UK and several other countries.
Acomplia is completely different from all prior weight loss products. It blocks brain receptors that are activated by marijuana. This “anti-munchy effect may partially explain the drug’s ability to control appetite. In addition to weight loss, Acomplia increases good HDL cholesterol and improves insulin efficiency.
Side effects include dizziness, nausea, diarrhea, headache, anxiety and depression. The effects during pregnancy are unknown but several investigators are concerned about a potential for harm. It is still so new that some adverse effects may not be known.
While Acomplia is being prescribed in the UK, it is unlikely that a reputable online pharmacy would sell it without a prescription. Taking it without medical supervision would be inadvisable.
Q. We are just getting home after three weeks on the road with our RV. But yesterday I began to sniffle with a head cold and sore throat. It’s been years since I’ve had a head cold. What should I take to shorten it?
A. If you act quickly, a Chinese herb popular in Sweden may help cut a cold short. Andrographis paniculata has been tested in a few clinical trials and was shown to shorten a cold by several days.
Zinc is another candidate for treating a cold. The research on zinc has given mixed results, though, and sucking on zinc lozenges can cause nausea.
Vitamin C, garlic, ginger tea and chicken soup may also be useful in easing cold symptoms. Sadly, the herb echinacea has not proven very effective in recent clinical trials.
We are sending you our Guides to Herbal and Cold Remedies with dynamite recipes for chicken soup, hot toddies and ginger tea. Anyone who would like copies, please send $2 in check or money order with a long (no. 10) stamped (63 cents), self-addressed envelope: Graedons’ People’s Pharmacy, No. EQ-25, P. O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027.
