They can provide energy, support the immune system and provide your body with the nutrients you may not be getting from your diet. "Many supplements are beneficial. It’s just important that you know to talk to your doctor or your pharmacist before you take them," said Laura Partlow, a nurse practitioner with Lee Health.

Partlow says many vitamins and supplements can affect other medications. "They can make a medication that a patient is already on more potent than it was intended or it can also be less effective than intended."

Medications like blood thinners, heart medicine, and diabetic medications can be altered by supplements. "Even vitamin supplements can have reactions with medications or with people who have conditions that might react with the supplement. For instance, celiac disease, they cannot have anything with wheat and a lot of medications contain wheat products as fillers," she said.

Other supplements can trigger side effects for patients with health concerns. "There are a few supplements that are even higher risk than others, such as cava. It’s a stimulant and a lot of people might take it to lose weight or for energy, but it’s important to understand that this could affect a person who already has a heart condition. St. John’s Wort is another one that can react with warfarin or other blood thinners—another high-risk medication," said Partlow.

Making it important to talk to your doctor or pharmacist to ensure the supplement doesn’t do more harm than good.


View More Health Matters video segments at LeeHealth.org/Healthmatters/


Lee Health in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of health care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For more than 100 years, we’ve been providing our community with personalized preventative health services and primary care to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries. Lee Health - Caring People. Inspiring Care.


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