Supplements to Avoid for MS

Since I work as a retail supplement specilaist, I get a lot of questions about what supplements are the best for specific conditions. Since I've been diagnosed with MS, I've received lots of advice from well-meaning but misinformed or naive sources about what I should do to benefit the disease.

"Since your immune system is weakened, you should take immune boosters," or "My friend has MS and started Tai Chi and was able to reduce his medication," and so forth, are the kind of responses I've been getting. It occurs to me that I happen to be blessed with a better understanding of the disease than most and perhaps I can share it with others to help arm them against misinformation.

There are dietary supplements that can help support your body's fight against MS and may even help prevent the onset of the disease or exacerbations of the disease. It is really important to note that none of these regimens can replace or substitute for the medications that we know will likely reduce the exacerbations, such as interferons, or the drugs that slow an existing exacerbation, like steroids.

I'm going to start with supplements that I think might work against the body's fight against MS. These supplements should be avoided unless they've been recommended by a MS-knowledgeable physician who is aware of your medical history:

immune boosters of any sort
IP6, cellforte
echinacea
cat's claw, saventaro*
oregon grape root
mushrooms like shiitake, maitake, lion's mane**, reishi
oregano oil
goldenseal root & herb
MGN-3
Pau d'arco

*Saventaro-TM is the only form of Cat's claw that I ever recommend to customers, since it is a PA-Free form of the herb. Please note that Saventaro is an extremely effective tool in the fight against Lyme disease, but might work contrary to the fight against MS so I would avoid it unless you can get specific scientific substantiation of the benefit. If you are not sure yet if you might have Lyme disease, it may be worth a try. (I took Saventaro heavily in the weeks I was waiting for clinical determination of MS vs Lyme, and I do not believe in my case that it worsened my condition at all).

**This mushroom has been studied for helping the body repair damaged neurons in the brain associated with Alzheimer's. This could be interesting for MS people, but because mushrooms might strengthen the immune system's activity, I think we should avoid all mushrooms until the benefit vs. risk ratio can be adequately determined. I will update if more study info becomes available. (I also took this mushroom heavily during my wait for clinical diagnosis and I do not believe it worsened my condition at that time.)

In general, herbs and supplements that are formulated to increase immune activity should be avoided. Please note, the FDA laws governed by the DSHEA laws of 1994 actually limit the claims a supplement company can make on the labels of their product to avoid false claims to the public, and as a bizarre twist of fate, this means the consumer who is trying to avoid certain activity in their supplements may have a hard time determining what will supply that unwanted activity. In other words, supplements won't say "immune booster" on the label, but will say "immune-balancing", or "supports a healthy immune system," or "immune modulator", even though they contain actual immune-boosting ingredients. Please be aware!

Next: herbs and supplements that may help benefit your body's fight against MS, and supplements that can be used for specific conditions unrelated to MS that won't interfere with your body's fight against MS (like cold & flu, cough, yeast issues, etc).