If you are currently being treated with any of the following medications, you
should not use kava without first talking to your healthcare provider:
Anticonvulsants
Kava may exaggerate the effects of medications
used to treat seizures.
Central Nervous System (CNS) depressants
Kava may enhance the
effects of CNS depressants such as benzodiazepines used for sleep disturbances
or anxiety (particularly alprazolam) and barbiturates used for sleep disorders
and seizures (such as pentobarbital). In fact, there has been one report of
someone going into a coma from the combination of kava and alprazolam.
Antipsychotic medications
Kava may increase the risk of
unpleasant side effects associated with phenothiazine medications (often used
for the treatment of schizophrenia), such as chlorpromazine and promethazine.
Levodopa
There has been at least one report that kava may
reduce the effectiveness of levodopa, a medication used to treat Parkinson's
disease. Therefore, you should not take this herb if you are taking any
medications containing levodopa.