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Q. I have been taking curcumin for the inflammation of arthritis. I have noticed that I bruise easily. I also take ginkgo and I wonder if taking both of them is causing this.
A. Animal research suggests that curcumin (the active ingredient in the yellow spice turmeric) has anticoagulant action. Both ginkgo and curcumin appear to keep blood platelets from sticking together to form clots.
There is not much clinical research, but a few years ago a reader reported a frightening experience: “I started taking turmeric for psoriasis. I also take Coumadin. When I went in for a routine blood test my doctor told me that my blood was too thin. I was told to come in immediately for a Vitamin K shot to reverse this effect.”
Please check with your doctor to make sure the ginkgo and curcumin you are taking are not thinning your blood too much.
Last winter I got uncontrollable, violent diarrhea that lasted for almost 6 weeks. Nothing stopped it. My primary physician ran tests that showed nothing to cause it. I finally went to a gastro-enterologist about it and she had me list every drug, vitamin and herbal supplement I was on. I had to stop Fosamax and calcium/magnesium (which I'd been taking for many years) and then she asked about the curcumin. I told her I'd started it recently for arthritis inflammation and that websites said it was also good for IBS. I stopped that, too. And - the diarrhea stopped the next day.
Several weeks later I started on the curcumin again and within two days - diarrhea.