Echinacea Tablets

When you buy Echinacea tablets online, or from your local pharmacy, take 1 tablet 3 times a day. Start at the first signs of a common cold.

Do not use Echinacea tablets for more than 10 days. Do not take more than the label tells you to. See your doctor or qualified healthcare practitioner if your condition worsens, you get a high fever while using this product or symptoms persist for more than 10 days.

Do not take Echinacea tablets:

• if you are allergic to Echinacea, other members of the same plant family (Asteraceae Compositae, such as daisies, marigolds or artichokes) or any of the other ingredients of this medicine
• if you suffer frequent allergic reactions such as hives (urticaria), eczema, asthma
• if you have tuberculosis
• if you have a connective tissue disease with formation of clumps of cells (sarcoidosis) mainly occurring in the lymph nodes, lungs and liver
• if you have an auto-immune disease such as inflammation of the connective tissue (collagenosis) or multiple sclerosis
• if you have a condition that decreases your natural response to infection (eg HIV infection or AIDS)
• if you are on therapy to reduce your natural response to infection (immunosuppression eg: chemotherapy or radiotherapy for cancer; history of organ or bone marrow transplant)
• if you have a blood disorder involving the white blood cell system such as low white cell count due to bone marrow disorders (agranulocytosis) or blood cell cancer (leukaemia)
• if you are already taking immunosuppressant medication such as ciclosporin or methotrexate.

Please tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking medicines obtained without a prescription. Do not take Echinacea tablets if you are already taking immunosuppressant medication such as ciclosporin or methotrexate.

There are no known reactions between alcohol or food and Echinacea tablets.

Like all medicines, when you buy Echinacea tablets they can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them. Please read the full list of possible side effects before you buy Echinacea tablets online in the echinacea tablet patient information leaflet.

Some possible side effects include:

• allergic reactions such as swelling, hives, or rashes
• swelling of the skin due to fluid
• swelling of the facial area (Quincke’s oedema)
• shrinking of the airways of the lungs with obstruction (bronchospasm)
• asthma and life threatening reactions (anaphylactic shock)

The frequency of the side effects is not known.

Echinacea can trigger allergic reactions in some patients susceptible to allergies. Association with auto-immune diseases has been reported such as:

• inflammation of the brain and spinal cord (disseminated encephalitis)
• painful lumps on the shins (erythema nodosum)
• low blood platelet count (immune thrombocytopenia)
• destruction of blood cells by antibodies (Evans Syndrome)
• dryness in the mouth and eye with kidney tubular dysfunction (Sjogren Syndrome)
• A decrease in the number of white blood cells (leucopenia) may occur in long term use (more than 8 weeks)

Stop taking the product immediately if you experience any allergic reaction.

Do not take Echinacea tablets if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, because there is no evidence that it is safe to do so.

When you buy Echinacea tablets online, or at your local pharmacy, store them as per instruction of the Echinacea tablet patient information leaflet, in a cool dry place.

Do not use the medication past the expiration date. When you buy Echinacea tablets online or any other medication please check the expiry date when it arrives to you in the post.

Yes, you can legally buy Echinacea tablets online from registered prescribers such as e-Surgery.

Whenever you buy Echinacea tablets online or any other medication, even if it is over the counter, make sure you check for the green GPhC logo on the bottom of each page of the website you are using.

You can use the GPhC website to check if a pharmacy is registered, this will ensure that when you buy Echinacea tablets online the medication is genuine.

You can learn more about Echinacea tablets online in the Echinacea tablet patient information leaflet, which contains more useful information.

You can also use our completely free Ask-a-Pharmacist service to get health advice from a trained professional. We’re here to help!

e-Surgery uses Royal Mail delivery with choices starting from Royal Mail 48 tracked delivery, Royal Mail tracked 24 and Royal Mail 1 pm special delivery (discover more about e-Surgery delivery). When you buy Echinacea tablets online they will arrive in discreet, recyclable packaging at a delivery address of your choice.

Find out to recycle packaging from e-Surgery.

Whenever you buy Echinacea tablets online they will come in blister packs that are not currently recyclable, so once they have been used can be disposed of in a general waste bin. If the echinacea tablets are unfinished dispose of the medication safely and drop them off at a local pharmacy. Cardboard packaging and paper patient information leaflets are recyclable.

For any more information on the disposal of Echinacea tablets, you can use our free Ask-A-Pharmacist service.