Drug & supplement interaction

Apitherapy + Nivolumab

Nivolumab brand name: Opdivo.

No Known Interaction
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Apitherapy and Nivolumab in our sources. Absence of a documented interaction is not the same as proven safety, and does not guarantee one does not exist. Do not start, stop, or change a medication or supplement based on this page; confirm with your pharmacist or doctor first.

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Interaction report

Apitherapy and Nivolumab

We checked these two against our interaction database. Here is what we found.

No Known Interaction Found

We did not find a documented interaction between Nivolumab and Apitherapy in our sources. This does not guarantee that the combination is completely free of risk — research on Apitherapy alongside specific medications may be limited.

Worth understanding: our licensed dataset holds no drug-interaction record for Apitherapy at all — not against Nivolumab, and not against any other medication we track. This verdict therefore rests on the absence of any recorded data, not on research that looked at this combination and found nothing. We cannot rule an interaction out.

Apitherapy is a treatment rather than something you take. Tell whoever provides it which medicines you use, and ask your prescriber whether it is appropriate for your health and treatment. Do not stop a prescribed medicine on your own.

Always talk with your pharmacist or doctor before making changes to your medications or supplements, particularly if you take several medications or have an ongoing health condition.

Apitherapy safety at a glance

Apitherapy overall Use caution Bee venom can cause severe, even life-threatening allergic reactions in sensitive people.
Pregnancy Likely Safe When apitherapy using honey is consumed in food amounts. Read the full pregnancy detail
Breastfeeding Likely Safe When apitherapy using honey is consumed in food amounts. Read the full breastfeeding detail

Pregnancy & breastfeeding ratings are from Natural Medicines (Therapeutic Research Center) — the full detail is in the Special populations card below. Safety guidance is general; always confirm with your pharmacist or doctor for your situation.

Still wondering about combining Nivolumab and Apitherapy? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
What to actually watch for

What Nivolumab’s Own FDA Label Lists

This is not an interaction — none of it involves Apitherapy. These are the most notable effects listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of Nivolumab’s own FDA label, for the medication by itself. Knowing the drug’s own list makes it easier to work out the likely cause if something new turns up while you have Apitherapy and take the medicine. 10 of them are worth acting on rather than waiting out — marked below.

  • Low magnesium Worth acting on
  • A change in thyroid levels Worth acting on
  • A stroke or mini-stroke Worth acting on
  • Severe muscle breakdown Worth acting on
  • Dehydration Worth acting on
  • Trouble swallowing Worth acting on
  • Bleeding in the gut Worth acting on
  • High potassium Worth acting on
  • Low sodium Worth acting on
  • Low blood sugar Worth acting on

Showing the 10 most notable of 67 label-listed effects — ranked by how unusual each one is across medicines generally, with serious effects weighted up.

From the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Nivolumab. Read the label on DailyMed › Where a percentage is shown, it is the share of 96,645 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Nivolumab that mention that effect — a reporting proportion, not an incidence rate and not evidence the drug caused it. Apitherapy’s licensed record lists no adverse effects our clinical vocabulary could match, so there is no Apitherapy side to compare — that is a limit of the record, not a statement that Apitherapy has no side effects.

Special populations

Apitherapy in Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Pregnancy And Lactation Likely Safe

When apitherapy using honey is consumed in food amounts.

Pregnancy And Lactation Possibly Safe

When apitherapy using bee venom is given by subcutaneous injection by a trained medical professional. Significant adverse effects to fetus or mother have not been reported. However, some clinicians decrease maintenance dose by half during pregnancy.

Pregnancy And Lactation Possibly Unsafe

When apitherapy using bee venom is given by subcutaneous injection in high doses. High doses of bee venom can increase release of histamine, which can cause uterine contraction; avoid using in high doses.

DISCLAIMER: This tool is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be interpreted as specific medical advice. Patients should consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making decisions about therapies and/or health conditions.© 2026 Therapeutic Research Center

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Nivolumab

This page covers Apitherapy only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Nivolumab page lists 1 supplement it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: American Pawpaw (minor).

By severity: 1 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Nivolumab page

“Nivolumab (Opdivo) is an immunotherapy infusion that trains the body's own immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells, the kind of drug you might expect to carry a long list of supplement warnings. It does not.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Nivolumab interaction page

How much people look this up

Where Apitherapy and Nivolumab Sit Against Everything Else

Out of every supplement and medication people look up on HelloPharmacist, here is where these two land this week — and which way each has been moving.

Supplement Apitherapy
Top half

#581 of 1,452 supplements looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today
Medication Nivolumab
Top 25%

#639 of 2,830 medications looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today

Position among everything looked up on this site, not a measure of how commonly either one is used or how important it is. A supplement can climb this list because of a news story. It counts every request to the page, automated ones included, and nothing here identifies anyone.

Where does our data come from?
  • Source: the Natural Medicines (TRC Healthcare) clinical database — the evidence-graded professional reference for herb & supplement interactions.
  • Citation library: 103,510 references behind our interaction content, 65,311 of them resolved to verified PubMed/DOI sources. See every Apitherapy reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Apitherapy and Nivolumab records this page draws on were last updated June 22, 2026.
  • What “no known interaction” means: no documented interaction in the sources above — not a guarantee of safety. Supplements are studied far less than prescription drugs, so we say exactly what the evidence supports, and nothing more.
Data structure & sourcing designed and verified by .
Treatment approach

About Apitherapy

What is Apitherapy?

  • Joint pain and arthritis
  • Multiple sclerosis symptoms
  • Wound and skin care
  • Allergies (with bee pollen)
  • General wellness and immune support

Apitherapy is the use of honeybee products such as bee venom, propolis, royal jelly, honey, and bee pollen for health purposes. Solid scientific evidence for most claimed benefits is limited, and bee venom in particular can trigger dangerous allergic reactions. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before trying it, especially if you have allergies.

Honey bee products (honey, bee venom, propolis, royal jelly, bee pollen) and bee stings · Bee venom injections, live bee stings, topical creams, capsules, lozenges, tinctures, raw honey

An interaction check asks whether these two react with each other — it does not ask whether Apitherapy is a good idea for someone in your situation. Here is what our Apitherapy record says about it on its own.

Apitherapy: dosing

There is no standardized dose for apitherapy. The right amount depends heavily on which bee product is used and the form it comes in, and many products are not tightly regulated.Bee venom therapy is not a do-it-yourself treatment and should only be done by a trained practitioner under medical supervision.

From our Apitherapy monograph — the full record covers uses, side effects and every documented interaction.

Read the full Apitherapy monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Nivolumab Injection

What Is Nivolumab Injection Used For?

Brand name: Opdivo

Opdivo (nivolumab) is used to treat many types of cancer in adults, and some in patients 12 years and older. It can be used alone or in combination with other therapies depending on the cancer type and stage. Cancers it treats include melanoma (including after surgery to reduce the chance of the cancer coming back), non-small cell lung cancer, malignant pleural mesothelioma, advanced renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer), classical Hodgkin lymphoma, squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, urothelial carcinoma (bladder cancer), colorectal cancer with specific genetic features (MSI-H or dMMR), hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer), esophageal cancer, gastroesophageal junction cancer, and gastric (stomach) cancer.

Some uses require the tumor to test positive for a protein called PD-L1, and some are specific to certain stages of disease or prior treatments received. Your oncologist will determine which use applies to your situation.

Most-Reported Side Effects for Nivolumab

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (96,645 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Malignant neoplasm progression 9,878 reports
Diarrhea 5,251 reports
Fatigue 4,195 reports
Fever 3,721 reports
Nausea 3,182 reports
See full Nivolumab Injection drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Apitherapy

Browse every other medication we’ve checked against Apitherapy — both the ones with a known interaction and the ones without. Select any drug for the full detail.

0Major
0Moderate
0Minor
2,829No known interaction
No interaction 2,829 drugs checked — show the list
Evidence & sources

Apitherapy References

The 2 references that drive our Apitherapy monograph and interaction data, from the evidence-graded Natural Medicines (TRC Healthcare) database. Citations with a link open the study on PubMed or the publisher’s site.

  1. Hebel SK, ed. Drug Facts and Comparisons. 52nd ed. St. Louis: Facts and Comparisons, 1998.
  2. Centers for Disease Control. Botulism in the Unites Sates, 1899-1996. Handbook for epidemiologists, clinicians, and laboratory workers, 1998. Available online: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/botulism.PDF.

Medication overviews come from MedlinePlus (NIH); supplement label data from the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database. Content is written and reviewed by licensed HelloPharmacist pharmacists — see our data sources and editorial standards.

Pharmacist Counseling Corner

Having Apitherapy While Taking Nivolumab: Common Questions

Is it safe to have Apitherapy while taking Nivolumab?
We do not list a known interaction between Apitherapy and Nivolumab. That does not guarantee the combination is risk-free, so confirm with your pharmacist or doctor — especially if you take other medications or have a health condition.
Does Nivolumab interact with any supplements?
Yes. Nivolumab has documented interactions with 1 supplement in our database — Apitherapy is not one of them. The Nivolumab interaction page linked on this page lists every one, ranked by severity.

Written and reviewed by the HelloPharmacist editorial staff. Our editorial policy

Still Have a Question About Nivolumab and Apitherapy?

Our pharmacists answer your medication & supplement questions — free.

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This information is for education only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always check with your pharmacist or doctor before starting, stopping, or combining supplements and medications.