Drug & supplement interaction

Ash + Mercaptopurine

Mercaptopurine brand name: Purixan.

No Known Interaction
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Ash and Mercaptopurine 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.

Know someone taking this? Share
Interaction report

Ash and Mercaptopurine

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 Mercaptopurine and Ash in our sources. This does not guarantee that the combination is completely free of risk — there is often limited research on supplements and herbal products, especially around drug interactions.

If you decide to take both, the practical routine is simple: add one new thing at a time and note the date you started it. If the combination is going to disagree with you, it usually shows in the first days to a couple of weeks — and a start date turns “I’ve been feeling off” into something a pharmacist can actually work with. 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.

Ash safety at a glance

Ash overall Use caution Likely fine in food amounts, but medicinal use lacks strong safety data.
Pregnancy Avoid Not enough safety information, so it is best avoided during pregnancy.
Breastfeeding Avoid No reliable safety data, so avoid while breastfeeding.

Safety guidance is general; always confirm with your pharmacist or doctor for your situation.

Still wondering about combining Mercaptopurine and Ash? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Mercaptopurine

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Mercaptopurine is filed under 3 classifications — immunosuppressants, hepatotoxic drugs, oral drugs. Ash has documented interactions with 2 drug classes — the most serious being antidiabetes drugs (moderate) and antihypertensive drugs (moderate) — and none of Mercaptopurine’s classifications are among them.

Classification data comes from our licensed Natural Medicines dataset. A medication can belong to classes beyond those recorded there, so this describes how the check was run — it is not a safety guarantee.

Keep it in perspective

Ash Does Interact With Other Medications

Ash has 258 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Mercaptopurine isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Ash

Covers the 2,830 medications we’ve checked against Ash. Pick one to open its full report.

What to actually watch for

What Mercaptopurine’s Own FDA Label Lists

This is not an interaction — none of it involves Ash. These are the most notable effects listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of Mercaptopurine’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 take both. 9 of them are worth acting on rather than waiting out — marked below.

  • Low blood sugar Worth acting on
  • A low white blood cell count Worth acting on mentioned in 11.0% of FDA reports for Mercaptopurine
  • Pancreatitis Worth acting on
  • A low platelet count Worth acting on
  • Anemia Worth acting on
  • Raised blood pressure Worth acting on
  • Hives Worth acting on
  • Liver problems Worth acting on
  • A higher chance of infection Worth acting on
  • Fever mentioned in 17.9% of FDA reports for Mercaptopurine

Showing the 10 most notable of 18 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 Mercaptopurine. Read the label on DailyMed › Where a percentage is shown, it is the share of 17,242 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Mercaptopurine that mention that effect — a reporting proportion, not an incidence rate and not evidence the drug caused it. Ash’s licensed record lists no adverse effects our clinical vocabulary could match, so there is no Ash side to compare — that is a limit of the record, not a statement that Ash has no side effects.

From our Q&A

Questions About Ash or Mercaptopurine

These are real questions from readers, answered by the pharmacists at HelloPharmacist — written by a person, not generated from a database. Each one covers Ash or Mercaptopurine, not necessarily both, but if one is close to what you were about to ask it will usually go further than a database entry can:

Not quite your question? Ask our pharmacists directly — it is free, there is no account required, and answers usually come back within 24 hours.

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Mercaptopurine

This page covers Ash only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Mercaptopurine page lists 106 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Beer (major), Siberian Cocklebur (major), Wine (major) and Active Hexose Correlated Compound (ahcc) (moderate).

By severity: 4 major · 92 moderate · 10 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Mercaptopurine page

“Mercaptopurine (Purixan) works by deliberately suppressing the immune system, whether for leukemia or inflammatory bowel disease, and the supplement interactions on this page deserve genuine care rather than a quick skim. Two problems dominate.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Mercaptopurine interaction page

One more smart check

Taking Ash as Part of a Dietary Supplement Product? Check It for Interactions

We hold 8 real supplement products containing Ash, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Ash. Even though Ash itself has no known interaction with Mercaptopurine, another ingredient on your label might. Find your product and we’ll check every ingredient on its label:

How much people look this up

Where Ash and Mercaptopurine 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 Ash
Top half

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

29 days ago today
Medication Mercaptopurine
Steady interest

#2,453 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 Ash reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Ash and Mercaptopurine 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 .
Supplement

About Ash

What is Ash?

Ash
  • Joint pain and arthritis
  • Fever
  • Constipation
  • Fluid retention (diuretic)
  • Bladder and urinary complaints
  • Weight management and blood sugar

Ash (Fraxinus excelsior and related species) is a tree whose leaves, bark, and seeds have a long history in folk medicine for arthritis, fever, and fluid retention. Solid human evidence is limited for nearly all of these uses, so it should not replace proven treatments. Talk with your pharmacist or doctor before using it, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking other medicines.

Fraxinus excelsior · Oleaceae · Leaves, bark, and seeds · Tea, dried leaf, capsules, tinctures, extracts

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

Ash: dosing

There is no well-established standard dose for ash. Amounts vary widely between teas, tinctures, capsules, and extracts.If you choose to use an ash product, follow the directions on the label and do not exceed them.

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

Read the full Ash monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Mercaptopurine

What Is Mercaptopurine Used For?

Brand name: Purixan

Mercaptopurine — available as a tablet and as an oral suspension — is used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a type of blood cancer. It is given as part of a combination chemotherapy maintenance regimen, meaning it works alongside other cancer medicines to keep leukemia in remission.

Both the tablet form and the oral suspension form carry this indication for adult and pediatric patients. The oral suspension is particularly useful for patients who cannot swallow tablets.

Most-Reported Side Effects for Mercaptopurine

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (17,242 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Febrile neutropenia 1,904 reports
Fever 1,187 reports
Nausea 791 reports
Vomiting 749 reports
Abdominal pain 699 reports
See full Mercaptopurine drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Ash

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

0Major
258Moderate
0Minor
2,571No known interaction
Moderate

258 interactions

Showing 60 of 258 moderate interactions — see all 258 on the Ash page.

No interaction 2,571 drugs checked — show the list
Evidence & sources

Ash References

The 3 references that drive our Ash 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. Zulet MA, Navas-Carretero S, Lara y Sánchez D, et al. A Fraxinus excelsior L. seeds/fruits extract benefits glucose homeostasis and adiposity related markers in elderly overweight/obese subjects: a longitudinal, randomized, crossover, double-blind,
  2. Montó F, Arce C, Noguera MA, et al. Action of an extract from the seeds of Fraxinus excelsior L. on metabolic disorders in hypertensive and obese animal models. Food Funct. 2014;5(4):786-96. PubMed
  3. Visen P, Saraswat B, Visen A, et al. Acute effects of Fraxinus excelsior L. seed extract on postprandial glycemia and insulin secretion on healthy volunteers. J Ethnopharmacol. 2009;126(2):226-32. PubMed

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

Taking Ash and Mercaptopurine Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Ash with Mercaptopurine?
We do not list a known interaction between Ash and Mercaptopurine. 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.
How was the Ash and Mercaptopurine combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Mercaptopurine is filed under 3 classifications, and Ash has documented interactions with 2 drug classes — none of Mercaptopurine's classifications are among them. A medication can belong to classes beyond those recorded in our dataset, so this describes how the check was run rather than guaranteeing safety.
Does Ash interact with any other medications?
Yes. Ash has 258 documented drug interactions in our database — Mercaptopurine is simply not one of them. If you take anything else, it is worth checking each one; they are all listed on this page.
Does Mercaptopurine interact with any supplements?
Yes. Mercaptopurine has documented interactions with 106 supplements in our database — Ash is not one of them. The Mercaptopurine 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 Mercaptopurine and Ash?

Our pharmacists answer your medication & supplement questions — free.

Ask a pharmacist

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.