Drug & supplement interaction

Ashwagandha + Lomustine

Lomustine brand name: Ceenu.

No Known Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated July 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 13, 2026
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Ashwagandha and Lomustine 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. Additionally, although there is no interaction, the two are separately associated with some of the same side effects, which would make a new symptom harder to attribute to one or the other.

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Interaction report

Ashwagandha and Lomustine

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 Lomustine and Ashwagandha 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.

Ashwagandha safety at a glance

Ashwagandha overall Use caution Generally well tolerated short-term in healthy adults, but quality and long-term safety data are limited.
Pregnancy Likely Unsafe When used orally. Ashwagandha has abortifacient effects. Read the full pregnancy detail
Breastfeeding Avoid Not enough safety information, so avoid while breastfeeding.

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.

Pharmacist analysis

The use of ashwagandha may result in potential interactions with certain classes of medication due to its known effects. However, these interactions are generally considered to be of minimal clinical significance.

Nevertheless, it is recommended to exercise caution when using ashwagandha in conjunction with the following classes of drugs:

  • Antidiabetes 
  • Antihypertensives
  • Benzodiazepines
  • CNS Depressants
  • Immunosuppressant
  • Thyroid Hormones

Although ashwagandha can typically be used safely in combination with these drug classes, it is crucial to inform your healthcare provider of all medications and supplements you are taking to ensure proper monitoring. Based on available information, ashwagandha does not appear to cause any adverse interactions with the specific drug mentioned in this inquiry.

—

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

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Lomustine

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Lomustine is filed under 3 classifications — alkylating agents, antineoplastics, oral drugs. Ashwagandha has documented interactions with 10 drug classes — the most serious being antidiabetes drugs (moderate), antihypertensive drugs (moderate) and benzodiazepines (moderate) — and none of Lomustine’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

Ashwagandha Does Interact With Other Medications

Ashwagandha has 916 moderate, 456 minor known drug interactions in our database — Lomustine isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 916 Minor 456 No known interaction 1,458 (incl. Lomustine)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Ashwagandha

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

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Ashwagandha and Lomustine May Share Several of the Same Side Effects

This is not an interaction. Neither one changes how your body handles the other, and nothing here says they react together. What our sources do show is that each has separately been linked to the effects below — so taking both can make those effects more likely to turn up, and harder to pin on one or the other if they do. One of them is worth acting on rather than waiting out — marked below.

  • Liver problems Worth acting on Additional detail

    Ashwagandha

    “Orally, ashwagandha in doses of 154 mg to 20 grams daily has played a role in several case reports of cholestatic, hepatocellular, and mixed liver injuries. In most of these cases, other causes of liver injury were excluded, and liver failure did not occur.”

    Ashwagandha · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in diarrhea.

    6 sources cited
    1. 102686. Björnsson HK, Björnsson ES, Avula B, et al. Ashwagandha-induced liver injury: A case series from Iceland and the US Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network. Liver Int. 2020;40(4):825-829. PubMed
    2. 107372. Ireland PJ, Hardy T, Burt AD, Donnelly MC. Drug-induced hepatocellular injury due to herbal supplement ashwagandha. J R Coll Physicians Edinb. 2021;51(4):363-365. PubMed
    3. 110490. Suryawanshi G, Abdallah M, Thomson M, Desai N, Chauhan A, Lim N. Ashwagandha-Associated Acute Liver Failure Requiring Liver Transplantation. Am J Ther 2023;30(1):e80-e83. PubMed
    4. 110491. Pusec CM, Wolsky R, Llerena C, Sura P. A Case of Supplement-Induced Hepatitis. Cureus 2022;14(10):e30433. PubMed
    5. 111533. Lubarska M, Halasinski P, Hryhorowicz S, et al. Liver Dangers of Herbal Products: A Case Report of Ashwagandha-Induced Liver Injury. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2023;20(5):3921. PubMed
    6. 111535. Tóth M, Benedek AE, Longerich T, Seitz HK. Ashwagandha-induced acute liver injury: A case report. Clin Case Rep 2023;11(3):e7078.

    Lomustine

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Lomustine. Read the label on DailyMed ›

  • Hair loss Additional detail

    Ashwagandha

    “A case report describes a 73-year-old female who had taken an ashwagandha root extract (unspecified dose) for 2 years to treat hypothyroidism which had been previously managed with levothyroxine. The patient was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism after presenting with supraventricular tachycardia, chest pain, tremor, dizziness, fatigue, irritability, hair thinning, and low thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels.”

    Ashwagandha · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in adrenal insufficiency.

    3 sources cited
    1. 108745. Kamal HI, Patel K, Brdak A, Heffernan J, Ahmad N. Ashwagandha as a unique cause of thyrotoxicosis presenting with supraventricular tachycardia. Cureus. 2022 Mar 25;14(3):e23494. PubMed
    2. 114111. Hayashi M, Hamada H, Azuma SI, Hayashi K. Painless Thyroiditis by Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha). Cureus 2024;16(3):e55352. PubMed
    3. 114790. Patel M, Newell R, Hillier M, Ramalingam R. Herbal remedies as a potential cause of hypoadrenalism. Br J Hosp Med (Lond) 2024;85(6):1-4. PubMed

    Lomustine

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Lomustine. Read the label on DailyMed ›

  • Blurred vision Additional detail

    Ashwagandha

    “Orally, ashwagandha has been reported to cause drowsiness. Headache, neck pain, and blurry vision have been reported in a 47-year-old female taking ashwagandha, cannabis, and venlafaxine. Imaging over the course of multiple years and hospital admissions indicated numerous instances of intracranial hemorrhage and multifocal stenosis of intracranial arteries, likely secondary to reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syn…”

    Ashwagandha · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in cluster headache.

    3 sources cited
    1. 110492. Ajgaonkar A, Jain M, Debnath K. Efficacy and Safety of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) Root Extract for Improvement of Sexual Health in Healthy Women: A Prospective, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study. Cureus 2022;14(10):e30787. PubMed
    2. 113609. Majeed M, Nagabhushanam K, Murali A, Vishwanathan DT, Mamidala RV, Mundkur L. A Standardized Withania somniferra (Linn.) Root Extract with Piperine Alleviates the Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression by Increasing Serotonin Levels: A Double-Blind, Randomize
    3. 112113. Patel PA, Sanborn E, Then R, Williams DM. Recurrent Reversible Cerebral Vasoconstriction Syndrome: A Report of Two Cases. Cureus 2023;15(8):e42992. PubMed

    Lomustine

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Lomustine. Read the label on DailyMed ›

  • Tiredness reported in 8.3% of FDA reports for Lomustine Additional detail

    Ashwagandha

    Recorded for Ashwagandha in the same Natural Medicines adverse-effect record shown under Hair loss above.

    Lomustine

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Lomustine, and in voluntary FDA adverse-event reports. Read the label on DailyMed ›

  • Nausea reported in 9.0% of FDA reports for Lomustine Additional detail

    Ashwagandha

    Recorded for Ashwagandha in the same Natural Medicines adverse-effect record shown under Liver problems above.

    Lomustine

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Lomustine, and in voluntary FDA adverse-event reports. Read the label on DailyMed ›

  • Vomiting Additional detail

    Ashwagandha

    “Orally, large doses may cause gastrointestinal upset, diarrhea, and vomiting secondary to irritation of the mucous and serous membranes. When taken orally, nausea and abdominal pain and gastritis and flatulence have been reported.”

    Ashwagandha · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in diarrhea.

    5 sources cited
    1. 3710. Upton R, ed. Ashwagandha Root (Withania somnifera): Analytical, quality control, and therapuetic monograph. Santa Cruz, CA: American Herbal Pharmacopoeia 2000:1-25.
    2. 19276. Kulkarni RR, Patki PS, Jog VP, et al. Treatment of osteoarthritis with a herbomineral formulation: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study. J Ethnopharmacol 1991;33:91-5. PubMed
    3. 110490. Suryawanshi G, Abdallah M, Thomson M, Desai N, Chauhan A, Lim N. Ashwagandha-Associated Acute Liver Failure Requiring Liver Transplantation. Am J Ther 2023;30(1):e80-e83. PubMed
    4. 113609. Majeed M, Nagabhushanam K, Murali A, Vishwanathan DT, Mamidala RV, Mundkur L. A Standardized Withania somniferra (Linn.) Root Extract with Piperine Alleviates the Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression by Increasing Serotonin Levels: A Double-Blind, Randomize
    5. 90651. Biswal BM, Sulaiman SA, Ismail HC, Zakaria H, Musa KI. Effect of Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) on the development of chemotherapy-induced fatigue and quality of life in breast cancer patients. Integr Cancer Ther. 2013;12(4):312-22.

    Lomustine

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Lomustine. Read the label on DailyMed ›

Reported for Ashwagandha but not commonly for Lomustine: stomach upset, a change in thyroid levels, stomach pain and mood changes or irritability.

Effects for Lomustine come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Ashwagandha come from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, quoted above. Where a percentage is shown, it is the share of 2,533 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Lomustine that mention that effect — a reporting proportion, not an incidence rate and not evidence the drug caused it. Wording is matched across sources by our own clinical vocabulary, so treat this as a prompt to pay attention, not a diagnosis.

Special populations

Ashwagandha in Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Pregnancy Likely Unsafe

When used orally. Ashwagandha has abortifacient effects.

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

From our Q&A

Questions About Ashwagandha or Lomustine

These are real questions from readers, answered by the pharmacists at HelloPharmacist — written by a person, not generated from a database. Each one covers Ashwagandha or Lomustine, 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 Lomustine

This page covers Ashwagandha only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Lomustine page lists 25 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Acerola (moderate), Alpha-lipoic Acid (moderate), Coenzyme Q10 (moderate) and Coffee Charcoal (moderate).

By severity: 1 major · 14 moderate · 10 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Lomustine page

“One capsule of lomustine (Ceenu) often carries a whole chemotherapy cycle, so supplements that keep it from being absorbed, or that blunt its cancer-fighting action, deserve more respect here than with most drugs. The lone major-rated interaction, activated charcoal, can bind lomustine in the gut and sharply cut how much reaches the body.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Lomustine interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 4,964 real supplement products containing Ashwagandha, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Ashwagandha. Even though Ashwagandha itself has no known interaction with Lomustine, 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 Ashwagandha and Lomustine 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 Ashwagandha
Top 5%

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

29 days ago today
Medication Lomustine
Top 25%

#387 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 Ashwagandha reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 13, 2026. The Ashwagandha and Lomustine records this page draws on were last updated July 11, 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 Ashwagandha

What is Ashwagandha?

Ashwagandha
  • Stress and anxiety
  • Sleep problems
  • Fatigue and low energy
  • Athletic performance
  • General well-being (adaptogen)

Ashwagandha is an Ayurvedic herb most often taken to help with stress, anxiety, and sleep, and some small studies suggest it may help, though the evidence is still limited. It is generally well tolerated for short-term use in healthy adults, but it should be avoided in pregnancy and used cautiously by people with thyroid or liver problems. Talk with your pharmacist or doctor before starting it.

Withania somnifera · Solanaceae · Root (and sometimes leaves) · Capsules, tablets, powder, liquid extracts, teas

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

Ashwagandha: dosing

There is no official, well-established dose for ashwagandha. Studies have used a wide range of doses and different types of extracts, which makes it hard to recommend one standard amount.The safest approach is to follow the directions on the product label and not exceed the recommended amount. Because supplements are not tightly regulated, choosing a product that has been independently tested for quality is a good idea.

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

Read the full Ashwagandha monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Lomustine

What Is Lomustine Used For?

Brand name: Ceenu

Lomustine capsules are used to treat primary and metastatic brain tumors, typically after surgery and/or radiation therapy. Both Gleostine and Lomustine branded capsules share these approved uses.

Lomustine capsules are also used as part of a combination chemotherapy regimen for Hodgkin's lymphoma (a cancer of the lymph system) in patients whose disease has continued to progress after initial chemotherapy.

Most-Reported Side Effects for Lomustine

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (2,533 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Nausea 228 reports
Fatigue 211 reports
Thrombocytopenia 180 reports
Disease progression 141 reports
Neutropenia 130 reports
See full Lomustine drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Ashwagandha

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

0Major
916Moderate
456Minor
1,457No known interaction
916 Moderate 456 Minor 1,457 No interaction
Moderate

916 interactions

Showing 60 of 916 moderate interactions — see all 916 on the Ashwagandha page.

Minor

456 interactions

Showing 60 of 456 minor interactions — see all 456 on the Ashwagandha page.

No interaction 1,457 drugs checked — show the list

We also checked Ashwagandha against these medications and found no known interaction in our sources. Open any page to confirm.

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 1,457 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Ashwagandha list.

See the full Ashwagandha interactions page
See every supplement checked against Lomustine, ranked by severity
Evidence & sources

Ashwagandha References

The 32 references that drive our Ashwagandha 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. McGuffin M, Hobbs C, Upton R, Goldberg A, eds. American Herbal Products Association's Botanical Safety Handbook. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, LLC 1997.
  2. Upton R, ed. Ashwagandha Root (Withania somnifera): Analytical, quality control, and therapuetic monograph. Santa Cruz, CA: American Herbal Pharmacopoeia 2000:1-25.
  3. Davis L, Kuttan G. Effect of Withania somnifera on cyclophosphamide-induced urotoxicity. Cancer Lett 2000;148:9-17. PubMed
  4. Davis L, Kuttan G. Suppressive effect of cyclophosphamide-induced toxicity by Withania somnifera extract in mice. J Ethnopharmacol 1998;62:209-14. PubMed
  5. Mishra LC, Singh BB, Dagenais S. Scientific basis for the therapeutic use of Withania somnifera (ashwagandha): a review. Altern Med Rev 2000;5:334-46. DOI
  6. Andallu B, Radhika B. Hypoglycemic, diuretic and hypocholesterolemic effect of winter cherry (Withania somnifera, Dunal) root. Indian J Exp Biol 2000;38:607-9.
  7. Kulkarni RR, Patki PS, Jog VP, et al. Treatment of osteoarthritis with a herbomineral formulation: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study. J Ethnopharmacol 1991;33:91-5. PubMed
  8. Ahumada F, Aspee F, Wikman G, Hancke J. Withania somnifera exract. Its effects on arterial blood pressure in anaesthetized dogs. Phytother Res 1991;5:111-14.
  9. Panda S, Kar A. Withania somnifera and Bauhinia purpurea in the regulation of circulating thyroid hormone concentrations in female mice. J Ethnopharmacol 1999;67:233-39. PubMed
  10. Panda S, Kar A. Changes in thyroid hormone concentrations after administration of ashwagandha root extract to adult male mice. J Pharm Pharmacol 1998;50:1065-68. PubMed
  11. Sehgal, V. N., Verma, P., and Bhattacharya, S. N. Fixed-drug eruption caused by ashwagandha (Withania somnifera): a widely used Ayurvedic drug. Skinmed. 2012;10(1):48-49.
  12. Agnihotri AP, Sontakke SD, Thawani VR, Saoji A, Goswami VS. Effects of Withania somnifera in patients of schizophrenia: a randomized, double blind, placebo controlled pilot trial study. Indian J Pharmacol. 2013;45(4):417-8. PubMed
  13. Biswal BM, Sulaiman SA, Ismail HC, Zakaria H, Musa KI. Effect of Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) on the development of chemotherapy-induced fatigue and quality of life in breast cancer patients. Integr Cancer Ther. 2013;12(4):312-22.
  14. Sharma AK, Basu I, Singh S. Efficacy and safety of Ashwagandha root extract in subclinical hypothyroid patients: a double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial. J Altern Complement Med. 2018 Mar;24(3):243-248. PubMed
  15. Durg S, Bavage S, Shivaram SB. Withania somnifera (Indian ginseng) in diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta-analysis of scientific evidence from experimental research to clinical application. Phytother Res. 2020;34(5):1041-1059.

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 Ashwagandha and Lomustine Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Ashwagandha with Lomustine?
We do not list a known interaction between Ashwagandha and Lomustine. 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.
Do Ashwagandha and Lomustine have any of the same side effects?
Yes — our sources link each of them separately to 6 of the same effects. That is not an interaction: neither changes how your body handles the other. It does mean that if one of those effects turns up, it can be harder to tell which one is behind it. They are listed on this page with the source behind each.
How was the Ashwagandha and Lomustine combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Lomustine is filed under 3 classifications, and Ashwagandha has documented interactions with 10 drug classes — none of Lomustine'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 Ashwagandha interact with any other medications?
Yes. Ashwagandha has 1,372 documented drug interactions in our database — Lomustine 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 Lomustine interact with any supplements?
Yes. Lomustine has documented interactions with 25 supplements in our database — Ashwagandha is not one of them. The Lomustine interaction page linked on this page lists every one, ranked by severity.

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

Where next

Keep Exploring

Ashwagandha monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Lomustine drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Lomustine supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Lomustine, ranked by severity Supplement interaction checker Check any supplement or product against your medications Browse medications A–Z Every drug we’ve checked against herbs & supplements References The 32 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Lomustine and Ashwagandha?

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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.