Drug & supplement interaction

Butcher's Broom + Alitretinoin

Alitretinoin brand name: Panretin.

No Known Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated July 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 27, 2026
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Butcher's Broom and Alitretinoin 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

Butcher's Broom and Alitretinoin

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 Alitretinoin and Butcher's Broom 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.

Butcher's Broom safety at a glance

Butcher's Broom overall Use caution Generally well tolerated short-term in most healthy adults, but evidence on long-term safety is limited.
Pregnancy Avoid Safety has not been established, so it is best avoided during pregnancy.
Breastfeeding Avoid Not enough safety information exists, so avoid use while breastfeeding.

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

Still wondering about combining Alitretinoin and Butcher's Broom? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Alitretinoin

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Alitretinoin is filed under 3 classifications — retinoids, photosensitizing drugs, oral drugs. Butcher's Broom has documented interactions with 2 drug classes — the most serious being alpha-adrenergic agonists (moderate) and alpha-adrenergic antagonists (moderate) — and none of Alitretinoin’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

Butcher's Broom Does Interact With Other Medications

Butcher's Broom has 158 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Alitretinoin isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 158 No known interaction 2,672 (incl. Alitretinoin)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Butcher's Broom

Covers the 2,830 medications we’ve checked against Butcher's Broom. Pick one to open its full report.

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Butcher's Broom and Alitretinoin May Share a Side Effect

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.

  • A skin rash Additional detail

    Butcher's Broom

    “Topically, butcher's broom may cause contact dermatitis. A 30-year-old female developed an erythematous, papular, pruritic rash on both legs after applying a cream containing butcher's broom root extract (Fabroven, Pierre Fabre Iberica) to varicose veins for 2 months. The rash spread to the entire body, and the patient had positive patch tests to ethanol extracts of butcher's broom.”

    Butcher's Broom · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in dermatitis.

    2 sources cited
    1. 37487. Landa, N., Aguirre, A., Goday, J., Raton, J. A., and Diaz-Perez, J. L. Allergic contact dermatitis from a vasoconstrictor cream. Contact Dermatitis 1990;22(5):290-291. PubMed
    2. 94780. Ramirez-Hernandez M, Garcia-Selles J, Merida-Fernandez C, Martinez-Escribano JA. Allergic contact dermatitis to ruscogenins. Contact Dermatitis 2006;54(1):60. PubMed

    Alitretinoin

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

Reported for Butcher's Broom but not commonly for Alitretinoin: a fast or pounding heartbeat, high potassium, dehydration and stomach upset.

Effects for Alitretinoin come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Butcher's Broom come from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, quoted above. Wording is matched across sources by our own clinical vocabulary, so treat this as a prompt to pay attention, not a diagnosis.

Overlapping uses

What Alitretinoin Is Prescribed For, and What Butcher's Broom Has Been Studied For

These two come up together because they touch the same health topic — not because they do the same job. Alitretinoin is a prescription medicine with approved uses on its FDA label. Butcher's Broom is a supplement: what follows is what researchers have looked at it for, and how strong that evidence is.

Alitretinoin is prescribed for: Alitretinoin, as the topical gel Panretin, is used to treat skin lesions caused by AIDS-related Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) in adults. Panretin is not meant for people who need whole-body (systemic) KS treatment. That includes more than 10 new KS lesions in the past month, symptomatic lymphedema (swelling), symptomatic lung KS, or symptomatic KS involving internal organs.

Butcher's Broom has been studied for:

  • Lymphedema studied, not established Butcher's Broom has been studied for this. Natural Medicines rates the evidence: Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate Read what the research shows

    Butcher's Broom for lymphedema

    Oral butcher's broom extract has only been evaluated in combination with other ingredients; its effect when used alone is unclear.

Effectiveness ratings and the research summaries above are the verbatim record from the Natural Medicines database, which grades evidence from “Effective” down to “Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate”. A rating below the top of that scale means researchers have looked at it — not that it works, and never that it can stand in for a prescribed medicine. Do not stop or replace Alitretinoin on your own; if you are taking Butcher's Broom for the same health topic, tell your prescriber, especially if the medicine is being adjusted to a target.

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Alitretinoin

This page covers Butcher's Broom only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Alitretinoin page lists 38 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Vitamin A (major), Alfalfa (moderate), Angelica Archangelica (moderate) and Arrach (moderate).

By severity: 2 major · 26 moderate · 10 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Alitretinoin page

“Alitretinoin (Panretin) is a retinoid gel used on Kaposi sarcoma skin lesions, and because it is a vitamin A derivative, treat these 38 supplement interactions with genuine care. Two carry a major rating.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Alitretinoin interaction page

One more smart check

Taking Butcher's Broom as Part of a Dietary Supplement Product? Check It for Interactions

We hold 439 real supplement products containing Butcher's Broom, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Butcher's Broom. Even though Butcher's Broom itself has no known interaction with Alitretinoin, 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 Butcher's Broom and Alitretinoin 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 Butcher's Broom
Top 25%

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

29 days ago today
Medication Alitretinoin
Top half

#1,111 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 Butcher's Broom reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 27, 2026. The Butcher's Broom and Alitretinoin records this page draws on were last updated July 10, 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 Butcher's Broom

What is Butcher's Broom?

Butcher's Broom
  • Chronic venous insufficiency
  • Varicose veins
  • Leg swelling and heaviness
  • Hemorrhoids
  • Circulation problems

Butcher's broom is a plant extract most often used for circulation problems in the legs, such as chronic venous insufficiency, where some evidence suggests it may help reduce swelling and discomfort. Quality and dosing vary widely between products, and it should not replace proven treatments. Talk with your pharmacist or doctor before starting it, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have a health condition.

Ruscus aculeatus · Asparagaceae · Rhizome (underground stem) and roots · Capsules, tablets, extracts, teas, and topical creams or ointments

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

Butcher's Broom: dosing

There is no single official or standardized dose of butcher's broom. Products vary widely in their strength, how they are made, and whether they include other ingredients, which makes it hard to compare them.Many extracts are standardized to a certain amount of ruscogenins, but the right amount depends on the specific product.

From our Butcher's Broom monograph — the full record covers uses, side effects and every documented interaction.

Read the full Butcher's Broom monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Alitretinoin

What Is Alitretinoin Used For?

Brand name: Panretin

Alitretinoin, as the topical gel Panretin, is used to treat skin lesions caused by AIDS-related Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) in adults.

Panretin is not meant for people who need whole-body (systemic) KS treatment. That includes more than 10 new KS lesions in the past month, symptomatic lymphedema (swelling), symptomatic lung KS, or symptomatic KS involving internal organs.

See full Alitretinoin drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Butcher's Broom

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

0Major
158Moderate
0Minor
2,671No known interaction
158 Moderate 2,671 No interaction
Moderate

158 interactions

Showing 60 of 158 moderate interactions — see all 158 on the Butcher's Broom page.

No interaction 2,671 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,671 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Butcher's Broom list.

See the full Butcher's Broom interactions page
See every supplement checked against Alitretinoin, ranked by severity
Evidence & sources

Butcher's Broom References

The 8 references that drive our Butcher's Broom 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. Beltramino R, Penenory A, Buceta AM. An open-label, randomized multicenter study comparing the efficacy and safety of Cyclo 3 Fort versus hydroxyethyl rutoside in chronic venous lymphatic insufficiency. Angiology 2000;51:535-44.. PubMed
  2. Redman DA. Ruscus aculeatus (butcher's broom) as a potential treatment for orthostatic hypotension, with a case report. J Altern Complement Med 2000;6:539-49..
  3. Landa, N., Aguirre, A., Goday, J., Raton, J. A., and Diaz-Perez, J. L. Allergic contact dermatitis from a vasoconstrictor cream. Contact Dermatitis 1990;22(5):290-291. PubMed
  4. Cluzan, R. V., Alliot, F., Ghabboun, S., and Pascot, M. Treatment of secondary lymphedema of the upper limb with CYCLO 3 FORT. Lymphology 1996;29(1):29-35.
  5. Parrado F, Buzzi A. A study of the efficacy and tolerability of a preparation containing Ruscus aculeatus in the treatment of chronic venous insufficiency of the lower limbs. Clin Drug Invest 1999;18(4):255-61. DOI
  6. Sadarmin PP, Timperley J. An unusual case of Butcher's Broom precipitating diabetic ketoacidosis. J Emerg Med 2013;45(3):e63-e65. PubMed
  7. Ramirez-Hernandez M, Garcia-Selles J, Merida-Fernandez C, Martinez-Escribano JA. Allergic contact dermatitis to ruscogenins. Contact Dermatitis 2006;54(1):60. PubMed
  8. European Medicines Agency. Assessment report on Ruscus Aculeatus L rhizome. EMEA/HMPC/261939/2007. London, September 4, 2008. Available at: http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/Herbal_-_HMPC_assessment_report/2009/12/WC500018288.pdf. Acces

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 Butcher's Broom and Alitretinoin Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Butcher's Broom with Alitretinoin?
We do not list a known interaction between Butcher's Broom and Alitretinoin. 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 Butcher's Broom and Alitretinoin have any of the same side effects?
Yes — our sources link each of them separately to one 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.
Are Butcher's Broom and Alitretinoin used for the same thing?
They overlap in purpose, which usually means the real question is whether you need both rather than whether they are safe together. This page lists the shared uses and how strong the evidence is for Butcher's Broom in each. That is a conversation for your prescriber, especially if Alitretinoin is being adjusted to a target.
How was the Butcher's Broom and Alitretinoin combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Alitretinoin is filed under 3 classifications, and Butcher's Broom has documented interactions with 2 drug classes — none of Alitretinoin'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 Butcher's Broom interact with any other medications?
Yes. Butcher's Broom has 158 documented drug interactions in our database — Alitretinoin 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 Alitretinoin interact with any supplements?
Yes. Alitretinoin has documented interactions with 38 supplements in our database — Butcher's Broom is not one of them. The Alitretinoin 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

Butcher's Broom monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Alitretinoin drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Alitretinoin supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Alitretinoin, 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 8 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Alitretinoin and Butcher's Broom?

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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.