Drug & supplement interaction

Calea Zacatechichi + Cysteamine

Cysteamine brand name: Cystadrops.

No Known Interaction
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Calea Zacatechichi and Cysteamine 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 label for Cysteamine states a food rule worth keeping to, and 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

Calea Zacatechichi and Cysteamine

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 Cysteamine and Calea Zacatechichi 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.

Calea Zacatechichi safety at a glance

Calea Zacatechichi overall Use caution It has a long folk-use history but little modern safety data, and it can cause nausea and vomiting.
Pregnancy Avoid There is no reliable safety data, so it is best avoided during pregnancy.
Breastfeeding Avoid There is no reliable safety data, so it is best avoided while breastfeeding.

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

Still wondering about combining Cysteamine and Calea Zacatechichi? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
Keep it in perspective

Calea Zacatechichi Does Interact With Other Medications

Calea Zacatechichi has 334 minor known drug interactions in our database — Cysteamine 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 Calea Zacatechichi

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

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Calea Zacatechichi and Cysteamine 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.

  • Drowsiness Additional detail

    Calea Zacatechichi

    “There is currently a limited amount of information on the adverse effects of Calea zacatechichi. Observations in healthy volunteers indicate that it is bitter tasting and may cause vomiting and somnolence.”

    Calea Zacatechichi · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in nausea and vomiting.

    “In healthy volunteers, a methanol extract of Calea zacatechichi produces somnolence with short periods of light sleep and decreases in deep slow-wave sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.”

    Calea Zacatechichi · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in insomnia.

    1 source cited
    1. 23602. Mayagoitia, L., Diaz, J. L., Contreras, C. M. Psychopharmacologic analysis of an alleged oneirogenic plant: Calea zacatechichi. J Ethnopharmacol. 1986;18:229-243. PubMed

    Cysteamine

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

  • Vomiting Additional detail

    Calea Zacatechichi

    “Observations in healthy volunteers indicate that Calea zacatechichi is bitter tasting and can cause nausea, vomiting, and retching.”

    Calea Zacatechichi · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in nausea and vomiting.

    1 source cited
    1. 23602. Mayagoitia, L., Diaz, J. L., Contreras, C. M. Psychopharmacologic analysis of an alleged oneirogenic plant: Calea zacatechichi. J Ethnopharmacol. 1986;18:229-243. PubMed

    Cysteamine

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

  • Nausea Additional detail

    Calea Zacatechichi

    Recorded for Calea Zacatechichi in the same Natural Medicines adverse-effect record shown under Vomiting above.

    Cysteamine

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

Effects for Cysteamine come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Calea Zacatechichi 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.

How to take them

Some Cysteamine Products Have a Food Rule — Calea Zacatechichi Should Not Break It

At least one FDA label for a product containing Cysteamine says to take it with food. If you take Calea Zacatechichi on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate — and take Cysteamine with a meal where the label says to.

This may not be true of your version. Food instructions belong to the product, not the ingredient: two Cysteamine products can carry different directions, and extended-release forms often differ from immediate-release ones. The label we read is quoted below — check the directions on your own box or bottle, or ask your pharmacist, for how to take the exact product you were given.

If unable to take PROCYSBI without eating, take with food but limit the amount of food to approximately 4 ounces (½ cup) 1 hour before through 1 hour after administration.

From the Dosage and Administration section of the FDA label we read for Cysteamine — where that label names a specific product, the instruction is that product's. Read the label on DailyMed ›

A food rule is not an interaction — it is about how much of the medicine you absorb. The directions that came with your own product, and your pharmacist, outrank anything on this page.

One more smart check

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

We hold 21 real supplement products containing Calea Zacatechichi, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Calea Zacatechichi. Even though Calea Zacatechichi itself has no known interaction with Cysteamine, 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 Calea Zacatechichi and Cysteamine 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 Calea Zacatechichi
Steady interest

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

29 days ago today
Medication Cysteamine
Steady interest

#1,738 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 Calea Zacatechichi reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Calea Zacatechichi and Cysteamine 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 Calea Zacatechichi

What is Calea Zacatechichi?

  • Promoting vivid or lucid dreams
  • Sleep and relaxation
  • Digestive upset
  • Fever
  • Traditional ritual use

Calea zacatechichi, often called 'dream herb,' is a Mexican plant traditionally used to encourage vivid dreams and to treat digestive complaints and fever. Human research is very limited, so its benefits are not well proven, and its safety has not been carefully studied. It tastes very bitter, can cause nausea, and should be avoided during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Calea ternifolia · Asteraceae · Leaves and flowering tops (dried) · Dried leaf tea, capsules, tincture/liquid extract, and smoked dried leaf

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

Calea Zacatechichi: dosing

There is no established or standardized dose for Calea zacatechichi. The amount of active compounds can vary a lot from product to product, which makes safe dosing hard to judge.If you choose to use it, follow the directions on the product label and do not exceed them.

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

Read the full Calea Zacatechichi monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Cysteamine

What Is Cysteamine Used For?

Brand name: Cystadrops

Cysteamine treats cystinosis, a rare inherited disease in which a substance called cystine accumulates inside cells and damages organs — especially the kidneys, eyes, and other tissues over time.

Cystagon (oral capsule) and Procysbi (oral delayed-release capsule and oral powder) are each used to treat nephropathic cystinosis — the kidney-affecting form of the disease — in children and adults. Cystadrops and Cystaran are eye drops used to treat corneal cystine crystal deposits (cystine crystals that form on the surface of the eye) in patients with cystinosis.

See full Cysteamine drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Calea Zacatechichi

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

0Major
0Moderate
334Minor
2,495No known interaction
Minor

334 interactions

Showing 60 of 334 minor interactions — see all 334 on the Calea Zacatechichi page.

No interaction 2,495 drugs checked — show the list
Evidence & sources

Calea Zacatechichi References

The 2 references that drive our Calea Zacatechichi 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. Mayagoitia, L., Diaz, J. L., Contreras, C. M. Psychopharmacologic analysis of an alleged oneirogenic plant: Calea zacatechichi. J Ethnopharmacol. 1986;18:229-243. PubMed
  2. Roman, Ramos R., Alarcon-Aguilar, F., Lara-Lemus, A., and Flores-Saenz, J. L. Hypoglycemic effect of plants used in Mexico as antidiabetics. Arch.Med.Res 1992;23:59-64.

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 Calea Zacatechichi and Cysteamine Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Calea Zacatechichi with Cysteamine?
We do not list a known interaction between Calea Zacatechichi and Cysteamine. 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 Calea Zacatechichi and Cysteamine have any of the same side effects?
Yes — our sources link each of them separately to 3 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.
Should I take Calea Zacatechichi and Cysteamine at the same time of day?
At least one FDA label for a product containing Cysteamine says to take it with food. If you take Calea Zacatechichi on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate and take Cysteamine with a meal where the label says to. Food instructions belong to the product rather than the ingredient — two Cysteamine products can differ — so check the directions on your own box. This is about absorption, not an interaction.
Does Calea Zacatechichi interact with any other medications?
Yes. Calea Zacatechichi has 334 documented drug interactions in our database — Cysteamine is simply not one of them. If you take anything else, it is worth checking each one; they are all listed on this page.

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

Still Have a Question About Cysteamine and Calea Zacatechichi?

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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.