Drug & supplement interaction

Catnip + Pitolisant Hydrochloride

Pitolisant Hydrochloride brand name: Wakix.

No Known Interaction
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Catnip and Pitolisant Hydrochloride 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

Catnip and Pitolisant Hydrochloride

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 Pitolisant Hydrochloride and Catnip 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.

Catnip safety at a glance

Catnip overall Use caution Likely fine for most adults in tea amounts, but human safety data are limited.
Pregnancy Avoid Avoid during pregnancy, as it may stimulate the uterus and safety is not established.
Breastfeeding Avoid Not enough safety information is available, so it is best avoided.

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

Still wondering about combining Pitolisant Hydrochloride and Catnip? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Pitolisant Hydrochloride

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Pitolisant Hydrochloride is filed under 4 classifications — including cytochrome p450 3a4 (cyp3a4) inhibitors, cytochrome p450 2d6 (cyp2d6) substrates, cytochrome p450 3a4 (cyp3a4) substrates. Catnip has documented interactions with 2 drug classes — the most serious being cns depressants (moderate) and lithium (moderate) — and none of Pitolisant Hydrochloride’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

Catnip Does Interact With Other Medications

Catnip has 248 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Pitolisant Hydrochloride 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 Catnip

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

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Catnip and Pitolisant Hydrochloride 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.

  • Mood changes or irritability Additional detail

    Catnip

    “Orally, taking too much catnip may result in headache and malaise (6). In one case, a toddler developed a stomachache and irritability, followed by lethargy and a hypnotic state, after ingesting raisins soaked in catnip tea and chewing on the tea bag (5,2596).”

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

    3 sources cited
    1. 6. The Review of Natural Products by Facts and Comparisons. St. Louis, MO: Wolters Kluwer Co., 1999.
    2. 5. Foster S, Tyler VE. Tyler's Honest Herbal: A Sensible Guide to the Use of Herbs and Related Remedies. 3rd ed., Binghamton, NY: Haworth Herbal Press, 1993.
    3. 2596. Osterhoudt KC, Lee SK, Callahan JM, Henretig FM. Catnip and the alteration of human consciousness. Vet Hum Toxicol 1997;39:373-5.

    Pitolisant Hydrochloride

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

  • Tiredness / Headache reported in 10.6% of FDA reports for Pitolisant Hydrochloride Additional detail

    Catnip

    “Orally, catnip is generally well-tolerated when used in appropriate amounts.

    Most Common Adverse Effects:

    Orally: Headache, malaise, vomiting.”

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

    Pitolisant Hydrochloride

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

Reported for Catnip but not commonly for Pitolisant Hydrochloride: vomiting.

Effects for Pitolisant Hydrochloride come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Catnip come from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, quoted above. Where a percentage is shown, it is the share of 2,018 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Pitolisant Hydrochloride 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.

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Pitolisant Hydrochloride

This page covers Catnip only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Pitolisant Hydrochloride page lists 158 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Grapefruit (major), St. John's Wort (major), 1,3-dmaa (moderate) and Acacia Rigidula (moderate).

By severity: 3 major · 114 moderate · 41 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Pitolisant Hydrochloride page

“Pitolisant (Wakix) keeps people with narcolepsy awake through the day, and it only works when a steady amount reaches the bloodstream. Most of the 158 supplement ingredients on this page can disturb exactly that, so this is a list worth slowing down for.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Pitolisant Hydrochloride interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 295 real supplement products containing Catnip, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Catnip. Even though Catnip itself has no known interaction with Pitolisant Hydrochloride, 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 Catnip and Pitolisant Hydrochloride 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 Catnip
Top half

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

29 days ago today
Medication Pitolisant Hydrochloride
Steady interest

#2,522 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 Catnip reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Catnip and Pitolisant Hydrochloride 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 Catnip

What is Catnip?

Catnip
  • Sleep and insomnia
  • Anxiety and stress
  • Digestive upset
  • Cold and flu symptoms
  • Insect repellent

Catnip is a mint-family herb most often used as a calming tea for sleep, anxiety, and minor digestive upset, but solid human research supporting these uses is lacking. It is generally considered fairly safe in small culinary or tea amounts for most adults, but it should be avoided during pregnancy and used cautiously otherwise. Talk to your pharmacist or doctor before using it, especially if you take medications or have a health condition.

Nepeta cataria · Lamiaceae · Leaves, flowers, and essential oil · Tea, capsules, tincture, dried herb, essential oil

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

Catnip: dosing

There is no well-established standard dose for catnip. Amounts used in traditional practice vary widely, and reliable dosing guidelines from clinical studies are not available.The safest approach is to follow the directions on the product label and not exceed the recommended amount.

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

Read the full Catnip monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Pitolisant

What Is Pitolisant Used For?

Brand name: Wakix

Wakix (pitolisant) is used to treat two hallmark problems of narcolepsy: excessive daytime sleepiness (feeling overwhelmingly tired and unable to stay awake during the day) and cataplexy (sudden episodes of muscle weakness or loss of muscle control, often triggered by emotion). It is approved for adults and children 6 years of age and older.

Both uses are specific to Wakix tablets taken by mouth. The drug is not approved for sleepiness or cataplexy caused by conditions other than narcolepsy.

See full Pitolisant drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Catnip

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

0Major
248Moderate
0Minor
2,581No known interaction
Moderate

248 interactions

Showing 60 of 248 moderate interactions — see all 248 on the Catnip page.

No interaction 2,581 drugs checked — show the list
Evidence & sources

Catnip References

The 7 references that drive our Catnip 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. Foster S, Tyler VE. Tyler's Honest Herbal: A Sensible Guide to the Use of Herbs and Related Remedies. 3rd ed., Binghamton, NY: Haworth Herbal Press, 1993.
  2. The Review of Natural Products by Facts and Comparisons. St. Louis, MO: Wolters Kluwer Co., 1999.
  3. Brinker F. Herb Contraindications and Drug Interactions. 2nd ed. Sandy, OR: Eclectic Medical Publications, 1998.
  4. Osterhoudt KC, Lee SK, Callahan JM, Henretig FM. Catnip and the alteration of human consciousness. Vet Hum Toxicol 1997;39:373-5.
  5. Sherry, C. J. and Hunter, P. S. The effect of an ethanol extract of catnip (Nepeta cataria) on the behavior of the young chick. Experientia 2-15-1979;35(2):237-238. PubMed
  6. Harney, J. W., Barofsky, I. M., and Leary, J. D. Behavioral and toxicological studies of cyclopentanoid monoterpenes from Nepeta cataria. Lloydia. 1978;41(4):367-374.
  7. Massoco, C. O., Silva, M. R., Gorniak, S. L., Spinosa, M. S., and Bernardi, M. M. Behavioral effects of acute and long-term administration of catnip (Nepeta cataria) in mice. Vet.Hum.Toxicol 1995;37(6):530-533.

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 Catnip and Pitolisant Hydrochloride Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Catnip with Pitolisant Hydrochloride?
We do not list a known interaction between Catnip and Pitolisant Hydrochloride. 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 Catnip and Pitolisant Hydrochloride 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.
How was the Catnip and Pitolisant Hydrochloride combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Pitolisant Hydrochloride is filed under 4 classifications, and Catnip has documented interactions with 2 drug classes — none of Pitolisant Hydrochloride'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 Catnip interact with any other medications?
Yes. Catnip has 248 documented drug interactions in our database — Pitolisant Hydrochloride 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 Pitolisant Hydrochloride interact with any supplements?
Yes. Pitolisant Hydrochloride has documented interactions with 158 supplements in our database — Catnip is not one of them. The Pitolisant Hydrochloride 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 Pitolisant Hydrochloride and Catnip?

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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.