Drug & supplement interaction

Chanca Piedra + Clonidine

Clonidine brand name: Catapres.

Minor Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated September 2026
The bottom line Minor

Chanca Piedra has a minor interaction with Clonidine. Theoretically, concomitant use of chanca piedra with antihypertensive drugs might have additive blood pressure lowering effects.

Read the full interaction report
SeverityMinor
LikelihoodUnlikely
EvidenceD
What do Severity, Likelihood & Evidence mean?
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Interaction report

Chanca Piedra and Clonidine

Here is the interaction we found between these two, with the evidence behind it.

Minor

ANTIHYPERTENSIVE DRUGS

Why this applies to Clonidine

Clonidine falls under ANTIHYPERTENSIVE DRUGS — the group Chanca Piedra interacts with.

Theoretically, concomitant use of chanca piedra with antihypertensive drugs might have additive blood pressure lowering effects.
Animal research suggests that chanca piedra can decrease blood pressure. However, this effect was not observed in most hypertensive patients treated with chanca piedra for 10 days.
Severity Minor Likelihood Unlikely Evidence D

Interaction has been demonstrated in animal or in lab research but has been shown not to occur in humans..

Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS
Dr. Brian Staiger explains PharmD, Clinical Pharmacist

Here's the gist: clonidine already lowers your blood pressure by calming the nervous system signals that tighten your blood vessels and speed up your heart. Chanca piedra might nudge blood pressure down a little too, so in theory stacking the two could add up and leave your pressure lower than expected.

If that happened, you might notice the usual clonidine-type effects feeling stronger: lightheadedness, dizziness when you stand, drowsiness, or feeling unusually tired. The honest truth, though, is this is a theoretical concern based mostly on animal studies. In a small group of people with high blood pressure, chanca piedra didn't really drop their pressure over 10 days. So a real problem is unlikely. Still, it's worth a quick chat with your pharmacist or doctor, and checking your blood pressure at home doesn't hurt.

Contact Dr. Brian directly if you have additional questions on this interaction
References
  1. Srividya N, Periwal S. Diuretic, hypotensive and hypoglycaemic effect of Phyllanthus amarus. Indian J Exp Biol 1995; 33:861-4.
  2. Amaechina, F. C. and Omogbai, E. K. Hypotensive effect of aqueous extract of the leaves of Phyllanthus amarus Schum and Thonn (Euphorbiaceae). Acta Pol.Pharm. 2007;64(6):547-552.

What These Ratings Mean

Every interaction above is graded three ways — here’s the key to each label.

Severity how clinically significant the interaction is
Major

Clinically significant. Avoid the combination, or use only under close professional supervision.

Moderate

Usually worth avoiding or managing — may need monitoring, a dose change, or timing apart.

Minor

Generally not serious. Be aware of it and mention it to your pharmacist.

Likelihood how strong the evidence is that the interaction actually happens in people
  • LikelyWell-controlled human studies have demonstrated the likely existence of this interaction.
  • ProbableInteraction has not been documented in well-controlled studies, however, the interaction has been demonstrated in some small human studies or in controlled animal studies in conjunction with multiple case reports.
  • PossibleInteraction has been documented in animal or in lab research, or the interaction has been documented in humans but is limited to case reports or conflicting clinical research exists.
  • UnlikelyInteraction has been demonstrated in animal or in lab research but has been shown not to occur in humans.
Evidence the quality of the studies behind the rating (graded A–D)
  • AHigh-quality meta-analysis (quantitative systematic review).
  • BCase-control study.
  • CConsensus.
  • DAnecdotal evidence.

These ratings are for information only. Never start, stop, or otherwise change your therapy before speaking with your provider.

Keep it in perspective

Chanca Piedra Also Interacts With Other Medications

Chanca Piedra has 871 moderate, 148 minor known drug interactions in our database — the Clonidine one above is one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 871 Minor 148 No known interaction 1,811 (incl. Clonidine)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Chanca Piedra

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

From our Q&A

Questions About Chanca Piedra or Clonidine

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

This page covers Chanca Piedra only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Clonidine page lists 138 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), American Hellebore (major), American Mistletoe (major), Tyramine (major) and Adrafinil (moderate).

By severity: 4 major · 113 moderate · 21 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Clonidine page

“American hellebore is the ingredient I would want a clonidine (Catapres) patient to know about first. Its alkaloids lower blood pressure even in small doses and slow the heart, both things clonidine already does, so the combination can drop someone dangerously low.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Clonidine interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 355 real supplement products containing Chanca Piedra, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Chanca Piedra. Your product may carry other ingredients that interact with Clonidine too, on top of Chanca Piedra — and those would not show on this page. Find your product and we’ll check every ingredient on its label:

How much people look this up

Where Chanca Piedra and Clonidine 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 Chanca Piedra
Top half

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

29 days ago today
Medication Clonidine
Top half

#1,056 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.

Supplement

About Chanca Piedra

What is Chanca Piedra?

Chanca Piedra
  • Kidney stones
  • Gallstones
  • Liver support
  • Urinary tract health
  • Digestive complaints

Chanca piedra is a tropical herb traditionally used as a 'stone breaker' for kidney and gallstones, and for liver and urinary health. Human evidence for these uses is limited and mostly small or preliminary, so it should not replace proven treatments. Talk with your pharmacist or doctor before using it, especially if you have a medical condition or take medications.

Read the full Chanca Piedra monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Clonidine

What Is Clonidine Used For?

Brand name: Catapres

Clonidine is used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension). Several products — including Clonidine Hydrochloride tablets, Javadin oral solution, Nexiclon XR extended-release tablets, and Catapres-TTS skin patches — are approved for this use, either alone or combined with other blood pressure medicines.

Extended-release formulations — including Onyda XR oral suspension and clonidine hydrochloride extended-release tablets (such as Kapvay) — are approved to treat ADHD in children and teenagers ages 6 to 17, either on their own or alongside stimulant medications. Separately, clonidine injection products (Duraclon and others) are used alongside opioid pain medicines to treat severe cancer pain that opioids alone cannot control adequately.

See full Clonidine drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Chanca Piedra

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

0Major
871Moderate
148Minor
1,810No known interaction
871 Moderate 148 Minor 1,810 No interaction
Moderate

871 interactions

Showing 60 of 871 moderate interactions — see all 871 on the Chanca Piedra page.

Minor

148 interactions

Showing 60 of 148 minor interactions — see all 148 on the Chanca Piedra page.

No interaction 1,810 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 1,810 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Chanca Piedra list.

See the full Chanca Piedra interactions page
See every supplement checked against Clonidine, ranked by severity
Sources

Sources & How We Checked

Interaction details are evidence-graded and sourced from the Natural Medicines database. The medication overview comes from MedlinePlus.

Content is written and reviewed by licensed HelloPharmacist pharmacists. See our data sources and editorial standards for how this information is built and checked.

Parts of this content are provided by the Therapeutic Research Center, LLC.

DISCLAIMER: Currently this does not check for drug-drug interactions. This is not an all-inclusive comprehensive list of potential interactions and is for informational purposes only. Not all interactions are known or well-reported in the scientific literature, and new interactions are continually being reported. Input is needed from a qualified healthcare provider including a pharmacist before starting any therapy. Application of clinical judgment is necessary.

© 2021 Therapeutic Research Center, LLC

Keep exploring
Chanca Piedra monograph › Uses, safety, and every drug interaction in one place Clonidine supplement interactions › Every supplement checked against Clonidine, ranked by severity Clonidine drug information › The full plain-English guide to this medication Supplement interaction checker › Check any supplement or product against your medications Browse medications A–Z › Every drug we've checked against herbs & supplements Ask a pharmacist › Free, personal answer from our licensed team
Pharmacist Counseling Corner

Taking Chanca Piedra and Clonidine Together: Common Questions

Can you take Chanca Piedra with Clonidine?
There is only a minor interaction, which is usually not serious. Read the full details on this page and confirm with your pharmacist before combining them.
How serious is the Chanca Piedra and Clonidine interaction?
We rate it Minor. This interaction is generally not clinically significant, but it remains worth noting and discussing with your pharmacist.

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

Still Have a Question About Clonidine and Chanca Piedra?

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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.