Drug & supplement interaction

Chinese Prickly Ash + Atovaquone, Proguanil

Atovaquone, Proguanil brand name: Malarone.

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

We found no known interaction between Chinese Prickly Ash and Atovaquone, Proguanil 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 Atovaquone, Proguanil states a food rule worth keeping to.

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Interaction report

Chinese Prickly Ash and Atovaquone, Proguanil

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 Atovaquone, Proguanil and Chinese Prickly Ash 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.

Chinese Prickly Ash safety at a glance

Chinese Prickly As... overall Use caution Generally safe as a food spice, but medicinal-strength extracts are not well studied in people.
Pregnancy Avoid Avoid medicinal amounts during pregnancy because safety has not been established.
Breastfeeding Avoid Avoid medicinal use while breastfeeding due to a lack of safety data.

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

Still wondering about combining Atovaquone, Proguanil and Chinese Prickly Ash? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Atovaquone, Proguanil

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Atovaquone, Proguanil is filed under 3 classifications — cytochrome p450 2c19 (cyp2c19) substrates, seizure threshold lowering drugs, oral drugs. Chinese Prickly Ash has documented interactions with 1 drug class — the most serious being anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs (moderate) — and none of Atovaquone, Proguanil’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

Chinese Prickly Ash Does Interact With Other Medications

Chinese Prickly Ash has 122 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Atovaquone, Proguanil isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 122 No known interaction 2,708 (incl. Atovaquone, Proguanil)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Chinese Prickly Ash

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

What to actually watch for

What Atovaquone, Proguanil’s Own FDA Label Lists

This is not an interaction — none of it involves Chinese Prickly Ash. These are the most notable effects listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of Atovaquone, Proguanil’s own FDA label, for the medication by itself. Knowing the drug’s own list makes it easier to work out the likely cause if something new turns up while you take both. One of them is worth acting on rather than waiting out — marked below.

  • Liver problems Worth acting on
  • Mouth irritation or sores
  • Cough
  • Reduced appetite
  • Trouble sleeping
  • Fever
  • Itching
  • Stomach pain
  • Tiredness
  • Dizziness

Showing the 10 most notable of 14 label-listed effects — ranked by how unusual each one is across medicines generally, with serious effects weighted up.

From the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Atovaquone, Proguanil. Read the label on DailyMed › Chinese Prickly Ash’s licensed record lists no adverse effects our clinical vocabulary could match, so there is no Chinese Prickly Ash side to compare — that is a limit of the record, not a statement that Chinese Prickly Ash has no side effects.

How to take them

Some Atovaquone, Proguanil Products Have a Food Rule — Chinese Prickly Ash Should Not Break It

At least one FDA label for a product containing Atovaquone, Proguanil says to take it with food. If you take Chinese Prickly Ash on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate — and take Atovaquone, Proguanil 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 Atovaquone, Proguanil 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.

2 DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION The daily dose should be taken at the same time each day with food or a milky drink.

From the Dosage and Administration section of the FDA label we read for Atovaquone, Proguanil — 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.

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Atovaquone, Proguanil

This page covers Chinese Prickly Ash only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Atovaquone, Proguanil page lists 54 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Adrafinil (moderate), Artichoke (moderate), Bacopa (moderate) and Baikal Skullcap (moderate).

By severity: 1 major · 40 moderate · 13 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Atovaquone, Proguanil page

“Most people taking atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone) are travelers trying to prevent malaria, so this list of 54 interacting supplements deserves real attention, since anything that weakens the drug can leave you exposed to the disease itself. The single major-rated entry is activated charcoal, a common travel remedy for stomach upset, w…”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Atovaquone, Proguanil interaction page

How much people look this up

Where Chinese Prickly Ash and Atovaquone, Proguanil 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 Chinese Prickly Ash
Top half

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

29 days ago today
Medication Atovaquone, Proguanil
Top 25%

#616 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 Chinese Prickly Ash reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 27, 2026. The Chinese Prickly Ash and Atovaquone, Proguanil records this page draws on were last updated June 20, 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 Chinese Prickly Ash

What is Chinese Prickly Ash?

  • Digestive upset and stomach pain
  • Toothache and oral numbing
  • Antimicrobial and antiparasitic use
  • Cooking spice (Sichuan pepper)
  • Mild pain relief

Chinese Prickly Ash is the fruit husk of Zanthoxylum bungeanum, best known as the Sichuan pepper that creates a tingling, numbing sensation on the tongue. It is widely used in cooking and traditional Chinese medicine for digestive complaints and pain, but strong human evidence for medicinal benefits is limited. Use culinary amounts safely, but talk to a pharmacist or doctor before using concentrated extracts.

Zanthoxylum bungeanum · Rutaceae · Dried fruit husks (pericarp), and sometimes the seeds and essential oil · Dried whole spice (Sichuan pepper), ground powder, essential oil, decoctions, and capsules

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

Chinese Prickly Ash: dosing

There is no established standardized medicinal dose for Chinese Prickly Ash. As a cooking spice, people use small culinary amounts to taste.If you choose a supplement, extract, or essential oil product, follow the directions on the product label and do not exceed them.

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

Read the full Chinese Prickly Ash monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Atovaquone and Proguanil

What Is Atovaquone and Proguanil Used For?

Brand name: Malarone

Atovaquone and proguanil is used for two purposes: preventing Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) malaria before and during travel to areas where it is present, and treating acute, uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria once infection has occurred. This includes areas where other antimalarials such as chloroquine, mefloquine, halofantrine, or amodiaquine may have unacceptable failure rates due to drug resistance.

These uses apply across the supported products: Atovaquone and Proguanil Hydrochloride tablets, Atovaquone and Proguanil Hydrochloride Pediatric tablets, and Malarone tablets. Pediatric formulations are dosed by body weight for children; adult-strength formulations are used for adults and heavier children.

See full Atovaquone and Proguanil drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Chinese Prickly Ash

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

0Major
122Moderate
0Minor
2,707No known interaction
122 Moderate 2,707 No interaction
Moderate

122 interactions

Showing 60 of 122 moderate interactions — see all 122 on the Chinese Prickly Ash page.

No interaction 2,707 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,707 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Chinese Prickly Ash list.

See the full Chinese Prickly Ash interactions page
See every supplement checked against Atovaquone, Proguanil, ranked by severity
Evidence & sources

Chinese Prickly Ash References

The 2 references that drive our Chinese Prickly Ash 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. Yang YP, Cheng MJ, Teng CM, et al. Chemical and anti-platelet constituents from Formosan Zanthoxylum simulans. Phytochemistry 2002;61:567-72.. PubMed
  2. Zeng X, Li X, Wang X, Wen X, Jiang X. The effect of Zanthoxylum bungeanum maxim extract on crow's feet: A double-blind, split-face trial. Dermatol Ther. 2019 Nov;32(6):e13079.

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 Chinese Prickly Ash and Atovaquone, Proguanil Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Chinese Prickly Ash with Atovaquone, Proguanil?
We do not list a known interaction between Chinese Prickly Ash and Atovaquone, Proguanil. 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.
Should I take Chinese Prickly Ash and Atovaquone, Proguanil at the same time of day?
At least one FDA label for a product containing Atovaquone, Proguanil says to take it with food. If you take Chinese Prickly Ash on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate and take Atovaquone, Proguanil with a meal where the label says to. Food instructions belong to the product rather than the ingredient — two Atovaquone, Proguanil products can differ — so check the directions on your own box. This is about absorption, not an interaction.
How was the Chinese Prickly Ash and Atovaquone, Proguanil combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Atovaquone, Proguanil is filed under 3 classifications, and Chinese Prickly Ash has documented interactions with 1 drug class — none of Atovaquone, Proguanil'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 Chinese Prickly Ash interact with any other medications?
Yes. Chinese Prickly Ash has 122 documented drug interactions in our database — Atovaquone, Proguanil 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 Atovaquone, Proguanil interact with any supplements?
Yes. Atovaquone, Proguanil has documented interactions with 54 supplements in our database — Chinese Prickly Ash is not one of them. The Atovaquone, Proguanil 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

Chinese Prickly Ash monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Atovaquone and Proguanil drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Atovaquone, Proguanil supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Atovaquone, Proguanil, 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 2 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Atovaquone, Proguanil and Chinese Prickly Ash?

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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.