Drug & supplement interaction

Coleus + Mepolizumab

Mepolizumab brand name: Nucala.

No Known Interaction

Medically reviewed by Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS · Updated July 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 13, 2026

The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Coleus and Mepolizumab 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

Coleus and Mepolizumab

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 Mepolizumab and Coleus 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.

Coleus safety at a glance

Coleus overall Use caution May lower blood pressure and is not well studied for long-term use, so use with care and professional guidance.

Pregnancy Possibly Unsafe When used orally. Evidence from animal research suggests that high doses of coleus can inhibit embryo implantation and/or delay fetal development; avoid using. Read the full pregnancy detail

Breastfeeding Avoid Not enough safety data; avoid use while breastfeeding.

Pregnancy & breastfeeding ratings are from Natural Medicines (Therapeutic Research Center) — the full detail is in the Special populations card below. Safety guidance is general; always confirm with your pharmacist or doctor for your situation.

Still wondering about combining Mepolizumab and Coleus? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›

Keep it in perspective

Coleus Does Interact With Other Medications

Coleus has 29 major, 886 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Mepolizumab isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Major 29 Moderate 886 No known interaction 1,915 (incl. Mepolizumab)

Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Coleus

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

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Coleus and Mepolizumab 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.

Cough reported in 10.3% of FDA reports for Mepolizumab Additional detail
Coleus
“Inhalation of forskolin, a constituent of coleus, can cause throat and upper respiratory tract irritation, and mild to moderate cough.”

Coleus · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in cough.
1 source cited

7281. Bauer K, Dietersdorfer F, Kaspar S, et al. Pharmacodynamic effects of inhaled dry powder formulations of fenoterol and colforsin in asthma. Clin Pharmacol Ther 1993;53:76-83. PubMed
Mepolizumab

Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Mepolizumab, and in voluntary FDA adverse-event reports. Read the label on DailyMed ›
Diarrhea Additional detail
Coleus
“Orally, coleus can cause dose-related diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms. Increased bowel movements and loose stools have been reported in 1 of 15 patients taking coleus extract in a clinical trial. Some retrospective evidence reports about a 10% rate of gastrointestinal adverse effects from oral coleus use; 81% of these adverse effects were related to diarrhea.”

Coleus · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in constipation.
2 sources cited

91885. Loftus HL, Astell KJ, Mathai ML, et al. Coleus forskohlii Extract Supplementation in Conjunction with a Hypocaloric Diet Reduces the Risk Factors of Metabolic Syndrome in Overweight and Obese Subjects: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Nutrients. 2015;7(11): PubMed

100851. Nishijima C, Chiba T, Sato Y, Umegaki K. Nationwide Online Survey Enables the Reevaluation of the Safety of Coleus forskohlii Extract Intake Based on the Adverse Event Frequencies. Nutrients. 2019;11(4). pii: E866. PubMed
Mepolizumab

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

Reported for Coleus but not commonly for Mepolizumab: eye irritation or redness, constipation, anxiety or restlessness and a fast or pounding heartbeat.

Effects for Mepolizumab come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Coleus come from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, quoted above. Where a percentage is shown, it is the share of 49,399 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Mepolizumab 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.

Special populations

Coleus in Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Pregnancy Possibly Unsafe

When used orally. Evidence from animal research suggests that high doses of coleus can inhibit embryo implantation and/or delay fetal development; avoid using.

DISCLAIMER: This tool is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be interpreted as specific medical advice. Patients should consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making decisions about therapies and/or health conditions.© 2026 Therapeutic Research Center

Overlapping uses

What Mepolizumab Is Prescribed For, and What Coleus Has Been Studied For

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

Mepolizumab is prescribed for: Nucala is used as an add-on maintenance treatment — meaning it works alongside other medications, not instead of them. It is approved for severe asthma (in patients 6 years and older with high eosinophil levels), chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) in adults 18 and older whose symptoms aren't controlled by nasal corticosteroids alone, and COPD in adults with an eosinophilic phenotype whose disease isn't adequately controlled. Nucala is also approved to treat eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), a rare form of blood vessel inflammation, and hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES), a condition involving dangerously elevated eosinophil counts, in adults and adolescents 12 and older. It is not meant to relieve sudden asthma attacks or acute COPD flares.

Coleus has been studied for:

Asthma studied, not established Coleus has been studied for this. Natural Medicines rates the evidence: Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate Read what the research shows

Coleus for asthma

It is unclear if inhaled forskolin, a constituent of coleus, is beneficial in patients with asthma.

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 Mepolizumab on your own; if you are taking Coleus for the same health topic, tell your prescriber, especially if the medicine is being adjusted to a target.

One more smart check

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

We hold 803 real supplement products containing Coleus, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Coleus. Even though Coleus itself has no known interaction with Mepolizumab, 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 Coleus and Mepolizumab 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 Coleus

Top 25%

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

29 days ago today

Medication Mepolizumab

Steady interest

#2,086 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 Coleus reference on this page ↓
Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 13, 2026. The Coleus and Mepolizumab records this page draws on were last updated July 11, 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 Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS.

Supplement

About Coleus

What is Coleus?

Weight management
Asthma and breathing
High blood pressure
Heart conditions
Glaucoma (eye pressure)
Exercise and body composition

Coleus is a plant from the mint family whose root contains a compound called forskolin, often marketed for weight loss, asthma, and heart health. While early lab and small human studies are interesting, solid proof that Coleus supplements help any of these conditions is limited. Talk to your pharmacist or doctor before using it, especially if you have heart problems or low blood pressure.

Coleus forskohlii · Lamiaceae · Roots (source of forskolin) · Capsules, tablets, standardized extracts (often standardized to forskolin), powders

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

Coleus: dosing

There is no official, well-established dose for Coleus. Products vary widely in strength and are often standardized to a certain percentage of forskolin, but the best dose for any health goal has not been proven.The safest approach is to follow the directions on the product label and not exceed the recommended amount.

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

Read the full Coleus monograph & all interactions

Medication

About Mepolizumab Injection

What Is Mepolizumab Injection Used For?

Brand name: Nucala

Nucala is used as an add-on maintenance treatment — meaning it works alongside other medications, not instead of them. It is approved for severe asthma (in patients 6 years and older with high eosinophil levels), chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) in adults 18 and older whose symptoms aren't controlled by nasal corticosteroids alone, and COPD in adults with an eosinophilic phenotype whose disease isn't adequately controlled.

Nucala is also approved to treat eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), a rare form of blood vessel inflammation, and hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES), a condition involving dangerously elevated eosinophil counts, in adults and adolescents 12 and older. It is not meant to relieve sudden asthma attacks or acute COPD flares.

Most-Reported Side Effects for Mepolizumab

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (49,399 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Asthma 12,767 reports

Dyspnea 10,576 reports

Wheezing 7,131 reports

Cough 5,100 reports

Therapeutic product effect incomplete 5,051 reports

See full Mepolizumab Injection drug information

Keep checking

Other Drugs & Coleus

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

29Major

886Moderate

0Minor

1,914No known interaction

29 Major 886 Moderate 1,914 No interaction

Major

29 interactions

Moderate

886 interactions

Showing 60 of 886 moderate interactions — see all 886 on the Coleus page.

No interaction 1,914 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 1,914 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Coleus list.

See the full Coleus interactions page

See every supplement checked against Mepolizumab, ranked by severity

Evidence & sources

Coleus References

The 16 references that drive our Coleus 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.

Baumann G, Felix S, Sattelberger U, Klein G. Cardiovascular effects of forskolin (HL-362) in patients with idiopathic congestiv cardiomyopathy. A comparative study with dobutamine and sodium nitroprusside. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 1990;16:93-100.
Kramer W, Thormann J, Kindler M, Schlepper M. Effects of forskolin on left ventricular function in dilated cardiomyopathy. Arzneimittelforschung 1987;37:364-7.
Bauer K, Dietersdorfer F, Kaspar S, et al. Pharmacodynamic effects of inhaled dry powder formulations of fenoterol and colforsin in asthma. Clin Pharmacol Ther 1993;53:76-83. PubMed
Christenson JT, Thulesius O, Nazzal MM. The effect of forskolin on blood flow, platelet metabolism, aggregation and ATP release. Vasa 1995;24:56-61.
Agarwal KC, Zielinski BA, Maitra RS. Significance of plasma adenosine in the antiplatelet activity of forskolin: potentiation by dipyridamole and dilazep. Thromb Haemost 1989;61:106-10. DOI
Agarwal KC, Parks RE. Forskolin: a potential antimetastatic agent. Int J Cancer 1983;32:801-4. PubMed
Almeida, F. C. and Lemonica, I. P. The toxic effects of Coleus barbatus B. on the different periods of pregnancy in rats. J Ethnopharmacol 2000;73(1-2):53-60. PubMed
Ding, X. and Staudinger, J. L. Induction of drug metabolism by forskolin: the role of the pregnane X receptor and the protein kinase a signal transduction pathway. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 2005;312(2):849-856. PubMed
Staudinger, J. L., Ding, X., and Lichti, K. Pregnane X receptor and natural products: beyond drug-drug interactions. Expert.Opin Drug Metab Toxicol 2006;2(6):847-857. PubMed
van Hecke, E., Hindryckx, P., Geuns, J. M., and Devriese, E. Airborne contact dermatitis from coleus in a housewife. Contact Dermatitis 1991;25(2):128-129. PubMed
Schlepper, M., Thormann, J., and Mitrovic, V. Cardiovascular effects of forskolin and phosphodiesterase-III inhibitors. Basic Res Cardiol 1989;84 Suppl 1:197-212. PubMed
Dooms-Goossens, A., Borghijs, A., Degreef, H., Devriese, E. G., and Geuns, J. M. Airborne contact dermatitis to Coleus. Contact Dermatitis 1987;17(2):109-110. PubMed
Lindner, E., Dohadwalla, A. N., and Bhattacharya, B. K. Positive inotropic and blood pressure lowering activity of a diterpene derivative isolated from Coleus forskohli: Forskolin. Arzneimittelforschung 1978;28(2):284-289.
Loftus HL, Astell KJ, Mathai ML, et al. Coleus forskohlii Extract Supplementation in Conjunction with a Hypocaloric Diet Reduces the Risk Factors of Metabolic Syndrome in Overweight and Obese Subjects: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Nutrients. 2015;7(11): PubMed
Yokotani K, Chiba T, Sato Y, et al. Hepatic cytochrome P450 mediates interaction between warfarin and Coleus forskohlii extract in vivo and in vitro. J Pharm Pharmacol. 2012;64(12):1793-801.
Nishijima C, Chiba T, Sato Y, Umegaki K. Nationwide Online Survey Enables the Reevaluation of the Safety of Coleus forskohlii Extract Intake Based on the Adverse Event Frequencies. Nutrients. 2019;11(4). pii: E866. PubMed

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 Coleus and Mepolizumab Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Coleus with Mepolizumab?

We do not list a known interaction between Coleus and Mepolizumab. 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 Coleus and Mepolizumab have any of the same side effects?

Yes — our sources link each of them separately to 2 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 Coleus and Mepolizumab 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 Coleus in each. That is a conversation for your prescriber, especially if Mepolizumab is being adjusted to a target.

Does Coleus interact with any other medications?

Yes. Coleus has 915 documented drug interactions in our database — Mepolizumab 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

Where next

Keep Exploring

Coleus monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Mepolizumab Injection drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Mepolizumab supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Mepolizumab, 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 16 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Mepolizumab and Coleus?

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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.