Drug & supplement interaction

Coleus + Obinutuzumab

Obinutuzumab brand name: Gazyva.

No Known Interaction

Medically reviewed by Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS · Updated July 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 20, 2026

The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Coleus and Obinutuzumab 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 Obinutuzumab 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.

Know someone taking this? Share

Facebook Post Reddit Email

On this page

Interaction report

Coleus and Obinutuzumab

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 Obinutuzumab 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 Obinutuzumab 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 — Obinutuzumab 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. Obinutuzumab)

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 Obinutuzumab 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 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
Obinutuzumab

Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Obinutuzumab. Read the label on DailyMed ›
Constipation / 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
Obinutuzumab

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

Reported for Coleus but not commonly for Obinutuzumab: eye irritation or redness, anxiety or restlessness, a fast or pounding heartbeat and low blood pressure.

Effects for Obinutuzumab come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Coleus 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.

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

How to take them

Some Obinutuzumab Products Have a Food Rule — Coleus Should Not Break It

At least one FDA label for a product containing Obinutuzumab says to take it on an empty stomach. Most supplements — Coleus included — are taken with a meal, so the easy mistake is swallowing both together at breakfast. Where that rule applies, keep Obinutuzumab on its own and move Coleus to a meal later in the day.

This may not be true of your version. Food instructions belong to the product, not the ingredient: two Obinutuzumab 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.

650–1,000 mg acetaminophen At least 30 minutes before GAZYVA infusion.

From the Dosage and Administration section of the FDA label we read for Obinutuzumab — 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.

Overlapping uses

What Obinutuzumab 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. Obinutuzumab 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.

Obinutuzumab is prescribed for: Gazyva is used to treat three conditions. For chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), it is given in combination with chlorambucil in patients who have not been treated before. For follicular lymphoma (FL), it is used either with bendamustine (for patients whose disease came back or stopped responding to a rituximab-based regimen) or with chemotherapy (for previously untreated advanced disease) — in both cases followed by Gazyva alone as maintenance therapy. Gazyva is also approved for active lupus nephritis — a type of kidney inflammation caused by lupus — in adults who are already receiving standard therapy for the condition.

Coleus has been studied for:

Cancer 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 cancer

Although there has been interest in using oral coleus for cancer, there is insufficient reliable information about the clinical effects of coleus for this purpose.

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 Obinutuzumab 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 Obinutuzumab, 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 Obinutuzumab 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%

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

29 days ago today

Medication Obinutuzumab

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 Coleus reference on this page ↓
Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Coleus and Obinutuzumab 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 Obinutuzumab Injection

What Is Obinutuzumab Injection Used For?

Brand name: Gazyva

Gazyva is used to treat three conditions. For chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), it is given in combination with chlorambucil in patients who have not been treated before. For follicular lymphoma (FL), it is used either with bendamustine (for patients whose disease came back or stopped responding to a rituximab-based regimen) or with chemotherapy (for previously untreated advanced disease) — in both cases followed by Gazyva alone as maintenance therapy.

Gazyva is also approved for active lupus nephritis — a type of kidney inflammation caused by lupus — in adults who are already receiving standard therapy for the condition.

See full Obinutuzumab 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 Obinutuzumab, 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 Obinutuzumab Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Coleus with Obinutuzumab?

We do not list a known interaction between Coleus and Obinutuzumab. 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 Obinutuzumab 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 Coleus and Obinutuzumab at the same time of day?

At least one FDA label for a product containing Obinutuzumab says to take it on an empty stomach, and supplements are usually taken with a meal — so taking them together at breakfast is the easy mistake. Where that applies, keep Obinutuzumab on its own and move Coleus to a meal later in the day. Food instructions belong to the product rather than the ingredient, so check the directions on your own box. This is about absorption, not an interaction.

Are Coleus and Obinutuzumab 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 Obinutuzumab is being adjusted to a target.

Does Coleus interact with any other medications?

Yes. Coleus has 915 documented drug interactions in our database — Obinutuzumab 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 Obinutuzumab Injection drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Obinutuzumab supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Obinutuzumab, 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 Obinutuzumab and Coleus?

Our pharmacists answer your medication & supplement questions — free.

Ask a pharmacist

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.