Drug & supplement interaction

Cubebs + Cimetidine

Cimetidine brand names: Tagamet HB, Tagamet, Cimetidine Injection.

Minor Interaction
The bottom line Minor

Cubebs has a minor interaction with Cimetidine. Theoretically, due to reports that cubebs increases stomach acid, cubebs might decrease the effectiveness of H2-blockers.

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

Cubebs and Cimetidine

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

Minor

H2-BLOCKERS

Why this applies to Cimetidine

Cimetidine falls under H2-BLOCKERS — the group Cubebs interacts with.

Theoretically, due to reports that cubebs increases stomach acid, cubebs might decrease the effectiveness of H2-blockers. The H2 blockers include cimetidine (Tagamet), ranitidine (Zantac), nizatidine (Axid), and famotidine (Pepcid).
Severity Minor Likelihood Possible Evidence D

Interaction 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.

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

Here's the gist with cimetidine (Tagamet). This medicine works by turning down how much acid your stomach makes, which helps with heartburn, reflux, and ulcers. The concern with cubebs is that these peppery berries may actually nudge your stomach to make more acid. If that happens, it could work against what cimetidine is trying to do and you might notice your heartburn or sour stomach isn't as well controlled.

Honestly, this is a pretty weak, theory-based concern, mostly anecdotal, so I wouldn't lose sleep over a little cubeb in food. Concentrated extracts or oils are more of a question mark. If you take cimetidine regularly and want to use cubeb supplements, just run it by your pharmacist or doctor first.

References
  1. Brinker F. Herb Contraindications and Drug Interactions. 2nd ed. Sandy, OR: Eclectic Medical Publications, 1998.

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

Cubebs Also Interacts With Other Medications

Cubebs has 643 moderate, 21 minor known drug interactions in our database — the Cimetidine one above is one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Cubebs

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

From our Q&A

Questions About Cubebs or Cimetidine

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

This page covers Cubebs only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Cimetidine page lists 95 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Pu-erh Tea (major), St. John's Wort (major), Adrafinil (moderate) and African Wild Potato (moderate).

By severity: 3 major · 63 moderate · 29 minor.

Open the Cimetidine interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 19 real supplement products containing Cubebs, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Cubebs. Your product may carry other ingredients that interact with Cimetidine too, on top of Cubebs — 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 Cubebs and Cimetidine 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 Cubebs
Steady interest

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

29 days ago today
Medication Cimetidine
Steady interest

#1,832 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 Cubebs

What is Cubebs?

Cubebs
  • Coughs and bronchitis
  • Indigestion and gas
  • Urinary tract complaints
  • Sore throat
  • Culinary spice

Cubebs are spicy, peppery berries from a vine in the pepper family that have long been used in traditional medicine for coughs, digestion, and urinary problems. Modern human studies are very limited, so its benefits are not well proven. Use it cautiously as a food spice, and talk to your pharmacist or doctor before using concentrated extracts or oils.

Read the full Cubebs monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Cimetidine

What Is Cimetidine Used For?

Brand names: Tagamet HB, Tagamet, Cimetidine Injection

Cimetidine tablets sold over the counter — including brands like Acid Controller, Acid Reducer, Basic Care Acid Reducer, Equate Cimetidine, and cimetidine 200 — are used to relieve heartburn associated with acid indigestion and sour stomach, and to prevent heartburn brought on by eating or drinking certain foods and beverages.

Prescription-strength cimetidine tablets and Cimetidine Hydrochloride Oral Solution are used for more serious conditions: short-term treatment of active duodenal ulcers (ulcers in the upper small intestine) and benign gastric ulcers (stomach ulcers), maintenance therapy to keep duodenal ulcers from coming back, healing of erosive GERD (acid reflux that has damaged the lining of the esophagus), and treatment of conditions that cause the stomach to make too much acid — such as Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome, systemic mastocytosis, and multiple endocrine adenomas.

See full Cimetidine drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Cubebs

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

0Major
643Moderate
21Minor
2,165No known interaction
Moderate

643 interactions

Showing 60 of 643 moderate interactions — see all 643 on the Cubebs page.

Minor

21 interactions

No interaction 2,165 drugs checked — show the list
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

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Pharmacist Counseling Corner

Taking Cubebs and Cimetidine Together: Common Questions

Can you take Cubebs with Cimetidine?
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 Cubebs and Cimetidine 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

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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.