Drug & supplement interaction

Danshen + Felodipine

Felodipine brand names: Plendil, Renedil.

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

Felodipine falls into 2 drug categories that Danshen can interact with; the most serious is rated moderate. Theoretically, taking danshen with antihypertensive drugs might increase the risk of hypotension.

Read the full interaction report
SeverityModerate
LikelihoodPossible
Interactions2
EvidenceD
What do Severity, Likelihood & Evidence mean?
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Interaction report

Danshen and Felodipine

These two interact in 2 distinct ways. Each one is explained separately below.

Why Are There 2 Interactions?

Danshen interacts with whole categories of medication. Felodipine falls into 2 of those categories, so it can interact with Danshen in 2 different ways. We’ve listed each one below — your overall risk is driven by the most serious of them (Moderate).

Moderate

ANTIHYPERTENSIVE DRUGS

1 of 2

Why this applies to Felodipine

Felodipine falls under ANTIHYPERTENSIVE DRUGS — the group Danshen interacts with.

Theoretically, taking danshen with antihypertensive drugs might increase the risk of hypotension.
Animal research suggests that danshen can produce dose-dependent hypotensive effects. Furthermore, concomitant use with captopril appears to potentiate this effect.
Severity Moderate 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 simple version: Felodipine already lowers your blood pressure by relaxing your blood vessels. Danshen, based mostly on lab and animal studies, may nudge blood pressure down too. Put the two together and there's a chance your pressure could drop a little more than expected. That could leave you feeling dizzy, lightheaded, tired, or flushed, especially when you stand up quickly.

I want to be honest about the strength here: this is largely theoretical, drawn from animal research, not solid human studies. So it's a reason to be aware, not alarmed. Culinary amounts are unlikely to be an issue, but concentrated supplements could matter more. Please loop in your pharmacist or doctor before adding Danshen, and don't change your felodipine on your own.

Contact Dr. Brian directly if you have additional questions on this interaction
References
  1. Li CP, Yung KH, and Chiu KW. Hypotensive action of Salvia miltiorrhiza cell culture extract. American Journal of Chinese Medicine 1990;18(3-4):157-166.
Moderate

CYTOCHROME P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) SUBSTRATES

2 of 2

Felodipine also falls under CYTOCHROME P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) SUBSTRATES.

Danshen might alter the levels and clinical effects of drugs metabolized by CYP3A4.
Preliminary clinical research in healthy males shows that the administration of danshen for 10-14 days induces intestinal CYP3A4 and increases the clearance of midazolam, a CYP3A4 substrate. The maximum concentration of midazolam was decreased by 31% to 67%, and drug levels were decreased by 27% to 80%. However, a single dose of danshen has the opposite effect, increasing maximum concentrations of midazolam by 87%.
Severity Moderate Likelihood Possible Evidence B

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 for felodipine (Plendil). Your body relies on an enzyme called CYP3A4 to break this blood pressure pill down. Danshen can nudge that enzyme in different directions depending on how long you take it. When taken regularly for a week or two, danshen seems to speed up CYP3A4, which could clear felodipine faster and weaken it, meaning your blood pressure might not be as well controlled. Oddly, a single dose may do the reverse and raise felodipine levels, possibly causing more flushing, headache, dizziness, swollen ankles, or a faster heartbeat.

This is based on early studies with a different medicine, so it's possible, not certain. Please check with your pharmacist or doctor before combining them.

Contact Dr. Brian directly if you have additional questions on this interaction
References
  1. Qiu F, Wang G, Zhang R, Sun J, et al. Effect of danshen extract on the activity of CYP3A4 in healthy volunteers. Br J Clin Pharmacol 2010;69:656-62. PubMed
  2. Qiu F, Jiang J, Ma Y, Wang G, Gao C, Zhang X, Zhang L, Liu S, He M, Zhu L, Ye Y, Li Q, Miao P. Opposite Effects of Single-Dose and Multidose Administration of the Ethanol Extract of Danshen on CYP3A in Healthy Volunteers. Evid Based Complement Alternat Me PubMed

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

Danshen Also Interacts With Other Medications

Danshen has 123 major, 935 moderate known drug interactions in our database — the Felodipine one above is among them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Major 123 Moderate 935 No known interaction 1,772 (incl. Felodipine)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Danshen

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

From our Q&A

Questions About Danshen or Felodipine

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

This page covers Danshen only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Felodipine page lists 232 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), Coleus (major) and Grapefruit (major).

By severity: 8 major · 182 moderate · 42 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Felodipine page

“Felodipine (Plendil) is a blood pressure medicine broken down by the CYP3A4 enzyme, which is why 232 supplements and foods have an interaction on file, eight of them rated major. This list deserves real care.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Felodipine interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 18 real supplement products containing Danshen, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Danshen. Your product may carry other ingredients that interact with Felodipine too, on top of Danshen — 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 Danshen and Felodipine 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 Danshen
Top half

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

29 days ago today
Medication Felodipine
Steady interest

#1,888 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 Danshen

What is Danshen?

Danshen
  • Heart and circulation support
  • Angina (chest pain)
  • High blood pressure
  • Anxiety and stress
  • Liver health

Danshen is a root used in traditional Chinese medicine, mainly for heart and circulation problems. Some early research is promising, but the evidence is not strong enough to confirm it works for any condition, and it may affect blood clotting. Talk to a pharmacist or doctor before using it, especially if you take other medicines or have a health condition.

Read the full Danshen monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Felodipine

What Is Felodipine Used For?

Brand names: Plendil, Renedil

Felodipine extended-release tablets are used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension). Lowering blood pressure reduces the risk of serious events like stroke and heart attack. Felodipine may be used alone or combined with other blood pressure medicines.

Keeping blood pressure under control is part of a broader approach to heart health that can include managing cholesterol, blood sugar, and lifestyle factors like diet, exercise, and not smoking.

See full Felodipine drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Danshen

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

123Major
935Moderate
0Minor
1,771No known interaction
123 Major 935 Moderate 1,771 No interaction
Major

123 interactions

Showing 60 of 123 major interactions — see all 123 on the Danshen page.

Moderate

935 interactions

Showing 60 of 935 moderate interactions — see all 935 on the Danshen page.

No interaction 1,771 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 1,771 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Danshen list.

See the full Danshen interactions page
See every supplement checked against Felodipine, 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
Danshen monograph › Uses, safety, and every drug interaction in one place Felodipine supplement interactions › Every supplement checked against Felodipine, ranked by severity Felodipine 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 Danshen and Felodipine Together: Common Questions

Can you take Danshen with Felodipine?
There is a moderate interaction, so it may be acceptable with monitoring or timing changes — but check with your pharmacist first. Read the full details on this page and confirm with your pharmacist before combining them.
Why are there 2 interactions listed for Danshen and Felodipine?
Felodipine belongs to more than one drug category, and Danshen interacts with each of those categories a little differently. We list every one so nothing is missed — your overall risk is driven by the most serious of them.
How serious is the Danshen and Felodipine interaction?
We rate it Moderate. This combination may require monitoring, a dose adjustment, or separating the times you take each one. Consult your pharmacist before using them together.

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

Still Have a Question About Felodipine and Danshen?

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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.