Drug & supplement interaction

Dulse + Mercaptopurine

Mercaptopurine brand name: Purixan.

No Known Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated June 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 13, 2026
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Dulse and Mercaptopurine 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.

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Interaction report

Dulse and Mercaptopurine

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 Mercaptopurine and Dulse 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.

Dulse safety at a glance

Dulse overall Use caution Generally safe as a food, but supplements may contain high iodine and potassium and should be used cautiously.
Pregnancy Use caution Food amounts are likely fine, but avoid concentrated supplements due to unpredictable iodine levels and limited safety data.
Breastfeeding Use caution Limited data; excess iodine can pass into breast milk, so avoid supplement doses and check with your doctor.

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

Still wondering about combining Mercaptopurine and Dulse? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Mercaptopurine

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Mercaptopurine is filed under 3 classifications — immunosuppressants, hepatotoxic drugs, oral drugs. Dulse has documented interactions with 7 drug classes — the most serious being amiodarine (cordarone) (moderate), antithyroid drugs (moderate) and digoxin (lanoxin) (moderate) — and none of Mercaptopurine’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

Dulse Does Interact With Other Medications

Dulse has 23 moderate, 62 minor known drug interactions in our database — Mercaptopurine isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 23 Minor 62 No known interaction 2,745 (incl. Mercaptopurine)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Dulse

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

What to actually watch for

What Mercaptopurine’s Own FDA Label Lists

This is not an interaction — none of it involves Dulse. These are the most notable effects listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of Mercaptopurine’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. 9 of them are worth acting on rather than waiting out — marked below.

  • Low blood sugar Worth acting on
  • A low white blood cell count Worth acting on mentioned in 11.0% of FDA reports for Mercaptopurine
  • Pancreatitis Worth acting on
  • A low platelet count Worth acting on
  • Anemia Worth acting on
  • Raised blood pressure Worth acting on
  • Hives Worth acting on
  • Liver problems Worth acting on
  • A higher chance of infection Worth acting on
  • Fever mentioned in 17.9% of FDA reports for Mercaptopurine

Showing the 10 most notable of 18 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 Mercaptopurine. Read the label on DailyMed › Where a percentage is shown, it is the share of 17,242 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Mercaptopurine that mention that effect — a reporting proportion, not an incidence rate and not evidence the drug caused it. Dulse’s licensed record lists no adverse effects our clinical vocabulary could match, so there is no Dulse side to compare — that is a limit of the record, not a statement that Dulse has no side effects.

From our Q&A

Questions About Dulse or Mercaptopurine

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

This page covers Dulse only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Mercaptopurine page lists 106 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Beer (major), Siberian Cocklebur (major), Wine (major) and Active Hexose Correlated Compound (ahcc) (moderate).

By severity: 4 major · 92 moderate · 10 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Mercaptopurine page

“Mercaptopurine (Purixan) works by deliberately suppressing the immune system, whether for leukemia or inflammatory bowel disease, and the supplement interactions on this page deserve genuine care rather than a quick skim. Two problems dominate.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Mercaptopurine interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 546 real supplement products containing Dulse, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Dulse. Even though Dulse itself has no known interaction with Mercaptopurine, 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 Dulse and Mercaptopurine 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 Dulse
Top 25%

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

29 days ago today
Medication Mercaptopurine
Top half

#1,042 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 Dulse reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 13, 2026. The Dulse and Mercaptopurine records this page draws on were last updated June 22, 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 Dulse

What is Dulse?

Dulse
  • Nutritional supplement (iodine, minerals)
  • Source of plant protein
  • General wellness
  • Anti-inflammatory support
  • Thyroid/iodine support

Dulse is a red seaweed eaten as a food in many coastal cultures and is a natural source of iodine, potassium, protein, and antioxidant compounds. As a food it is generally considered safe for most people, but concentrated supplements can deliver large amounts of iodine and potassium, so use caution. Talk to your pharmacist or doctor before using it medicinally, especially if you have thyroid or kidney problems.

Palmaria palmata · Palmariaceae · Whole edible thallus (the leafy seaweed fronds) · Dried flakes, whole dried leaf, powder, capsules, and as a food ingredient

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

Dulse: dosing

There is no established standardized medicinal dose for dulse. As a food it is eaten in small amounts as flakes, snacks, or a recipe ingredient.If you use a dulse supplement, follow the directions on the product label and do not exceed the recommended amount.

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

Read the full Dulse monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Mercaptopurine

What Is Mercaptopurine Used For?

Brand name: Purixan

Mercaptopurine — available as a tablet and as an oral suspension — is used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a type of blood cancer. It is given as part of a combination chemotherapy maintenance regimen, meaning it works alongside other cancer medicines to keep leukemia in remission.

Both the tablet form and the oral suspension form carry this indication for adult and pediatric patients. The oral suspension is particularly useful for patients who cannot swallow tablets.

Most-Reported Side Effects for Mercaptopurine

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (17,242 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Febrile neutropenia 1,904 reports
Fever 1,187 reports
Nausea 791 reports
Vomiting 749 reports
Abdominal pain 699 reports
See full Mercaptopurine drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Dulse

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

0Major
23Moderate
62Minor
2,744No known interaction
23 Moderate 62 Minor 2,744 No interaction
Moderate

23 interactions

Minor

62 interactions

Showing 60 of 62 minor interactions — see all 62 on the Dulse page.

No interaction 2,744 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,744 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Dulse list.

See the full Dulse interactions page
See every supplement checked against Mercaptopurine, ranked by severity
Evidence & sources

Dulse References

The 5 references that drive our Dulse 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. Malta D, Arcand J, Ravindran A, Floras V, Allard JP, Newton GE. Adequate intake of potassium does not cause hyperkalemia in hypertensive individuals taking medications that antagonize the renin angiotensin aldosterone system. Am J Clin Nutr 2016 Oct;104(4 PubMed
  2. Allsopp P, Crowe W, Bahar B, et al. The effect of consuming Palmaria palmata-enriched bread on inflammatory markers, antioxidant status, lipid profile and thyroid function in a randomised placebo-controlled intervention trial in healthy adults. Eur J Nutr PubMed
  3. McGrath BM, Harmon JP, Bishop G. Palmaria palmata (Dulse) as an unusual maritime aetiology of hyperkalemia in a patient with chronic renal failure: a case report. J Med Case Rep. 2010;4:301. PubMed
  4. Furuta T, Miyabe Y, Yasui H, Kinoshita Y, Kishimura H. Angiotensin I converting enzyme inhibitory peptides derived from phycobiliproteins of dulse Palmaria palmata. Mar Drugs. 2016;14(2):32. PubMed
  5. Takase T, Nakamura A, Miyoshi H, et al. Effects of Palmaria palmata on lipid metabolism and glycemic control in participants with hypercholesterolemia in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Phytother Res. 2020.

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 Dulse and Mercaptopurine Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Dulse with Mercaptopurine?
We do not list a known interaction between Dulse and Mercaptopurine. 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.
How was the Dulse and Mercaptopurine combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Mercaptopurine is filed under 3 classifications, and Dulse has documented interactions with 7 drug classes — none of Mercaptopurine'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 Dulse interact with any other medications?
Yes. Dulse has 85 documented drug interactions in our database — Mercaptopurine 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 Mercaptopurine interact with any supplements?
Yes. Mercaptopurine has documented interactions with 106 supplements in our database — Dulse is not one of them. The Mercaptopurine 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

Dulse monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Mercaptopurine drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Mercaptopurine supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Mercaptopurine, 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 5 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Mercaptopurine and Dulse?

Our pharmacists answer your medication & supplement questions — free.

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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.