Drug & supplement interaction

Elecampane + Mesalamine

Mesalamine brand names: Pentasa, Asacol, Canasa, Rowasa, Lialda, and others.

No Known Interaction
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Elecampane and Mesalamine 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 Mesalamine 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.

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Interaction report

Elecampane and Mesalamine

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 Mesalamine and Elecampane 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.

Elecampane safety at a glance

Elecampane overall Use caution Generally used in small amounts in tea and tinctures, but it can cause allergic reactions and stomach upset.
Pregnancy Likely Unsafe When used orally; avoid using. Read the full pregnancy detail
Breastfeeding Likely Unsafe When used orally; avoid using. Read the full breastfeeding detail

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 Mesalamine and Elecampane? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Mesalamine

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Mesalamine is filed under a single classification — oral drugs. Elecampane has documented interactions with 1 drug class — the most serious being cns depressants (moderate) — and none of Mesalamine’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

Elecampane Does Interact With Other Medications

Elecampane has 248 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Mesalamine isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Elecampane

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

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Elecampane and Mesalamine 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.

  • Diarrhea / Vomiting Additional detail

    Elecampane

    “Orally, large doses of elecampane may cause vomiting and diarrhea (12).”

    Elecampane · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in diarrhea.

    1 source cited
    1. 12. McGuffin M, Hobbs C, Upton R, Goldberg A, eds. American Herbal Products Association's Botanical Safety Handbook. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, LLC 1997.

    Mesalamine

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

Reported for Elecampane but not commonly for Mesalamine: a skin rash.

Effects for Mesalamine come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Elecampane 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

Elecampane in Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Pregnancy And Lactation Likely Unsafe

When used orally; 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 Mesalamine Products Have a Food Rule — Elecampane Should Not Break It

At least one FDA label for a product containing Mesalamine says to take it with food. If you take Elecampane on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate — and take Mesalamine with a meal where the label says to.

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

( 2 ) Administer mesalamine delayed-release tablets with food.

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

From our Q&A

Questions About Elecampane or Mesalamine

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

This page covers Elecampane only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Mesalamine page lists 17 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Coffee Charcoal (moderate), European Mandrake (moderate), Glucomannan (moderate) and Guar Gum (moderate).

By severity: 1 major · 7 moderate · 9 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Mesalamine page

“Activated charcoal is the one entry here I would treat as a genuine problem for anyone taking mesalamine (Asacol, Lialda, Pentasa, and others). It is the lone major-rated interaction among the 17 on file, because charcoal soaks up drugs in the gut and can pull mesalamine out of the picture before it does its job.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Mesalamine interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 332 real supplement products containing Elecampane, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Elecampane. Even though Elecampane itself has no known interaction with Mesalamine, 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 Elecampane and Mesalamine 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 Elecampane
Top half

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

29 days ago today
Medication Mesalamine
Top half

#739 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 Elecampane reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Elecampane and Mesalamine records this page draws on were last updated July 10, 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 Elecampane

What is Elecampane?

Elecampane
  • Cough and bronchitis
  • Asthma symptoms
  • Loosening mucus (expectorant)
  • Digestive upset
  • Intestinal worms (traditional)

Elecampane is a traditional herb used mainly for coughs and other respiratory complaints, and as a bitter for digestion. Modern human evidence is very limited, so it should be seen as a folk remedy rather than a proven treatment. Talk to your pharmacist or doctor before using it, and avoid it during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Inula helenium · Asteraceae · Roots and rhizomes · Tea, tincture, dried root, capsules, lozenges, syrup

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

Elecampane: dosing

There is no standardized, well-established dose for elecampane. It is commonly taken as a tea made from the dried root, as a tincture, or in syrups and lozenges, with the amount varying by product and tradition.Because the strength of products varies and reliable dosing studies are lacking, the safest approach is to follow the directions on the product label and start with a small amount.

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

Read the full Elecampane monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Mesalamine

What Is Mesalamine Used For?

Brand names: Pentasa, Asacol, Canasa, Rowasa, Lialda, Delzicol

Mesalamine is used to treat mildly to moderately active ulcerative colitis — a condition where the lining of the large intestine becomes inflamed and ulcerated. Depending on the product and formulation, it can be used to bring the disease under control (induction of remission) and/or to keep it from coming back (maintenance of remission).

Different products target different parts of the lower digestive tract. Oral forms (tablets and capsules) treat the colon more broadly. Rectal forms — including enemas (ROWASA, sfROWASA, mesalamine rectal suspension) — are used for distal ulcerative colitis, proctosigmoiditis, or proctitis (inflammation limited to the lower end of the colon or rectum). Rectal suppositories (CANASA, mesalamine rectal suppositories) are specifically for ulcerative proctitis (inflammation of the rectum only).

See full Mesalamine drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Elecampane

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

0Major
248Moderate
0Minor
2,581No known interaction
Moderate

248 interactions

Showing 60 of 248 moderate interactions — see all 248 on the Elecampane page.

No interaction 2,581 drugs checked — show the list
Evidence & sources

Elecampane References

The 5 references that drive our Elecampane 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. Newall CA, Anderson LA, Philpson JD. Herbal Medicine: A Guide for Healthcare Professionals. London, UK: The Pharmaceutical Press, 1996.
  2. McGuffin M, Hobbs C, Upton R, Goldberg A, eds. American Herbal Products Association's Botanical Safety Handbook. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, LLC 1997.
  3. Lamminpaa A, Estlander T, Jolanki R, Kanerva L. Occupational allergic contact dermatitis caused by decorative plants. Contact Dermatitis 1996;34:330-5. PubMed
  4. Pazzaglia, M., Venturo, N., Borda, G., and Tosti, A. Contact dermatitis due to a massage liniment containing Inula helenium extract. Contact Dermatitis 1995;33(4):267.
  5. Aalto-Korte, K., Alanko, K., Kuuliala, O., and Jolanki, R. Late reactions in patch tests: a 4-year review from a clinic of occupational dermatology. Contact Dermatitis 2007;56(2):81-86. 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 Elecampane and Mesalamine Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Elecampane with Mesalamine?
We do not list a known interaction between Elecampane and Mesalamine. 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 Elecampane and Mesalamine 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.
Should I take Elecampane and Mesalamine at the same time of day?
At least one FDA label for a product containing Mesalamine says to take it with food. If you take Elecampane on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate and take Mesalamine with a meal where the label says to. Food instructions belong to the product rather than the ingredient — two Mesalamine products can differ — so check the directions on your own box. This is about absorption, not an interaction.
How was the Elecampane and Mesalamine combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Mesalamine is filed under 1 classification, and Elecampane has documented interactions with 1 drug class — none of Mesalamine'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 Elecampane interact with any other medications?
Yes. Elecampane has 248 documented drug interactions in our database — Mesalamine 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 Mesalamine interact with any supplements?
Yes. Mesalamine has documented interactions with 17 supplements in our database — Elecampane is not one of them. The Mesalamine interaction page linked on this page lists every one, ranked by severity.

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

Still Have a Question About Mesalamine and Elecampane?

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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.