Drug & supplement interaction

Forsythia + Paclitaxel

Paclitaxel brand names: Taxol, Abraxane.

No Known Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated June 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 20, 2026
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Forsythia and Paclitaxel 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

Forsythia and Paclitaxel

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 Paclitaxel and Forsythia 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.

Forsythia safety at a glance

Forsythia overall Use caution Generally used short-term in traditional medicine, but human safety data are limited.
Pregnancy Avoid Not enough safety data; avoid during pregnancy.
Breastfeeding Avoid Not enough safety data; best avoided while breastfeeding.

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

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

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Paclitaxel

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Paclitaxel is filed under 6 classifications — including cytochrome p450 2c8 (cyp2c8) substrates, organic anion-transporting polypeptide substrates (oatp), p-glycoprotein substrates. Forsythia has documented interactions with 2 drug classes — the most serious being anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs (moderate) and azithromycin (zithromax) (minor) — and none of Paclitaxel’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

Forsythia Does Interact With Other Medications

Forsythia has 122 moderate, 1 minor known drug interactions in our database — Paclitaxel isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 122 Minor 1 No known interaction 2,707 (incl. Paclitaxel)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Forsythia

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

What to actually watch for

What Paclitaxel’s Own FDA Label Lists

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

  • A low white blood cell count Worth acting on mentioned in 5.5% of FDA reports for Paclitaxel

From the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Paclitaxel. Read the label on DailyMed › Where a percentage is shown, it is the share of 98,465 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Paclitaxel that mention that effect — a reporting proportion, not an incidence rate and not evidence the drug caused it. Forsythia’s licensed record lists no adverse effects our clinical vocabulary could match, so there is no Forsythia side to compare — that is a limit of the record, not a statement that Forsythia has no side effects.

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Paclitaxel

This page covers Forsythia only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Paclitaxel page lists 152 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Apple (major), Grapefruit (major), St. John's Wort (major) and Sweet Orange (major).

By severity: 5 major · 108 moderate · 39 minor.

Open the Paclitaxel interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 355 real supplement products containing Forsythia, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Forsythia. Even though Forsythia itself has no known interaction with Paclitaxel, 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 Forsythia and Paclitaxel 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 Forsythia
Top 25%

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

29 days ago today
Medication Paclitaxel
Steady interest

#2,146 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 Forsythia reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Forsythia and Paclitaxel records this page draws on were last updated June 20, 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 Forsythia

What is Forsythia?

  • Colds and flu symptoms
  • Sore throat
  • Fever
  • Inflammation
  • Antimicrobial support

Forsythia is a traditional Chinese herb, used mainly for cold and flu symptoms and as part of multi-herb formulas. Most evidence comes from laboratory, animal, and traditional use rather than strong human studies, so its real-world benefits remain unproven. Talk to your pharmacist or doctor before using it, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking other medicines.

Forsythia suspensa · Oleaceae · Dried fruit (and sometimes leaves) · Dried fruit, teas, decoctions, capsules, and herbal formulas

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

Forsythia: dosing

There is no well-established standardized dose for forsythia. Traditional preparations use the dried fruit in decoctions, often as part of a multi-herb formula, and amounts vary by product and practitioner.If you use a commercial supplement, follow the directions on the product label and do not exceed the recommended amount.

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

Read the full Forsythia monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Paclitaxel (with albumin) Injection

What Is Paclitaxel (with albumin) Injection Used For?

Brand names: Taxol, Abraxane

Paclitaxel Protein-Bound Particles for Injectable Suspension (Albumin-Bound) is used to treat three types of cancer. It treats metastatic breast cancer in patients whose prior chemotherapy has stopped working or who relapsed within 6 months of completing adjuvant (post-surgery) chemotherapy. It is also used as a first-line treatment for locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) — given together with carboplatin — in patients who cannot have surgery or radiation therapy.

Additionally, it is approved as a first-line treatment for metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas, given in combination with gemcitabine. All three uses apply specifically to Paclitaxel Protein-Bound Particles for Injectable Suspension (Albumin-Bound), including the brands Abraxane and related albumin-bound formulations.

Most-Reported Side Effects for Paclitaxel

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (98,465 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Nausea 5,500 reports
Neutropenia 5,424 reports
Diarrhea 5,152 reports
Dyspnea 5,113 reports
Anemia 4,794 reports
See full Paclitaxel (with albumin) Injection drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Forsythia

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

0Major
122Moderate
1Minor
2,706No known interaction
122 Moderate 1 Minor 2,706 No interaction
Moderate

122 interactions

Showing 60 of 122 moderate interactions — see all 122 on the Forsythia page.

Minor

1 interaction

No interaction 2,706 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,706 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Forsythia list.

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

Forsythia References

The 3 references that drive our Forsythia 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. Kong XT, Fang HT, Jiang GQ, et al. Treatment of acute bronchiolitis with Chinese herbs. Arch Dis Child 1993;68:468-71. PubMed
  2. Iwakami S, Wu JB, Ebizuka Y, Sankawa U. Platelet activating factor (PAF) antagonists contained in medicinal plants: lignans and sesquiterpenes. Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo) 1992;40:1196-8. PubMed
  3. Li XG, Ni J, Shen S, Wang XP, Tian JC. Pharmacokinetic interaction of Forsythia suspensa extract and azithromycin injection after single and co-intravenous administration in rats. Chin J Nat Med 2020;18(3):234-240. 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 Forsythia and Paclitaxel Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Forsythia with Paclitaxel?
We do not list a known interaction between Forsythia and Paclitaxel. 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 Forsythia and Paclitaxel combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Paclitaxel is filed under 6 classifications, and Forsythia has documented interactions with 2 drug classes — none of Paclitaxel'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 Forsythia interact with any other medications?
Yes. Forsythia has 123 documented drug interactions in our database — Paclitaxel 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 Paclitaxel interact with any supplements?
Yes. Paclitaxel has documented interactions with 152 supplements in our database — Forsythia is not one of them. The Paclitaxel 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

Forsythia monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Paclitaxel (with albumin) Injection drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Paclitaxel supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Paclitaxel, 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 3 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Paclitaxel and Forsythia?

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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.