Drug & supplement interaction

Gamboge + Tofacitinib

Tofacitinib brand names: Xeljanz, Xeljanz XR.

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

We found no known interaction between Gamboge and Tofacitinib 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

Gamboge and Tofacitinib

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 Tofacitinib and Gamboge 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.

Gamboge safety at a glance

Gamboge overall Avoid Gamboge resin is a harsh purgative and can be toxic when swallowed.
Pregnancy Possibly Unsafe When used orally; avoid using. Read the full pregnancy detail
Breastfeeding Possibly 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 Tofacitinib and Gamboge? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Tofacitinib

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Tofacitinib is filed under 4 classifications — including cytochrome p450 2c19 (cyp2c19) substrates, immunosuppressants, cytochrome p450 3a4 (cyp3a4) substrates. Gamboge has documented interactions with 5 drug classes — the most serious being corticosteroids (moderate), digoxin (lanoxin) (moderate) and diuretic drugs (moderate) — and none of Tofacitinib’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

Gamboge Does Interact With Other Medications

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

Moderate 122 No known interaction 2,708 (incl. Tofacitinib)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Gamboge

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

What to actually watch for

What Gamboge Itself Has Been Linked To

This is not an interaction — nothing below involves Tofacitinib. It is the side-effect record for Gamboge on its own, from the licensed Natural Medicines monograph. If something new turns up after you add Gamboge, this list is the first place to look.

  • Stomach pain / Vomiting Additional detail

    “Orally, abdominal pain and vomiting have been reported with gamboge at doses as low as 200 mg. Deaths have been reported after ingestion of 4 grams of gamboge (18).”

    Gamboge · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in myasthenia gravis.

    1 source cited
    1. 18. Gruenwald J, Brendler T, Jaenicke C. PDR for Herbal Medicines. 1st ed. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company, Inc., 1998.

    “Orally, abdominal pain and vomiting have been reported with gamboge at doses as low as 200 mg (18).”

    Gamboge · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in myasthenia gravis.

    1 source cited
    1. 18. Gruenwald J, Brendler T, Jaenicke C. PDR for Herbal Medicines. 1st ed. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company, Inc., 1998.

Everything above comes from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record for Gamboge — expand a row for the licensed statement it rests on. We read the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of Tofacitinib’s FDA label too, and the two lists don’t meaningfully overlap — which is why no Tofacitinib column appears here.

Special populations

Gamboge in Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Pregnancy And Lactation Possibly 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

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Tofacitinib

This page covers Gamboge only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Tofacitinib page lists 184 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Grapefruit (major), St. John's Wort (major), Acacia Rigidula (moderate) and Active Hexose Correlated Compound (ahcc) (moderate).

By severity: 3 major · 143 moderate · 38 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Tofacitinib page

“Supplements deserve genuine care alongside tofacitinib (Xeljanz, Xeljanz XR), a medicine that deliberately dials down the immune system to control conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis. Most of the interactions on this page run through the liver enzymes that clear the drug, meaning an herb can push its blood level…”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Tofacitinib interaction page

How much people look this up

Where Gamboge and Tofacitinib 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 Gamboge
Steady interest

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

29 days ago today
Medication Tofacitinib
Top half

#911 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 Gamboge reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Gamboge and Tofacitinib 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 Gamboge

What is Gamboge?

  • Laxative (purgative)
  • Expelling intestinal worms
  • Traditional wound care
  • Use as a yellow dye/pigment

Gamboge is a bright yellow tree resin used historically as a strong laxative and as an artists' pigment, but it is toxic in even modest amounts and is not a safe dietary supplement. Modern interest centers on its compound gambogic acid in laboratory cancer research, which does not make the raw resin safe to take. We recommend avoiding oral use of gamboge.

Garcinia hanburyi · Clusiaceae · Dried resin (gum-resin) from the bark/latex · Resin powder, traditional pills, paint pigment (not a typical modern supplement)

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

Gamboge: dosing

There is no established safe dose of gamboge for any health use, and we do not provide one. Because the resin is considered toxic and is not a recognized supplement, there are no reliable, standardized products with proven dosing.If you ever encounter a product that contains gamboge, do not take it without first talking to a pharmacist or doctor. In general, our recommendation is to avoid oral use entirely and choose safer, well-studied options for problems like constipation.

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

Read the full Gamboge monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Tofacitinib

What Is Tofacitinib Used For?

Brand names: Xeljanz, Xeljanz XR

  • Tofacitinib is used alone or with other medications to treat rheumatoid arthritis (condition in which the body attacks its own joints causing pain, swelling, and loss of function) in adults who are unable to take or did not respond to one or more tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor medication(s). It is also used to treat psoriatic arthritis (a condition that causes joint pain and swelling and scales on the skin) in adults who are unable to take or did not respond to or tolerate one or more TNF inhibitor medication(s). Tofacitinib is used to treat ulcerative colitis (a condition which causes swelling and sores in the lining of the colon [large intestine] and rectum) in adults who are unable to take or who did not respond to one or more TNF inhibitor medication(s). It is also used to treat polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (PJIA; a type of childhood arthritis that affects five or more joints during the first six months of the condition, causing pain, swelling, and loss of function) in children 2 years and older who are unable to take or who did not respond to one or more TNF inhibitor medication(s). Tofacitinib is in a class of medications called Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors. It works by decreasing the activity of the immune system.

See full Tofacitinib drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Gamboge

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

0Major
122Moderate
0Minor
2,707No known interaction
122 Moderate 2,707 No interaction
Moderate

122 interactions

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

No interaction 2,707 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,707 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Gamboge list.

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

Gamboge References

The 2 references that drive our Gamboge 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. Gruenwald J, Brendler T, Jaenicke C. PDR for Herbal Medicines. 1st ed. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company, Inc., 1998.
  2. Brinker F. Herb Contraindications and Drug Interactions. 2nd ed. Sandy, OR: Eclectic Medical Publications, 1998.

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 Gamboge and Tofacitinib Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Gamboge with Tofacitinib?
We do not list a known interaction between Gamboge and Tofacitinib. 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 Gamboge and Tofacitinib combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Tofacitinib is filed under 4 classifications, and Gamboge has documented interactions with 5 drug classes — none of Tofacitinib'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 Gamboge interact with any other medications?
Yes. Gamboge has 122 documented drug interactions in our database — Tofacitinib 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 Tofacitinib interact with any supplements?
Yes. Tofacitinib has documented interactions with 184 supplements in our database — Gamboge is not one of them. The Tofacitinib 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

Gamboge monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Tofacitinib drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Tofacitinib supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Tofacitinib, 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 2 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Tofacitinib and Gamboge?

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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.