Drug & supplement interaction

Higenamine + Mesalamine

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

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 Higenamine 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

Higenamine 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 Higenamine 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.

Higenamine safety at a glance

Higenamine overall Use caution It acts as a stimulant on the heart and is banned in competitive sports, so it should be used with caution if at all.
Pregnancy Avoid There is no safety data in pregnancy, so it should be avoided.
Breastfeeding Avoid There is no safety data during breastfeeding, so it should be avoided.

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

Still wondering about combining Mesalamine and Higenamine? 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. Higenamine has documented interactions with 5 drug classes — the most serious being anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs (moderate), cytochrome p450 2d6 (cyp2d6) substrates (moderate) and cytochrome p450 3a4 (cyp3a4) substrates (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

Higenamine Does Interact With Other Medications

Higenamine has 891 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.

Moderate 891 No known interaction 1,939 (incl. Mesalamine)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Higenamine

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

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Higenamine and Mesalamine May Share a Side Effect

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.

  • Headache Additional detail

    Higenamine

    “Orally, higenamine may cause headache.

    Intravenously, higenamine may cause dizziness and headache.”

    Higenamine · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in cluster headache.

    2 sources cited
    1. 107431. Rasic JS, Ivanovic ND, Andjelkovic MS, et al. Influence of higenamine on exercise performance of recreational female athletes: a randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled trial. Front Psychol 2021;12:633110. PubMed
    2. 97577. Cohen PA, Travis JC, Keizers PHJ, Boyer FE, Venhuis BJ. The stimulant higenamine in weight loss and sports supplements. Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2018:1-6. PubMed

    Mesalamine

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

Reported for Higenamine but not commonly for Mesalamine: an irregular heartbeat, chest pain, severe muscle breakdown and a fast or pounding heartbeat.

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

How to take them

Some Mesalamine Products Have a Food Rule — Higenamine Should Not Break It

At least one FDA label for a product containing Mesalamine says to take it with food. If you take Higenamine 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 Higenamine 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 Higenamine 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 Higenamine 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 Higenamine as Part of a Dietary Supplement Product? Check It for Interactions

We hold 154 real supplement products containing Higenamine, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Higenamine. Even though Higenamine 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 Higenamine 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 Higenamine
Top 25%

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

What is Higenamine?

  • Weight loss and fat burning
  • Pre-workout energy and performance
  • Appetite suppression
  • Athletic stimulant
  • Traditional medicine remedies

Higenamine is a plant-based stimulant compound added to many weight-loss and pre-workout supplements, but there is very little human evidence that it works and real concerns about heart and blood pressure effects. It is banned in sports by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and product labels often list inaccurate amounts, so most people should approach it with caution and talk to a pharmacist or doctor first.

Plant-derived alkaloid (found in plants such as Aconitum, Nelumbo/lotus, and Annona species) · Capsules, tablets, powders, pre-workout and fat-burner blends

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

Higenamine: dosing

There is no established or proven safe dose of higenamine. Supplement products vary widely, and testing has shown that the labeled amount is often unreliable, so it is hard to know how much you are actually taking.Because of this uncertainty and the potential heart effects, we do not recommend a specific dose.

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

Read the full Higenamine 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 & Higenamine

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

0Major
891Moderate
0Minor
1,938No known interaction
891 Moderate 1,938 No interaction
Moderate

891 interactions

Showing 60 of 891 moderate interactions — see all 891 on the Higenamine page.

No interaction 1,938 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 1,938 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Higenamine list.

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

Higenamine References

The 14 references that drive our Higenamine 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. Tai YT, But PP, Young K, et al. Cardiotoxicity after accidental herb-induced aconite poisoning. Lancet 1992;340:1254-6. PubMed
  2. But PP, Tai YT, Young K. Three fatal cases of herbal aconite poisoning. Vet Hum Toxicol 1994;36:212-5.
  3. Lin CC, Chan TY, Deng JF. Clinical features and management of herb-induced aconitine poisoning. Ann Emerg Med 2004;43:574-9. PubMed
  4. Wagner H, Reiter M, Ferstl W. New drugs with cardiotonic activity. Part 1. Chemistry and pharmacology of the cardiotonic active principle of Annona squamosa L. Planta Med 1980;40:77-85.
  5. Park CW, Chang KC, Lim JK. Effects of higenamine on isolated heart adrenoceptor of rabbit. Arch Int Pharmacodyn Ther 1984;267:279-88.
  6. Liu WH, Zhou YP, Zeng GY. Effects of dl-demethylcoclaurine on experimental heart failure. Acta Pharm Sinica 1988;23:81-5.
  7. Yun-Choi HS, Pyo MK, Park KM, et al. Anti-thrombotic effects of higenamine. Planta Med 2001;67:619-22. PubMed
  8. Zhang Z, Liu X, Tao Z, et al. Effects of higeramine on hemodynamics and its tolerability and safety, an experimental study. Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi 2002;82:352-5.
  9. Kam SC, Do JM, Choi JH, et al. The relaxation effect and mechanism of action of higenamine in the rat corpus cavernosum. Int J Impot Res 2012;24:77-83. PubMed
  10. Liu Y, Santillo MF. Cytochrome P450 2D6 and 3A4 enzyme inhibition by amine stimulants in dietary supplements. Drug Test Anal. 2016;8(3-4):307-10. PubMed
  11. Jeter J, DeZee KJ, Kennedy L. A Case of Paraspinal Muscle Rhabdomyolysis in a 22-Year-Old Male After Ingesting a Supplement Containing Higenamine. Mil Med. 2015;180(7):e847-9. PubMed
  12. Zhang N, Lian Z, Peng X, Li Z, Zhu H. Applications of Higenamine in pharmacology and medicine. J Ethnopharmacol. 2017;196:242-252. PubMed
  13. Cohen PA, Travis JC, Keizers PHJ, Boyer FE, Venhuis BJ. The stimulant higenamine in weight loss and sports supplements. Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2018:1-6. PubMed
  14. Rasic JS, Ivanovic ND, Andjelkovic MS, et al. Influence of higenamine on exercise performance of recreational female athletes: a randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled trial. Front Psychol 2021;12:633110. 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 Higenamine and Mesalamine Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Higenamine with Mesalamine?
We do not list a known interaction between Higenamine 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 Higenamine and Mesalamine have any of the same side effects?
Yes — our sources link each of them separately to one 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 Higenamine 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 Higenamine 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 Higenamine and Mesalamine combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Mesalamine is filed under 1 classification, and Higenamine has documented interactions with 5 drug classes — 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 Higenamine interact with any other medications?
Yes. Higenamine has 891 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 — Higenamine 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

Where next

Keep Exploring

Higenamine monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Mesalamine drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Mesalamine supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Mesalamine, 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 14 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Mesalamine and Higenamine?

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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.