Drug & supplement interaction

Higenamine + Salsalate

Salsalate brand names: Disalcid, Salsitab, Salflex, Mono-Gesic, Amigesic.

No Known Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated July 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 27, 2026
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Higenamine and Salsalate 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 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 Salsalate

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 Salsalate 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 Salsalate and Higenamine? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Salsalate

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Salsalate is filed under 6 classifications — including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (nsaids), organic anion transporter 3 (oat3) substrates, organic anion transporter 1 (oat1) substrates. 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 Salsalate’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 — Salsalate 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. Salsalate)
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 Salsalate 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.

  • Dizziness reported in 6.1% of FDA reports for Salsalate 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

    Salsalate

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Salsalate, and in voluntary FDA adverse-event reports. Read the label on DailyMed ›

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

Effects for Salsalate come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Higenamine come from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, quoted above. Where a percentage is shown, it is the share of 934 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Salsalate that mention that effect — a reporting proportion, not an incidence rate and not evidence the drug caused it. Wording is matched across sources by our own clinical vocabulary, so treat this as a prompt to pay attention, not a diagnosis.

Overlapping uses

What Salsalate Is Prescribed For, and What Higenamine Has Been Studied For

These two come up together because they touch the same health topic — not because they do the same job. Salsalate is a prescription medicine with approved uses on its FDA label. Higenamine is a supplement: what follows is what researchers have looked at it for, and how strong that evidence is.

Salsalate is prescribed for: Salsalate tablets are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and related rheumatic disorders. It helps relieve pain, swelling, and stiffness associated with these conditions. It is not approved for use in children, and it must not be used for pain relief around the time of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) heart surgery.

Higenamine has been studied for:

  • Osteoarthritis studied, not established Higenamine has been studied for this. Natural Medicines rates the evidence: Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate Read what the research shows

    Higenamine for osteoarthritis

    Although there has been interest in using oral higenamine for osteoarthritis, there is insufficient reliable information about the clinical effects of higenamine for this purpose.

Effectiveness ratings and the research summaries above are the verbatim record from the Natural Medicines database, which grades evidence from “Effective” down to “Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate”. A rating below the top of that scale means researchers have looked at it — not that it works, and never that it can stand in for a prescribed medicine. Do not stop or replace Salsalate on your own; if you are taking Higenamine for the same health topic, tell your prescriber, especially if the medicine is being adjusted to a target.

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Salsalate

This page covers Higenamine only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Salsalate page lists 37 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Asarabacca (major), Beer (major), Siberian Cocklebur (major) and Wine (major).

By severity: 5 major · 20 moderate · 12 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Salsalate page

“Beer and wine top my worry list for anyone taking salsalate (Disalcid), an aspirin-like salicylate used for arthritis pain, since alcohol alongside it raises the risk of stomach and intestinal bleeding. Those drinks account for two of the five major-rated interactions among the 37 ingredients on file, and this list deserves real caution.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Salsalate 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 Salsalate, 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 Salsalate 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 half

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

29 days ago today
Medication Salsalate
Steady interest

#2,355 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 27, 2026. The Higenamine and Salsalate 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 Salsalate

What Is Salsalate Used For?

Brand names: Disalcid, Salsitab, Salflex, Mono-Gesic, Amigesic

Salsalate tablets are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and related rheumatic disorders. It helps relieve pain, swelling, and stiffness associated with these conditions.

It is not approved for use in children, and it must not be used for pain relief around the time of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) heart surgery.

See full Salsalate 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 Salsalate, 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 Salsalate Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Higenamine with Salsalate?
We do not list a known interaction between Higenamine and Salsalate. 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 Salsalate 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.
Are Higenamine and Salsalate used for the same thing?
They overlap in purpose, which usually means the real question is whether you need both rather than whether they are safe together. This page lists the shared uses and how strong the evidence is for Higenamine in each. That is a conversation for your prescriber, especially if Salsalate is being adjusted to a target.
How was the Higenamine and Salsalate combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Salsalate is filed under 6 classifications, and Higenamine has documented interactions with 5 drug classes — none of Salsalate'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 — Salsalate 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 Salsalate interact with any supplements?
Yes. Salsalate has documented interactions with 37 supplements in our database — Higenamine is not one of them. The Salsalate 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 Salsalate drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Salsalate supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Salsalate, 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 Salsalate 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.