Drug & supplement interaction

Honey + Phenylephrine

Phenylephrine brand names: Gilchew, AH Chew D, Gilchew IR, Sudafed PE, Biorphen.

No Known Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated July 2026 · Pair last verified Oct 4, 2026
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Honey and Phenylephrine 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

Honey and Phenylephrine

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 Phenylephrine and Honey 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.

Honey safety at a glance

Honey overall Generally safe Generally safe as a food for adults and children over 1 year of age.
Pregnancy Likely Safe When consumed in food amounts. The concern about botulism pertains to children under 12 months of age and not to pregnant adults. There is insufficient reliable... Read the full pregnancy detail
Breastfeeding Likely Safe When consumed in food amounts. The concern about botulism pertains to children under 12 months of age and not to pregnant adults. There is insufficient reliable... 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 Phenylephrine and Honey? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Phenylephrine

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Phenylephrine is filed under 5 classifications — including alpha-adrenergic agonists, stimulant drugs, serotonergic drugs. Honey has documented interactions with 3 drug classes — the most serious being phenytoin (dilantin) (moderate), anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs (minor) and cytochrome p450 3a4 (cyp3a4) substrates (minor) — and none of Phenylephrine’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

Honey Does Interact With Other Medications

Honey has 5 moderate, 733 minor known drug interactions in our database — Phenylephrine isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 5 Minor 733 No known interaction 2,092 (incl. Phenylephrine)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Honey

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

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Honey and Phenylephrine 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. One of them is worth acting on rather than waiting out — marked below.

  • A slow heartbeat Worth acting on Additional detail

    Honey

    “Honey from the Black Sea coast of Turkey has been linked with a unique form of poisoning. Honey from this region sometimes contains excessive concentrations of grayanotoxins from rhododendrons, which can cause bradycardia, atrioventricular (AV) block, cardiac arrhythmias, myocardial infarction, and hypotension within a few minutes to several hours after consumption. Fatalities have not been reported.”

    Honey · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in arrhythmia.

    6 sources cited
    1. 12220. Ozhan H, Akdemir R, Yazici M, et al. Cardiac emergencies caused by honey ingestion: a single centre experience. Emerg Med J 2004;21:742-4. PubMed
    2. 55110. Gunduz, A., Turedi, S., Uzun, H., and Topbas, M. Mad honey poisoning. Am J Emerg.Med 2006;24(5):595-598.
    3. 55126. Akinci, S., Arslan, U., Karakurt, K., and Cengel, A. An unusual presentation of mad honey poisoning: acute myocardial infarction. Int J Cardiol 2008;129(2):e56-e58. PubMed
    4. 55129. Yildirim, N., Aydin, M., Cam, F., and Celik, O. Clinical presentation of non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction in the course of intoxication with mad honey. Am J Emerg Med 2008;26(1):108.e-2. PubMed
    5. 55238. Yarlioglues, M., Akpek, M., Ardic, I., Elcik, D., Sahin, O., and Kaya, M. G. Mad-honey sexual activity and acute inferior myocardial infarctions in a married couple. Tex.Heart Inst.J 2011;38(5):577-580.
    6. 55269. Biberoglu, S., Biberoglu, K., and Komsuoglu, B. Mad honey. JAMA 4-1-1988;259(13):1943.

    Phenylephrine

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

  • Nausea / Vomiting reported in 7.6% of FDA reports for Phenylephrine Additional detail

    Honey

    “Orally, honey may cause mild nausea, vomiting, and stomach ache. Honey from the Black Sea coast of Turkey has been linked with a unique form of poisoning. Honey from this region sometimes contains excessive concentrations of grayanotoxins. These toxins can cause increased salivation, nausea, and vomiting within a few minutes to several hours after consumption. Intranasally, honey may cause nausea.”

    Honey · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in nausea and vomiting.

    6 sources cited
    1. 12220. Ozhan H, Akdemir R, Yazici M, et al. Cardiac emergencies caused by honey ingestion: a single centre experience. Emerg Med J 2004;21:742-4. PubMed
    2. 55119. Koca, I. and Koca, A. F. Poisoning by mad honey: a brief review. Food Chem Toxicol 2007;45(8):1315-1318. PubMed
    3. 55190. Shrestha, P., Vaidya, R., and Sherpa, K. Mad honey poisoning: a rare case report of seven cases. Nepal Med Coll J 2009;11(3):212-213.
    4. 55294. Sutlupinar, N., Mat, A., and Satganoglu, Y. Poisoning by toxic honey in Turkey. Arch.Toxicol. 1993;67(2):148-150. PubMed
    5. 97693. Oduwole O, Udoh EE, Oyo-Ita A, Meremikwu MM. Honey for acute cough in children. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018;4:CD007094. PubMed
    6. 55216. Thamboo, A., Thamboo, A., Philpott, C., Javer, A., and Clark, A. Single-blind study of manuka honey in allergic fungal rhinosinusitis. J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2011;40(3):238-243.

    Phenylephrine

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

Reported for Honey but not commonly for Phenylephrine: a heart attack, an irregular heartbeat, an allergic reaction and stomach pain.

Effects for Phenylephrine come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Honey come from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, quoted above. Where a percentage is shown, it is the share of 221,388 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Phenylephrine 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.

Special populations

Honey in Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Pregnancy And Lactation Likely Safe

When consumed in food amounts. The concern about botulism pertains to children under 12 months of age and not to pregnant adults. There is insufficient reliable information available about the safety of honey when used for medicinal purposes when pregnant or breast-feeding.

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

From our Q&A

Questions About Honey or Phenylephrine

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

This page covers Honey only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Phenylephrine page lists 81 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Ephedra (major), Lithium (major), Peyote (major) and Rauvolfia Vomitoria (major).

By severity: 6 major · 60 moderate · 15 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Phenylephrine page

“If you take phenylephrine (Sudafed PE, Biorphen) for congestion, treat this list as one that needs real attention, since six of its 81 entries carry a major rating. Phenylephrine tightens blood vessels to clear your nose, and more than half of the interactions here come from stimulant ingredients, ephedra above all, that can push blood…”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Phenylephrine interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 298 real supplement products containing Honey, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Honey. Even though Honey itself has no known interaction with Phenylephrine, 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 Honey and Phenylephrine 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 Honey
Top 25%

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

29 days ago today
Medication Phenylephrine
Top half

#725 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 Honey reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified October 4, 2026. The Honey and Phenylephrine 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 Honey

What is Honey?

Honey
  • Cough and sore throat
  • Wound and burn care
  • Soothing minor skin irritation
  • Sweetener and home remedy
  • Digestive upset

Honey is a natural food with some real, modest evidence for easing coughs and helping certain wounds, especially when special medical-grade or Manuka honey is used. It is generally safe for most adults and children over 1 year, but should never be given to infants under 12 months because of the risk of botulism.

Honey produced by honeybees from flower nectar · Raw honey, processed honey, Manuka honey, medical-grade honey, lozenges, syrups, topical wound dressings

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

Honey: dosing

There is no official standardized dose for honey.

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

Read the full Honey monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Phenylephrine

What Is Phenylephrine Used For?

Brand names: Gilchew, AH Chew D, Gilchew IR, Sudafed PE, Biorphen

Phenylephrine is used in several different products, and each one has its own use.

Injection (IV): raises blood pressure in adults with clinically important hypotension (low blood pressure) caused mainly by widened blood vessels. Some injections are labeled for anesthesia only. Others are labeled for anesthesia and septic shock.

Eye drops: Phenylephrine Hydrochloride Ophthalmic Solution is used to dilate the pupil.

Nasal products: temporarily relieve nasal and sinus congestion from the common cold, hay fever or other upper respiratory allergies.

Rectal suppositories: relieve itching, burning and discomfort from hemorrhoids and temporarily shrink hemorrhoidal tissue.

Most-Reported Side Effects for Phenylephrine

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (221,388 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Fatigue 20,609 reports
Headache 17,301 reports
Nausea 16,925 reports
Diarrhea 14,221 reports
Dyspnea 13,719 reports
See full Phenylephrine drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Honey

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

0Major
5Moderate
733Minor
2,091No known interaction
5 Moderate 733 Minor 2,091 No interaction
Moderate

5 interactions

Minor

733 interactions

Showing 60 of 733 minor interactions — see all 733 on the Honey page.

No interaction 2,091 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,091 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Honey list.

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

Honey References

The 40 references that drive our Honey 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. The Review of Natural Products by Facts and Comparisons. St. Louis, MO: Wolters Kluwer Co., 1999.
  2. Leung AY, Foster S. Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients Used in Food, Drugs and Cosmetics. 2nd ed. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 1996.
  3. Bose B. Honey or sugar in treatment of infected wounds? Lancet 1982;1:963. PubMed
  4. Ozhan H, Akdemir R, Yazici M, et al. Cardiac emergencies caused by honey ingestion: a single centre experience. Emerg Med J 2004;21:742-4. PubMed
  5. Centers for Disease Control. Botulism in the Unites Sates, 1899-1996. Handbook for epidemiologists, clinicians, and laboratory workers, 1998. Available online: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/botulism.PDF.
  6. Simon A, Traynor K, Santos K, et al. Medical honey for wound care - still the 'latest resort'? Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2009;6:165-73. PubMed
  7. Gethin G, Cowman S. Case series of use of Manuka honey in leg ulceration. Int Wound J 2005;2:10-15. PubMed
  8. Ingle R, Levin J, Polinder K. Wound healing with honey - a randomised controlled trial. S Afr Med J 2006;96:831-5.
  9. Johnson DW, van Eps C, Mudge DW, et al. Randomized, controlled trial of topical exit-site application of honey (Medihoney) versus mupirocin for the prevention of catheter-associated infections in hemodialysis patients. J Am Soc Nephrol 2005;16:1456-62. PubMed
  10. Sukriti and Garg, S. K. Influence of honey on the pharmacokinetics of phenytoin in rabbits. Ind J Pharmacol 2002;34(147).
  11. Jung, A. and Ottosson, J. [Infantile botulism caused by honey]. Ugeskr Laeger 2001;163(2):169.
  12. Gunduz, A., Turedi, S., Uzun, H., and Topbas, M. Mad honey poisoning. Am J Emerg.Med 2006;24(5):595-598.
  13. van der Vorst, M. M., Jamal, W., Rotimi, V. O., and Moosa, A. Infant botulism due to consumption of contaminated commercially prepared honey. First report from the Arabian Gulf States. Med Princ.Pract. 2006;15(6):456-458. PubMed
  14. Tushar, T., Vinod, T., Rajan, S., Shashindran, C., and Adithan, C. Effect of honey on CYP3A4, CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 enzyme activity in healthy human volunteers. Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol 2007;100(4):269-272. PubMed
  15. Nilforoushzadeh, M. A., Jaffary, F., Moradi, S., Derakhshan, R., and Haftbaradaran, E. Effect of topical honey application along with intralesional injection of glucantime in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis. BMC Complement Altern Med 2007;7:13. 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 Honey and Phenylephrine Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Honey with Phenylephrine?
We do not list a known interaction between Honey and Phenylephrine. 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 Honey and Phenylephrine have any of the same side effects?
Yes — our sources link each of them separately to 3 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.
How was the Honey and Phenylephrine combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Phenylephrine is filed under 5 classifications, and Honey has documented interactions with 3 drug classes — none of Phenylephrine'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 Honey interact with any other medications?
Yes. Honey has 738 documented drug interactions in our database — Phenylephrine 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 Phenylephrine interact with any supplements?
Yes. Phenylephrine has documented interactions with 81 supplements in our database — Honey is not one of them. The Phenylephrine 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

Honey monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Phenylephrine drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Phenylephrine supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Phenylephrine, 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 40 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Phenylephrine and Honey?

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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.