Drug & supplement interaction

Hoodia + Cabotegravir Sodium

Cabotegravir Sodium brand name: Vocabria.

No Known Interaction
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Hoodia and Cabotegravir Sodium 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

Hoodia and Cabotegravir Sodium

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 Cabotegravir Sodium and Hoodia 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.

Hoodia safety at a glance

Hoodia overall Use caution Limited safety data exist, and side effects and product quality concerns have been reported.
Pregnancy Avoid There is not enough safety information, so avoid use during pregnancy.
Breastfeeding Avoid There is not enough safety information, so avoid use while breastfeeding.

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

Still wondering about combining Cabotegravir Sodium and Hoodia? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Cabotegravir Sodium

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Cabotegravir Sodium is filed under 2 classifications — glucuronidated drugs, oral drugs. Hoodia has documented interactions with 4 drug classes — the most serious being antidiabetes drugs (moderate), antihypertensive drugs (moderate) and beta-blockers (moderate) — and none of Cabotegravir Sodium’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

Hoodia Does Interact With Other Medications

Hoodia has 262 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Cabotegravir Sodium isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Hoodia

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

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Hoodia and Cabotegravir Sodium 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.

  • Dizziness / Headache Additional detail

    Hoodia

    “Orally, hoodia has been reported to cause minor adverse effects including disturbances of skin sensation, headache, dizziness, giddiness, and nausea. There is also concern that hoodia may increase blood pressure and heart rate.”

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

    1 source cited
    1. 18052. Blom WAM, Abrahamse SL, Bradford R, et al. Effects of 15-d repeated consumption of Hoodia gordonii purified extract on safety, ad libitum energy intake, and body weight in healthy, overweight women: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr 2011;94(5) PubMed

    “Orally, hoodia extract has been reported to cause headache, dizziness, and giddiness.”

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

    1 source cited
    1. 18052. Blom WAM, Abrahamse SL, Bradford R, et al. Effects of 15-d repeated consumption of Hoodia gordonii purified extract on safety, ad libitum energy intake, and body weight in healthy, overweight women: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr 2011;94(5) PubMed

    Cabotegravir Sodium

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

  • Nausea reported in 3.7% of FDA reports for Cabotegravir Sodium Additional detail

    Hoodia

    “Orally, hoodia extract has been reported to cause nausea.”

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

    1 source cited
    1. 18052. Blom WAM, Abrahamse SL, Bradford R, et al. Effects of 15-d repeated consumption of Hoodia gordonii purified extract on safety, ad libitum energy intake, and body weight in healthy, overweight women: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr 2011;94(5) PubMed

    Cabotegravir Sodium

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

Effects for Cabotegravir Sodium come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Hoodia come from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, quoted above. Where a percentage is shown, it is the share of 1,558 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Cabotegravir Sodium 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.

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Cabotegravir Sodium

This page covers Hoodia only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Cabotegravir Sodium page lists 29 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Breadfruit (moderate), Brussels Sprout (moderate), Cabbage (moderate) and Calcium D-glucarate (moderate).

By severity: 1 major · 18 moderate · 10 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Cabotegravir Sodium page

“Cabotegravir (Vocabria) is an HIV medicine, and keeping its blood level steady is what keeps the virus suppressed, so I read this list of 29 interacting supplements with genuine concern. The one major entry is activated charcoal, a popular detox remedy that soaks up drugs in the gut and cuts how much reaches you.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Cabotegravir Sodium interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 283 real supplement products containing Hoodia, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Hoodia. Even though Hoodia itself has no known interaction with Cabotegravir Sodium, 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 Hoodia and Cabotegravir Sodium 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 Hoodia
Top half

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

29 days ago today
Medication Cabotegravir Sodium
Steady interest

#1,881 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 Hoodia reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 13, 2026. The Hoodia and Cabotegravir Sodium 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 Hoodia

What is Hoodia?

Hoodia
  • Appetite suppression
  • Weight loss
  • Reducing food cravings
  • Traditional use for hunger and thirst on long journeys

Hoodia is a succulent plant from southern Africa that is marketed as an appetite suppressant for weight loss, but solid human evidence that it actually works is lacking. The few quality studies done have not shown meaningful weight loss, and some products on the market may not even contain real hoodia. Talk with your pharmacist or doctor before trying it, and avoid it if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Hoodia gordonii · Apocynaceae · Stem (aerial parts) · Capsules, tablets, powders, liquid extracts, teas, chews

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

Hoodia: dosing

There is no established, well-studied dose for hoodia. Products vary widely in their strength, purity, and how they are made, and some may not contain genuine hoodia at all.If you choose to try a hoodia supplement, follow the directions on the product label and do not exceed the recommended amount.

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

Read the full Hoodia monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Cabotegravir

What Is Cabotegravir Used For?

Brand name: Vocabria

Vocabria (cabotegravir) tablets are used in combination with rilpivirine (Edurant) to treat HIV-1 infection in adults and adolescents aged 12 and older who weigh at least 35 kg and whose HIV is already virologically suppressed (virus levels undetectable or very low on their current regimen). Vocabria tablets serve as a short-term oral lead-in — taken for roughly one month — before switching to long-acting injectable therapy.

Cabotegravir tablets are also used as an oral lead-in for HIV-1 pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) — helping HIV-negative adults and adolescents (weighing at least 35 kg) confirm they tolerate the drug before starting injectable PrEP. Both uses require confirmed HIV-negative status before starting.

Most-Reported Side Effects for Cabotegravir Sodium

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (1,558 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Viral load increased 109 reports
Injection site pain 105 reports
Virologic failure 64 reports
Hepatitis b 63 reports
Pathogen resistance 61 reports
See full Cabotegravir drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Hoodia

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

0Major
262Moderate
0Minor
2,567No known interaction
Moderate

262 interactions

Showing 60 of 262 moderate interactions — see all 262 on the Hoodia page.

No interaction 2,567 drugs checked — show the list
Evidence & sources

Hoodia References

The 3 references that drive our Hoodia 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. Blom WAM, Abrahamse SL, Bradford R, et al. Effects of 15-d repeated consumption of Hoodia gordonii purified extract on safety, ad libitum energy intake, and body weight in healthy, overweight women: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr 2011;94(5) PubMed
  2. Roza O, Lovász N, Zupkó I, Hohmann J, Csupor D. Sympathomimetic activity of a Hoodia gordonii product: a possible mechanism of cardiovascular side effects. Biomed Res Int. 2013;2013:171059.
  3. Zhang S, Ma Y, Li J, et al. Molecular matchmaking between the popular weight-loss herb Hoodia gordonii and GPR119, a potential drug target for metabolic disorder. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014;111(40):14571-6.

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 Hoodia and Cabotegravir Sodium Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Hoodia with Cabotegravir Sodium?
We do not list a known interaction between Hoodia and Cabotegravir Sodium. 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 Hoodia and Cabotegravir Sodium 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 Hoodia and Cabotegravir Sodium combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Cabotegravir Sodium is filed under 2 classifications, and Hoodia has documented interactions with 4 drug classes — none of Cabotegravir Sodium'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 Hoodia interact with any other medications?
Yes. Hoodia has 262 documented drug interactions in our database — Cabotegravir Sodium 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 Cabotegravir Sodium interact with any supplements?
Yes. Cabotegravir Sodium has documented interactions with 29 supplements in our database — Hoodia is not one of them. The Cabotegravir Sodium interaction page linked on this page lists every one, ranked by severity.

Written and reviewed by the HelloPharmacist editorial staff. Our editorial policy

Still Have a Question About Cabotegravir Sodium and Hoodia?

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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.