Drug & supplement interaction

Horny Goat Weed + Tolnaftate

Tolnaftate brand name: Tinactin.

No Known Interaction
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Horny Goat Weed and Tolnaftate 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

Horny Goat Weed and Tolnaftate

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 Tolnaftate and Horny Goat Weed 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.

Horny Goat Weed safety at a glance

Horny Goat Weed overall Use caution Human safety data is limited; short-term use may be tolerated but quality varies between products.
Pregnancy Possibly Unsafe When used orally. Horny goat weed might have androgenic activity. Theoretically, it might harm a developing fetus; avoid using. Read the full pregnancy detail
Breastfeeding Avoid Not enough safety data; avoid while breastfeeding.

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 Tolnaftate and Horny Goat Weed? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Tolnaftate

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Tolnaftate is filed under 2 classifications — antifungals, oral drugs. Horny Goat Weed has documented interactions with 6 drug classes — the most serious being anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs (moderate), antihypertensive drugs (moderate) and cytochrome p450 1a2 (cyp1a2) substrates (moderate) — and none of Tolnaftate’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

Horny Goat Weed Does Interact With Other Medications

Horny Goat Weed has 963 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Tolnaftate 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 Horny Goat Weed

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

What to actually watch for

What Horny Goat Weed Itself Has Been Linked To

This is not an interaction — nothing below involves Tolnaftate. It is the side-effect record for Horny Goat Weed on its own, from the licensed Natural Medicines monograph. If something new turns up after you add Horny Goat Weed, this list is the first place to look. 2 entries are worth acting on rather than waiting out — marked below.

  • Liver problems Worth acting on Additional detail

    “A case of hepatotoxicity characterized by abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and fever has been reported in a 40-year-old male patient with hepatitis C, after a month of taking one tablet daily of a combination product containing horny goat weed and multiple other ingredients (Enzyte, Vianda).”

    Horny Goat Weed · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in hepatitis.

    2 sources cited
    1. 91590. Ramanathan VS, Mitropoulos E, Shlopov B, et al. An Enzyte'ing' case of acute hepatitis. J Clin Gastroenterol 2011;45(9):834-5. PubMed
    2. 112707. Tan K, Yang W, Pang L, Hou F. Differences in clinical characteristics among 726 patients with Chinese herbal medicine- or Western medicine-induced liver injury. Medicine (Baltimore) 2022;101(32):e29909. PubMed
  • Bleeding or bruising Worth acting on Additional detail

    “Orally, long-term use of horny goat weed has been associated with reports of vomiting, dry mouth, thirst, and nosebleed.”

    Horny Goat Weed · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in dry mouth.

    1 source cited
    1. 10346. Cirigliano MD, Szapary PO. Horny goat weed for erectile dysfunction. Alt Med Alert 2001;4:19-22.
  • Increased thirst / Dry mouth / Vomiting Additional detail

    Recorded for Horny Goat Weed in the same Natural Medicines adverse-effect record shown under Bleeding or bruising above.

  • Fever / Stomach pain / Nausea Additional detail

    Recorded for Horny Goat Weed in the same Natural Medicines adverse-effect record shown under Liver problems above.

  • Dizziness Additional detail

    “Orally, long-term use of horny goat weed has been associated with reports of dizziness.”

    Horny Goat Weed · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in vertigo.

    1 source cited
    1. 10346. Cirigliano MD, Szapary PO. Horny goat weed for erectile dysfunction. Alt Med Alert 2001;4:19-22.

Everything above comes from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record for Horny Goat Weed — expand a row for the licensed statement it rests on. We haven’t matched Tolnaftate to its FDA label in our system yet, so we can’t compare its own side-effect list here — the leaflet that comes with your prescription is the authoritative list for Tolnaftate.

Special populations

Horny Goat Weed in Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Pregnancy Possibly Unsafe

When used orally. Horny goat weed might have androgenic activity. Theoretically, it might harm a developing fetus; 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

From our Q&A

Questions About Horny Goat Weed or Tolnaftate

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

This page covers Horny Goat Weed only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Tolnaftate page lists 20 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 · 12 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Tolnaftate page

“For anyone using tolnaftate (Tinactin), the antifungal in athlete's foot creams and sprays, activated charcoal is the interaction to understand before all others. It holds the only major rating among the 20 ingredients on file, since charcoal binds many medicines and can lower how much reaches the body, even drugs not given by mouth.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Tolnaftate interaction page

One more smart check

Taking Horny Goat Weed as Part of a Dietary Supplement Product? Check It for Interactions

We hold 183 real supplement products containing Horny Goat Weed, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Horny Goat Weed. Even though Horny Goat Weed itself has no known interaction with Tolnaftate, 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 Horny Goat Weed and Tolnaftate 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 Horny Goat Weed
Top 25%

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

29 days ago today
Medication Tolnaftate
Steady interest

#1,725 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 Horny Goat Weed reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Horny Goat Weed and Tolnaftate records this page draws on were last updated July 11, 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 Horny Goat Weed

What is Horny Goat Weed?

Horny Goat Weed
  • Erectile dysfunction
  • Low libido
  • Fatigue and low energy
  • Bone health
  • Joint and menopausal symptoms
  • General 'vitality' or performance

Horny goat weed (Epimedium) is a traditional Chinese herb most often marketed for low libido and erectile problems, but solid human evidence for these uses is lacking. While short-term use seems generally tolerated by some people, quality and safety are not well studied, so talk to your pharmacist or doctor before trying it—especially if you have heart problems or take other medicines.

Epimedium grandiflorum · Berberidaceae · Leaves and aerial parts (sometimes whole herb) · Capsules, tablets, powders, tinctures, teas, and combination products

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

Horny Goat Weed: dosing

There is no well-established standard dose for horny goat weed. Products differ a lot in how they are made and how much active compound they contain, so amounts on labels are not comparable across brands.If you choose to try it, follow the directions on the product label and do not exceed the recommended amount.

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

Read the full Horny Goat Weed monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Tolnaftate

What Is Tolnaftate Used For?

Brand name: Tinactin

Tolnaftate treats common fungal skin infections — specifically athlete's foot (tinea pedis), jock itch (tinea cruris), and ringworm (tinea corporis). It also helps relieve the itching, cracking, burning, scaling, redness, and soreness that come with these infections.

Several products also help prevent athlete's foot from coming back with regular daily use. Note that tolnaftate is not effective on the scalp or nails — though some patch products are applied around the nail and cuticle area to address skin surrounding the nail.

Most-Reported Side Effects for Tolnaftate

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (1,403 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Fatigue 88 reports
Nausea 86 reports
Dyspnea 80 reports
Diarrhea 73 reports
Anxiety 69 reports
See full Tolnaftate drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Horny Goat Weed

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

0Major
963Moderate
0Minor
1,866No known interaction
Moderate

963 interactions

Showing 60 of 963 moderate interactions — see all 963 on the Horny Goat Weed page.

No interaction 1,866 drugs checked — show the list
Evidence & sources

Horny Goat Weed References

The 11 references that drive our Horny Goat Weed 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. Cirigliano MD, Szapary PO. Horny goat weed for erectile dysfunction. Alt Med Alert 2001;4:19-22.
  2. Partin JF, Pushkin YR. Tachyarrhythmia and hypomania with horny goat weed. Psychosomatics 2004;45:536-7. PubMed
  3. De Naeyer A, Pocock V, Milligan S, De Keukeleire D. Estrogenic activity of a polyphenolic extract of the leaves of Epimedium brevicornum. Fitoterapia 2005;76:35-40. PubMed
  4. Zhang CZ, Wang SX, Zhang Y, et al. In vitro estrogenic activities of Chinese medicinal plants traditionally used for the management of menopausal symptoms. J Ethnopharmacol 2005;98:295-300. PubMed
  5. Yap SP, Shen P, Li J, et al. Molecular and pharmacodynamic properties of estrogenic extracts from the traditional Chinese medicinal herb, Epimedium. J Ethnopharmacol 2007;113:218-24. PubMed
  6. Yan, F. F., Liu, Y., Liu, Y. F., and Zhao, Y. X. Herba Epimedii water extract elevates estrogen level and improves lipid metabolism in postmenopausal women. Phytother.Res. 2008;22(9):1224-1228. PubMed
  7. Ramanathan VS, Mitropoulos E, Shlopov B, et al. An Enzyte'ing' case of acute hepatitis. J Clin Gastroenterol 2011;45(9):834-5. PubMed
  8. Zhong Q, Shi Z, Zhang L, et al. The potential of Epimedium koreanum Nakai for herb-drug interaction. J Pharm Pharmacol 2017;69(10):1398-408. doi: 10.1111/jphp.12773.
  9. Irfan M, Kwon TH, Lee DH, et al. Antiplatelet and Antithrombotic Effects of Epimedium koreanum Nakai. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. Apr 2021;2021:7071987. PubMed
  10. Tan K, Yang W, Pang L, Hou F. Differences in clinical characteristics among 726 patients with Chinese herbal medicine- or Western medicine-induced liver injury. Medicine (Baltimore) 2022;101(32):e29909. PubMed
  11. Li K, Yu XH, Maskey AR, et al. Cytochrome P450 3A4 suppression by epimedium and active compound kaempferol leads to synergistic anti-inflammatory effect with corticosteroid. Front Pharmacol 2023;13:1042756. 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 Horny Goat Weed and Tolnaftate Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Horny Goat Weed with Tolnaftate?
We do not list a known interaction between Horny Goat Weed and Tolnaftate. 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 Horny Goat Weed and Tolnaftate combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Tolnaftate is filed under 2 classifications, and Horny Goat Weed has documented interactions with 6 drug classes — none of Tolnaftate'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 Horny Goat Weed interact with any other medications?
Yes. Horny Goat Weed has 963 documented drug interactions in our database — Tolnaftate 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 Tolnaftate interact with any supplements?
Yes. Tolnaftate has documented interactions with 20 supplements in our database — Horny Goat Weed is not one of them. The Tolnaftate 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 Tolnaftate and Horny Goat Weed?

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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.