Drug & supplement interaction

Papaya + Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone

Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone brand names: Femhrt, Loestrin 21, Ovcon 35 21, Ovcon 50 28, Necon 0.5 35 21, and others.

No Known Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated July 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 13, 2026
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Papaya and Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone 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 Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone states a food rule worth keeping to.

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Interaction report

Papaya and Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone

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 Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone and Papaya 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.

Papaya safety at a glance

Papaya overall Use caution Ripe fruit is generally safe as food, but concentrated supplements and unripe papaya are less well studied.
Pregnancy Likely Safe When the ripe fruit is consumed in amounts commonly found in foods. Read the full pregnancy detail
Breastfeeding Likely Safe When the ripe fruit is consumed in amounts commonly found in foods. There is insufficient reliable information available about the safety of using papaya medici... 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 Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone and Papaya? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone is filed under 13 classifications — including progestin, contraceptive drugs, estrogens. Papaya has documented interactions with 4 drug classes — the most serious being amiodarone (cordarone) (moderate), antidiabetes drugs (moderate) and levothyroxine (synthroid, others) (moderate) — and none of Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone’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

Papaya Does Interact With Other Medications

Papaya has 92 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 92 No known interaction 2,738 (incl. Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Papaya

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

What to actually watch for

What Papaya Itself Has Been Linked To

This is not an interaction — nothing below involves Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone. It is the side-effect record for Papaya on its own, from the licensed Natural Medicines monograph. If something new turns up after you add Papaya, this list is the first place to look. One entry is worth acting on rather than waiting out — marked below.

  • An allergic reaction Worth acting on Additional detail

    “Orally, papain, a constituent of raw, unripe papaya, has been reported to cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals, including itchy watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing, abdominal cramps, sweating, and diarrhea (6,967). Papaya may also cause hypersensitivity reactions such as systemic contact dermatitis, which occur more commonly in people who are allergic to latex.”

    Papaya · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in allergic rhinitis (hay fever).

    6 sources cited
    1. 6. The Review of Natural Products by Facts and Comparisons. St. Louis, MO: Wolters Kluwer Co., 1999.
    2. 967. Mansfield LE, Ting S, Haverly RW, Yoo TJ. The incidence and clinical implications of hypersensitivity to papain in an allergic population, confirmed by blinded oral challenge. Ann Allergy 1985;55:541-3.
    3. 6197. Blanco C, Diaz-Perales A, Collada C, et al. Class I chitinases as potential panallergens involved in the latex-fruit syndrome. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1999;103(3 Pt 1):507-13. PubMed
    4. 7853. Diaz-Perales A, Collada C, Blanco C, et al. Cross-reactions in the latex-fruit syndrome: A relevant role of chitinases but not of complex asparagine-linked glycans. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1999;104:681-7. PubMed
    5. 57635. Castillo, R., Delgado, J., Quiralte, J., Blanco, C., and Carrillo, T. Food hypersensitivity among adult patients: epidemiological and clinical aspects. Allergol.Immunopathol.(Madr.) 1996;24(3):93-97.
    6. 67942. Iliev, D. and Elsner, P. Generalized drug reaction due to papaya juice in throat lozenges. Dermatology 1997;194(4):364-366. PubMed
  • A stuffy or runny nose / Sweating / Stomach pain / Diarrhea / A skin rash Additional detail

    Recorded for Papaya in the same Natural Medicines adverse-effect record shown under An allergic reaction above.

  • Vomiting / Nausea Additional detail

    “Orally, the leaf extract has been reported to cause nausea and vomiting in clinical research. A case of esophageal perforation has been reported for a previously healthy 27-year-old female who used papain, a constituent of papaya latex, to digest a piece of meat stuck in her esophagus.”

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

    2 sources cited
    1. 102799. Rajapakse S, de Silva NL, Weeratunga P, Rodrigo C, Sigera C, Fernando SD. Carica papaya extract in dengue: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2019;19(1):265. PubMed
    2. 93083. Andersen HA, Bernatz PE, Grindlay JH. Perforation of the esophagus after use of a digestant agent: report of case and experimental study. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1959;68:890-6. PubMed

Everything above comes from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record for Papaya — expand a row for the licensed statement it rests on. We read the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone’s FDA label too, and the two lists don’t meaningfully overlap — which is why no Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone column appears here.

Special populations

Papaya in Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Pregnancy Likely Safe

When the ripe fruit is consumed in amounts commonly found in foods.

Pregnancy Possibly Unsafe

When the unripe fruit containing papaya latex is used orally; avoid using. There is some concern that crude papain, a constituent of papaya latex, is teratogenic and embryotoxic; however, this might be due to extraneous substances rather than papain. Some evidence also suggests that high doses of papaya seed extract have abortifacient activity and can adversely affect fetal development. Theoretically, eating large amounts of papaya seeds may have similar effects.

Lactation Likely Safe

When the ripe fruit is consumed in amounts commonly found in foods. There is insufficient reliable information available about the safety of using papaya medicinally; 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

How to take them

Some Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone Products Have a Food Rule — Papaya Should Not Break It

At least one FDA label for a product containing Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone says to take it with food. If you take Papaya on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate — and take Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone 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 Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone 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.

Tablets should be taken regularly with a meal or at bedtime.

From the Dosage and Administration section of the FDA label we read for Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone — where that label names a specific product, the instruction is that product's.

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.

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone

This page covers Papaya only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone page lists 240 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Beer (major), Grapefruit (major), Siberian Cocklebur (major) and St. John's Wort (major).

By severity: 6 major · 196 moderate · 38 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone page

“If you take a birth control pill or hormone therapy containing ethinyl estradiol and norethindrone (Loestrin, Femhrt, and others), a few supplements can genuinely undermine it, so read this page with care. Six of the 240 ingredients on file are rated major, and those six come first.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 1,801 real supplement products containing Papaya, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Papaya. Even though Papaya itself has no known interaction with Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone, 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 Papaya and Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone 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 Papaya
Top 25%

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

29 days ago today
Medication Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone
Top 25%

#286 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 Papaya reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 13, 2026. The Papaya and Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone 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 Papaya

What is Papaya?

Papaya
  • Digestive upset and indigestion
  • Constipation
  • Wound and skin care (topical)
  • Intestinal parasites (traditional)
  • Supporting platelet counts in dengue (investigational)

Papaya is a tropical fruit that is nutritious and generally safe to eat as food, and it contains an enzyme called papain used as a digestive aid and meat tenderizer. Papaya leaf extract is being studied for raising platelet counts in dengue fever, but most other supplement uses have limited human evidence. Talk to your pharmacist or doctor before using concentrated papaya supplements, and avoid unripe (green) papaya and papaya seed products in pregnancy.

Carica papaya · Caricaceae · Fruit (ripe and unripe), leaves, seeds, and the latex (source of papain) · Fresh fruit, juice, dried leaf, leaf extract or tea, capsules, tablets, fermented papaya preparations, and topical products

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

Papaya: dosing

There is no official, standardized dose of papaya for any health condition. The amount of active compounds varies a lot between fresh fruit, juice, leaf extracts, and capsule products.If you choose to use a papaya supplement, the safest approach is to follow the directions on the product label and not exceed the recommended amount.

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

Read the full Papaya monograph & all interactions
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Papaya

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

0Major
92Moderate
0Minor
2,737No known interaction
92 Moderate 2,737 No interaction
Moderate

92 interactions

Showing 60 of 92 moderate interactions — see all 92 on the Papaya page.

No interaction 2,737 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,737 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Papaya list.

See the full Papaya interactions page
See every supplement checked against Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone, ranked by severity
Evidence & sources

Papaya References

The 14 references that drive our Papaya 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. Shaw D, Leon C, Kolev S, Murray V. Traditional remedies and food supplements: a 5-year toxicological study (1991-1995). Drug Saf 1997;17:342-56.
  4. Mansfield LE, Ting S, Haverly RW, Yoo TJ. The incidence and clinical implications of hypersensitivity to papain in an allergic population, confirmed by blinded oral challenge. Ann Allergy 1985;55:541-3.
  5. Blanco C, Diaz-Perales A, Collada C, et al. Class I chitinases as potential panallergens involved in the latex-fruit syndrome. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1999;103(3 Pt 1):507-13. PubMed
  6. Diaz-Perales A, Collada C, Blanco C, et al. Cross-reactions in the latex-fruit syndrome: A relevant role of chitinases but not of complex asparagine-linked glycans. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1999;104:681-7. PubMed
  7. Castillo, R., Delgado, J., Quiralte, J., Blanco, C., and Carrillo, T. Food hypersensitivity among adult patients: epidemiological and clinical aspects. Allergol.Immunopathol.(Madr.) 1996;24(3):93-97.
  8. Oderinde, O., Noronha, C., Oremosu, A., Kusemiju, T., and Okanlawon, O. A. Abortifacient properties of aqueous extract of Carica papaya (Linn) seeds on female Sprague-Dawley rats. Niger.Postgrad.Med J 2002;9(2):95-98. DOI
  9. Danese, C., Esposito, D., D'Alfonso, V., Cirene, M., Ambrosino, M., and Colotto, M. Plasma glucose level decreases as collateral effect of fermented papaya preparation use. Clin Ter. 2006;157(3):195-198.
  10. Iliev, D. and Elsner, P. Generalized drug reaction due to papaya juice in throat lozenges. Dermatology 1997;194(4):364-366. PubMed
  11. Andersen HA, Bernatz PE, Grindlay JH. Perforation of the esophagus after use of a digestant agent: report of case and experimental study. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1959;68:890-6. PubMed
  12. Deiana L, Marini S, Mariotti S. Ingestion of large amounts of papaya fruit and impaired effectiveness of levothyroxine therapy. Endocr Pract 2012;18(1):98-100. PubMed
  13. Rodrigues M, Alves G, Francisco J, Fortuna A, Falcão A. Herb-drug pharmacokinetic interaction between Carica papaya extract and amiodarone in rats. J Pharm Pharm Sci 2014;17(3):302-15. PubMed
  14. Rajapakse S, de Silva NL, Weeratunga P, Rodrigo C, Sigera C, Fernando SD. Carica papaya extract in dengue: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2019;19(1):265. 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 Papaya and Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Papaya with Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone?
We do not list a known interaction between Papaya and Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone. 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.
Should I take Papaya and Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone at the same time of day?
At least one FDA label for a product containing Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone says to take it with food. If you take Papaya on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate and take Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone with a meal where the label says to. Food instructions belong to the product rather than the ingredient — two Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone products can differ — so check the directions on your own box. This is about absorption, not an interaction.
How was the Papaya and Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone is filed under 13 classifications, and Papaya has documented interactions with 4 drug classes — none of Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone'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 Papaya interact with any other medications?
Yes. Papaya has 92 documented drug interactions in our database — Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone 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 Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone interact with any supplements?
Yes. Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone has documented interactions with 240 supplements in our database — Papaya is not one of them. The Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone 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

Papaya monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Ethinyl Estradiol, Norethindrone, 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

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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.