Drug & supplement interaction

Pau D'arco + lubiprostone

lubiprostone brand name: Amitiza.

No Known Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated July 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 20, 2026
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Pau D'arco and lubiprostone 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 lubiprostone states a food rule worth keeping to, and 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

Pau D'arco and lubiprostone

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 lubiprostone and Pau D'arco 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.

Pau D'arco safety at a glance

Pau D'arco overall Use caution May cause side effects at higher doses and human safety data is limited.
Pregnancy Possibly Unsafe When used orally in typical doses. Animal studies have found that lapachol, a constituent of pau d'arco, has teratogenic and abortifacient effects; avoid using.... Read the full pregnancy detail
Breastfeeding Avoid Not enough safety information is available, so 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 lubiprostone and Pau D'arco? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for lubiprostone

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. lubiprostone is filed under a single classification — oral drugs. Pau D'arco has documented interactions with 1 drug class — the most serious being anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs (moderate) — and none of lubiprostone’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

Pau D'arco Does Interact With Other Medications

Pau D'arco has 122 moderate known drug interactions in our database — lubiprostone isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 122 No known interaction 2,708 (incl. lubiprostone)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Pau D'arco

Covers the 2,830 medications we’ve checked against Pau D'arco. Pick one to open its full report.

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Pau D'arco and lubiprostone 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.

  • Diarrhea / Vomiting / Nausea Additional detail

    Pau D'arco

    “Orally, the lapachol constituent of pau d'arco, taken in doses above 1.5 grams daily, may cause severe nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.”

    Pau D'arco · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in diarrhea.

    1 source cited
    1. 91939. Block JB, Serpick AA, Miller W, Wiernik PH. Early clinical studies with lapachol (NSC-11905). Cancer Chemother Rep 2. 1974;4(4):27-8.

    lubiprostone

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

Reported for Pau D'arco but not commonly for lubiprostone: a skin rash, dizziness, bleeding or bruising and wheezing.

Effects for lubiprostone come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Pau D'arco come from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, quoted above. Wording is matched across sources by our own clinical vocabulary, so treat this as a prompt to pay attention, not a diagnosis.

Special populations

Pau D'arco in Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Pregnancy Possibly Unsafe

When used orally in typical doses. Animal studies have found that lapachol, a constituent of pau d'arco, has teratogenic and abortifacient effects; avoid using. There is insufficient reliable information available about the safety of pau d'arco when used topically in pregnancy; 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 lubiprostone Products Have a Food Rule — Pau D'arco Should Not Break It

At least one FDA label for a product containing lubiprostone says to take it with food. If you take Pau D'arco on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate — and take lubiprostone 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 lubiprostone 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.

Administration Instructions ( 2.2 ) • Swallow capsules whole and do not break apart or chew, • Take capsules with food and water, • Assess periodically the need for continuous therapy.

From the Dosage and Administration section of the FDA label we read for lubiprostone — where that label names a specific product, the instruction is that product's. Read the label on DailyMed ›

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.

Overlapping uses

What lubiprostone Is Prescribed For, and What Pau D'arco Has Been Studied For

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

lubiprostone is prescribed for: Lubiprostone capsules are used to treat three types of constipation-related conditions in adults: chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC) — long-term constipation with no clear cause; opioid-induced constipation (OIC) — constipation caused by opioid pain medicines in adults with chronic non-cancer pain; and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C). For OIC, lubiprostone has not been shown to work in people taking diphenylheptane opioids such as methadone. For IBS-C, approval is specifically for women 18 years of age and older. The brand Amitiza carries all three of these indications.

Pau D'arco has been studied for:

  • Cancer studied, not established Pau D'arco has been studied for this. Natural Medicines rates the evidence: Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate Read what the research shows

    Pau D'arco for cancer

    Although there has been interest in using oral pau d'arco for cancer, there is insufficient reliable information about the clinical effects of pau d'arco 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 lubiprostone on your own; if you are taking Pau D'arco 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 lubiprostone

This page covers Pau D'arco only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the lubiprostone page lists 17 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 · 9 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the lubiprostone page

“Every one of the 17 supplements on this page can interact with lubiprostone (Amitiza), the capsule prescribed for chronic constipation, by changing how much of the drug your gut absorbs. That calls for real vigilance, because most are fiber and bulking products like psyllium and glucomannan, exactly what constipation patients often try…”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the lubiprostone interaction page

One more smart check

Taking Pau D'arco as Part of a Dietary Supplement Product? Check It for Interactions

We hold 707 real supplement products containing Pau D'arco, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Pau D'arco. Even though Pau D'arco itself has no known interaction with lubiprostone, 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 Pau D'arco and lubiprostone 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 Pau D'arco
Top 25%

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

29 days ago today
Medication lubiprostone
Steady interest

#2,097 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 Pau D'arco reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Pau D'arco and lubiprostone 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 Pau D'arco

What is Pau D'arco?

Pau D'arco
  • Infections (bacterial, fungal, yeast)
  • Inflammation
  • Immune support
  • Digestive complaints
  • Skin conditions

Pau d'arco is a South American tree bark traditionally used for infections and inflammation, and it contains compounds like lapachol that show activity in lab studies. However, strong human evidence is lacking, and safety concerns exist at higher doses, so it should be used cautiously and discussed with a pharmacist or doctor first.

Handroanthus impetiginosus · Bignoniaceae · Inner bark · Tea (decoction), capsules, tablets, liquid extracts, tinctures

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

Pau D'arco: dosing

There is no well-established, standardized dose for pau d'arco. Products vary widely in strength and form, and the amount of active compounds can differ from one product to another.Because larger doses raise the risk of toxic effects, it is best to use the smallest reasonable amount, follow the directions on the product label, and not exceed them.

From our Pau D'arco monograph — the full record covers uses, side effects and every documented interaction.

Read the full Pau D'arco monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Lubiprostone

What Is Lubiprostone Used For?

Brand name: Amitiza

Lubiprostone capsules are used to treat three types of constipation-related conditions in adults: chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC) — long-term constipation with no clear cause; opioid-induced constipation (OIC) — constipation caused by opioid pain medicines in adults with chronic non-cancer pain; and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C).

For OIC, lubiprostone has not been shown to work in people taking diphenylheptane opioids such as methadone. For IBS-C, approval is specifically for women 18 years of age and older. The brand Amitiza carries all three of these indications.

See full Lubiprostone drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Pau D'arco

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

0Major
122Moderate
0Minor
2,707No known interaction
122 Moderate 2,707 No interaction
Moderate

122 interactions

Showing 60 of 122 moderate interactions — see all 122 on the Pau D'arco page.

No interaction 2,707 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,707 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Pau D'arco list.

See the full Pau D'arco interactions page
See every supplement checked against lubiprostone, ranked by severity
Evidence & sources

Pau D'arco References

The 6 references that drive our Pau D'arco 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. Gómez Castellanos JR, Prieto JM, Heinrich M. Red Lapacho (Tabebuia impetiginosa)--a global ethnopharmacological commodity? J Ethnopharmacol 2009;121:1-13. PubMed
  2. Guerra, Mde O., Mazoni, A. S., Brandao, M. A., and Peters, V. M. Toxicology of Lapachol in rats: embryolethality. Braz.J Biol. 2001;61(1):171-174. PubMed
  3. Felicio, A. C., Chang, C. V., Brandao, M. A., Peters, V. M., and Guerra, Mde O. Fetal growth in rats treated with lapachol. Contraception 2002;66(4):289-293. PubMed
  4. Son, D. J., Lim, Y., Park, Y. H., Chang, S. K., Yun, Y. P., Hong, J. T., Takeoka, G. R., Lee, K. G., Lee, S. E., Kim, M. R., Kim, J. H., and Park, B. S. Inhibitory effects of Tabebuia impetiginosa inner bark extract on platelet aggregation and vascular s
  5. Block JB, Serpick AA, Miller W, Wiernik PH. Early clinical studies with lapachol (NSC-11905). Cancer Chemother Rep 2. 1974;4(4):27-8.
  6. Algranti E, Mendonça EM, Ali SA, Kokron CM, Raile V. Occupational asthma caused by Ipe (Tabebuia spp) dust. J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol 2005;15(1):81-3.

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 Pau D'arco and lubiprostone Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Pau D'arco with lubiprostone?
We do not list a known interaction between Pau D'arco and lubiprostone. 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 Pau D'arco and lubiprostone 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.
Should I take Pau D'arco and lubiprostone at the same time of day?
At least one FDA label for a product containing lubiprostone says to take it with food. If you take Pau D'arco on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate and take lubiprostone with a meal where the label says to. Food instructions belong to the product rather than the ingredient — two lubiprostone products can differ — so check the directions on your own box. This is about absorption, not an interaction.
Are Pau D'arco and lubiprostone 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 Pau D'arco in each. That is a conversation for your prescriber, especially if lubiprostone is being adjusted to a target.
How was the Pau D'arco and lubiprostone combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. lubiprostone is filed under 1 classification, and Pau D'arco has documented interactions with 1 drug class — none of lubiprostone'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 Pau D'arco interact with any other medications?
Yes. Pau D'arco has 122 documented drug interactions in our database — lubiprostone 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 lubiprostone interact with any supplements?
Yes. lubiprostone has documented interactions with 17 supplements in our database — Pau D'arco is not one of them. The lubiprostone 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

Pau D'arco monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Lubiprostone drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication lubiprostone supplement interactions Every supplement checked against lubiprostone, 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 6 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About lubiprostone and Pau D'arco?

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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.