Drug & supplement interaction

Pu-erh Tea + Amitriptyline, Perphenazine

Amitriptyline, Perphenazine brand names: Triavil, Etrafon, Etrafon-A, Etrafon-Forte.

Minor Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated September 2026
The bottom line Minor

Amitriptyline, Perphenazine falls into 2 drug categories that Pu-erh Tea can interact with; the most serious is rated minor. Theoretically, phenothiazines might increase the levels and adverse effects of caffeine.

Read the full interaction report
SeverityMinor
LikelihoodPossible
Interactions2
EvidenceD
What do Severity, Likelihood & Evidence mean?
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Interaction report

Pu-erh Tea and Amitriptyline, Perphenazine

These two interact in 2 distinct ways. Each one is explained separately below.

Why Are There 2 Interactions?

Pu-erh Tea interacts with whole categories of medication. Amitriptyline, Perphenazine falls into 2 of those categories, so it can interact with Pu-erh Tea in 2 different ways. We’ve listed each one below — your overall risk is driven by the most serious of them (Minor).

Minor

PHENOTHIAZINES

1 of 2

Why this applies to Amitriptyline, Perphenazine

Amitriptyline, Perphenazine falls under PHENOTHIAZINES — the group Pu-erh Tea interacts with.

Theoretically, phenothiazines might increase the levels and adverse effects of caffeine. Also, pu-erh tea may bind to phenothiazines and reduce their absorption.
Pu-erh tea contains caffeine. Phenothiazines can reduce the metabolism of caffeine by inhibiting cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2). Additionally, the tannins in pu-erh tea may bind to phenothiazines in the gastrointestinal tract and reduce their absorption.
Severity Minor Likelihood Possible Evidence D

Interaction has been documented in animal or in lab research, or the interaction has been documented in humans but is limited to case reports or conflicting clinical research exists.

Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS
Dr. Brian Staiger explains PharmD, Clinical Pharmacist

Your medication combines amitriptyline (an antidepressant) with perphenazine (a phenothiazine). There are two gentle things worth knowing about pu-erh tea here, and both are fairly minor. First, the perphenazine part can slow how your body clears caffeine, so the caffeine in pu-erh may hang around longer than usual. That could mean a bit more jitteriness, a racing heart, or trouble sleeping if you drink a lot.

Second, the natural tannins in tea can bind to the medication in your stomach and slightly reduce how much you absorb. This is mostly theoretical and based on how these compounds behave, not strong human studies. A cup now and then is unlikely to be a problem. To play it safe, separate your tea from your dose by an hour or two, and check with your pharmacist or doctor if you have questions.

Contact Dr. Brian directly if you have additional questions on this interaction
References
  1. Lasswell WL Jr, Weber SS, Wilkins JM. In vitro interaction of neuroleptics and tricylic antidepressants with coffee, tea, and gallotannic acid. J Pharm Sci 1984;73:1056-8. PubMed
  2. Kulhanek F, Linde OK, Meisenberg G. Precipitation of antipsychotic drugs in interaction with coffee or tea. Lancet 1979;2:1130.
  3. Wojcikowski, J. and Daniel, W. A. Perazine at therapeutic drug concentrations inhibits human cytochrome P450 isoenzyme 1A2 (CYP1A2) and caffeine metabolism--an in vitro study. Pharmacol Rep. 2009;61(5):851-858. PubMed
  4. Daniel, W. A., Syrek, M., Rylko, Z., and Kot, M. Effects of phenothiazine neuroleptics on the rate of caffeine demethylation and hydroxylation in the rat liver. Pol.J Pharmacol 2001;53(6):615-621.
Minor

TRICYCLIC ANTIDEPRESSANTS (TCAs)

2 of 2

Amitriptyline, Perphenazine also falls under TRICYCLIC ANTIDEPRESSANTS (TCAs).

Theoretically, TCAs might bind with pu-erh tea constituents when taken at the same time.
In vitro research suggests that the tannins in pu-erh tea might cause precipitation of TCAs. However, this effect has not been reported in humans.
Severity Minor Likelihood Possible Evidence D

Interaction has been documented in animal or in lab research, or the interaction has been documented in humans but is limited to case reports or conflicting clinical research exists.

Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS
Dr. Brian Staiger explains PharmD, Clinical Pharmacist

Here's the gist with this combo product (which pairs amitriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant, with perphenazine, an antipsychotic). The concern is pretty mild. In a test tube, the tannins found in pu-erh tea can latch onto tricyclic molecules and cause them to clump up. If that happened in your stomach, in theory you might absorb a little less of your medicine, which could mean it doesn't work quite as well.

The reassuring part: this has only been seen in lab studies, never reported in actual people. So I wouldn't lose sleep over a cup of tea. If you drink pu-erh regularly, a simple fix is to space it a couple hours apart from your dose. Any questions, your pharmacist is happy to help.

Contact Dr. Brian directly if you have additional questions on this interaction
References
  1. Lasswell WL Jr, Weber SS, Wilkins JM. In vitro interaction of neuroleptics and tricylic antidepressants with coffee, tea, and gallotannic acid. J Pharm Sci 1984;73:1056-8. PubMed
  2. Kulhanek F, Linde OK, Meisenberg G. Precipitation of antipsychotic drugs in interaction with coffee or tea. Lancet 1979;2:1130.

What These Ratings Mean

Every interaction above is graded three ways — here’s the key to each label.

Severity how clinically significant the interaction is
Major

Clinically significant. Avoid the combination, or use only under close professional supervision.

Moderate

Usually worth avoiding or managing — may need monitoring, a dose change, or timing apart.

Minor

Generally not serious. Be aware of it and mention it to your pharmacist.

Likelihood how strong the evidence is that the interaction actually happens in people
  • LikelyWell-controlled human studies have demonstrated the likely existence of this interaction.
  • ProbableInteraction has not been documented in well-controlled studies, however, the interaction has been demonstrated in some small human studies or in controlled animal studies in conjunction with multiple case reports.
  • PossibleInteraction has been documented in animal or in lab research, or the interaction has been documented in humans but is limited to case reports or conflicting clinical research exists.
  • UnlikelyInteraction has been demonstrated in animal or in lab research but has been shown not to occur in humans.
Evidence the quality of the studies behind the rating (graded A–D)
  • AHigh-quality meta-analysis (quantitative systematic review).
  • BCase-control study.
  • CConsensus.
  • DAnecdotal evidence.

These ratings are for information only. Never start, stop, or otherwise change your therapy before speaking with your provider.

Keep it in perspective

Pu-erh Tea Also Interacts With Other Medications

Pu-erh Tea has 9 major, 448 moderate, 209 minor known drug interactions in our database — the Amitriptyline, Perphenazine one above is among them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Major 9 Moderate 448 Minor 209 No known interaction 2,164 (incl. Amitriptyline, Perphenazine)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Pu-erh Tea

Covers the 2,830 medications we’ve checked against Pu-erh Tea. Pick one to open its full report.

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Amitriptyline, Perphenazine

This page covers Pu-erh Tea only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Amitriptyline, Perphenazine page lists 311 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: 1,4-butanediol (major), Activated Charcoal (major), American Hellebore (major), Arsenic (major) and Beer (major).

By severity: 19 major · 235 moderate · 57 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Amitriptyline, Perphenazine page

“Alcohol is the risk I'd flag first for anyone taking amitriptyline with perphenazine (Triavil, Etrafon). Beer and wine both carry major ratings here, and 78 of the 311 ingredients on file deepen the drowsiness this antidepressant and antipsychotic combination already causes, sometimes to the point of slowed breathing.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Amitriptyline, Perphenazine interaction page

How much people look this up

Where Pu-erh Tea and Amitriptyline, Perphenazine 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 Pu-erh Tea
Steady interest

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

29 days ago today
Medication Amitriptyline, Perphenazine
Top half

#1,207 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.

Supplement

About Pu-erh Tea

What is Pu-erh Tea?

  • Weight management
  • Cholesterol and heart health
  • Digestion after meals
  • Mental alertness
  • General antioxidant support

Pu-erh tea is a fermented, aged form of tea made from the same plant as green and black tea. It is enjoyed worldwide as a beverage and is sometimes promoted for weight loss, cholesterol, and digestion, but human evidence for these uses is limited. As a normal drink it is generally well tolerated, though it does contain caffeine.

Read the full Pu-erh Tea monograph & all interactions
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Pu-erh Tea

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

9Major
448Moderate
209Minor
2,163No known interaction
9 Major 448 Moderate 209 Minor 2,163 No interaction
Major

9 interactions

Moderate

448 interactions

Showing 60 of 448 moderate interactions — see all 448 on the Pu-erh Tea page.

Minor

209 interactions

Showing 60 of 209 minor interactions — see all 209 on the Pu-erh Tea page.

No interaction 2,163 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,163 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Pu-erh Tea list.

See the full Pu-erh Tea interactions page
See every supplement checked against Amitriptyline, Perphenazine, ranked by severity
Sources

Sources & How We Checked

Interaction details are evidence-graded and sourced from the Natural Medicines database. The medication overview comes from MedlinePlus.

Content is written and reviewed by licensed HelloPharmacist pharmacists. See our data sources and editorial standards for how this information is built and checked.

Parts of this content are provided by the Therapeutic Research Center, LLC.

DISCLAIMER: Currently this does not check for drug-drug interactions. This is not an all-inclusive comprehensive list of potential interactions and is for informational purposes only. Not all interactions are known or well-reported in the scientific literature, and new interactions are continually being reported. Input is needed from a qualified healthcare provider including a pharmacist before starting any therapy. Application of clinical judgment is necessary.

© 2021 Therapeutic Research Center, LLC

Keep exploring
Pu-erh Tea monograph › Uses, safety, and every drug interaction in one place Amitriptyline, Perphenazine supplement interactions › Every supplement checked against Amitriptyline, Perphenazine, 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 Ask a pharmacist › Free, personal answer from our licensed team
Pharmacist Counseling Corner

Taking Pu-erh Tea and Amitriptyline, Perphenazine Together: Common Questions

Can you take Pu-erh Tea with Amitriptyline, Perphenazine?
There is only a minor interaction, which is usually not serious. Read the full details on this page and confirm with your pharmacist before combining them.
Why are there 2 interactions listed for Pu-erh Tea and Amitriptyline, Perphenazine?
Amitriptyline, Perphenazine belongs to more than one drug category, and Pu-erh Tea interacts with each of those categories a little differently. We list every one so nothing is missed — your overall risk is driven by the most serious of them.
How serious is the Pu-erh Tea and Amitriptyline, Perphenazine interaction?
We rate it Minor. This interaction is generally not clinically significant, but it remains worth noting and discussing with your pharmacist.

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

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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.