Drug & supplement interaction

Puravive + Cisapride

Cisapride brand name: Propulsid.

Moderate Interaction
The bottom line Moderate

Cisapride falls into 3 drug categories that Puravive can interact with; the most serious is rated moderate. Puravive contains Panax ginseng. Panax ginseng is thought to have an additive effect with drugs that prolong the QT interval, potentially increasing the risk of ventricular arrhythmias.

Read the full interaction report
SeverityModerate
LikelihoodPossible
Interactions3
EvidenceC
What do Severity, Likelihood & Evidence mean?
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Interaction report

Puravive and Cisapride

These two interact in 3 distinct ways. Each one is explained separately below.

Why Are There 3 Interactions?

Puravive interacts with whole categories of medication. Cisapride falls into 3 of those categories, so it can interact with Puravive in 3 different ways. We’ve listed each one below — your overall risk is driven by the most serious of them (Moderate).

Moderate

Qt Interval-Prolonging Drugs

1 of 3

Why this applies to Cisapride

Cisapride falls under Qt Interval-Prolonging Drugs — the group Puravive interacts with.

Puravive contains Panax ginseng. Panax ginseng is thought to have an additive effect with drugs that prolong the QT interval, potentially increasing the risk of ventricular arrhythmias. However, research findings on this matter are conflicting. Clinical studies indicate that short-term use of Panax ginseng can increase the QT interval (source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27240158/). However, no changes in the QT interval have been observed with prolonged use (source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11978148/).
Severity Moderate Likelihood Possible Evidence C

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 thing about cisapride (Propulsid): it's well known for affecting your heart's electrical timing, what we call the QT interval. When the QT interval stretches out too far, it can trigger a dangerous, irregular heartbeat. That's actually why this drug was pulled from regular use and is now tightly restricted.

Puravive contains Panax ginseng, which some short-term studies suggest may also nudge the QT interval a little longer. Piling that on top of cisapride could, in theory, add to the heart-rhythm risk. The evidence here is mixed and not strong, so I don't want to scare you. But because cisapride already carries a serious rhythm warning, I'd play it very safe. Please check with your pharmacist or doctor before combining these.

Minor

Cytochrome P450 3A4 (Cyp3A4) Substrates

2 of 3

Cisapride also falls under Cytochrome P450 3A4 (Cyp3A4) Substrates.

Puravive contains Panax ginseng. Panax ginseng has the potential to affect the breakdown of drugs that are metabolized by an enzyme called CYP3A4. One example of such a drug is imatinib. There was a case where imatinib was thought to have caused liver damage, and it was believed that this might have been due to Panax ginseng inhibiting CYP3A4, which is involved in imatinib's metabolism (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20332334/). On the other hand, Panax ginseng has been found to increase the breakdown of another drug called midazolam, which is also metabolized by CYP3A4 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21646440/), suggesting Panax ginseng induces CYP3A4 in some cases (i.e., makes more potent). Given these contradictory findings, it is important to use Panax ginseng cautiously if you are taking medications that are metabolized by CYP3A4, as the interaction between Panax ginseng and these drugs is not fully understood.
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 situation with cisapride (Propulsid). Your body relies on a liver enzyme called CYP3A4 to clear this drug out, and Puravive contains Panax ginseng, which can tinker with that same enzyme. The tricky part is that ginseng has gone both ways in studies, sometimes slowing the enzyme and sometimes speeding it up, so we can't say for sure which direction it would push cisapride.

This matters more than usual because cisapride can affect heart rhythm (a problem called QT prolongation). If its levels climbed, that risk could go up. The good news is the evidence here is weak and the interaction is rated minor, so I'm not raising alarms. Still, please run Puravive past your pharmacist or doctor before combining them.

Minor

P-Glycoprotein Substrates

3 of 3

Cisapride also falls under P-Glycoprotein Substrates.

Puravive contains quercetin. Theoretically, concurrent use of quercetin and P-glycoprotein substrates might alter the effects and adverse effects of the drugs. There is preliminary evidence suggesting that quercetin inhibits the P-glycoprotein efflux pump in the gastrointestinal tract. This inhibition could potentially increase the bioavailability and serum levels of drugs transported by this pump. For example, a small study in healthy volunteers found that pretreatment with quercetin increased bioavailability and plasma levels following a single dose of cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune) (source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15581264/). However, other small studies have shown that quercetin might decrease the absorption of talinolol, another substrate of the gastrointestinal P-glycoprotein efflux pump. Interestingly, several days of quercetin treatment did not significantly affect the pharmacokinetics of saquinavir (Invirase) in another small study (source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16945047/). The reason for these discrepancies is not entirely clear. Until more is known, it is advisable to use quercetin cautiously in combination with P-glycoprotein substrates.
Severity Minor Likelihood Possible Evidence C

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 situation with Puravive and your cisapride. Puravive contains quercetin, which in some small studies appears to block a transporter in your gut called P-glycoprotein. Cisapride is moved around by that same transporter, so in theory blocking it could let a bit more cisapride get into your bloodstream, raising your levels slightly.

Why this matters: cisapride is a drug that can affect your heart's rhythm at higher levels, and that's actually why it was pulled from regular U.S. pharmacy shelves. Even small increases could in theory raise the risk of a dangerous heartbeat problem. The evidence here is weak and theoretical, and the studies on quercetin have been inconsistent, but given how sensitive cisapride is, I'd play it safe. Please check with your doctor or pharmacist before combining them.

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

Puravive Also Interacts With Other Medications

Puravive has 356 moderate, 881 minor known drug interactions in our database — the Cisapride one above is among them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Puravive

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

From our Q&A

Questions About Puravive or Cisapride

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

This page covers Puravive only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Cisapride page lists 155 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), American Hellebore (major), Arsenic (major), Beer (major) and Cesium (major).

By severity: 10 major · 108 moderate · 37 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Cisapride page

“Cisapride (Propulsid), a gut-motility drug for stubborn heartburn, was withdrawn in many countries because high blood levels can trigger a dangerous heart rhythm, and that danger runs through its supplement list. Most entries share the CYP3A4 pathway the drug relies on, so anything that blocks the enzyme (grapefruit is the best documen…”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Cisapride interaction page

How much people look this up

Where Puravive and Cisapride 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 Puravive
Top half

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

29 days ago today
Medication Cisapride
Steady interest

#2,451 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 Puravive

What is Puravive?

Puravive
  • Weight management
  • Metabolism support
  • Energy levels
  • General wellness
  • Stress and brain health

Puravive is a branded, multi-ingredient capsule marketed mainly for weight loss by claiming to boost brown fat activity, but there is no published, independent clinical research showing the product itself works for this purpose. Some individual ingredients have been studied in laboratory or small human studies, but those results do not prove the finished blend is safe or effective. Talk to a pharmacist or doctor before trying it, especially if you have health conditions or take medications.

Read the full Puravive monograph & all interactions
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Puravive

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

0Major
356Moderate
881Minor
1,592No known interaction
Moderate

356 interactions

Showing 60 of 356 moderate interactions — see all 356 on the Puravive page.

Minor

881 interactions

Showing 60 of 881 minor interactions — see all 881 on the Puravive page.

No interaction 1,592 drugs checked — show the list
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
Pharmacist Counseling Corner

Taking Puravive and Cisapride Together: Common Questions

Can you take Puravive with Cisapride?
There is a moderate interaction, so it may be acceptable with monitoring or timing changes — but check with your pharmacist first. Read the full details on this page and confirm with your pharmacist before combining them.
Why are there 3 interactions listed for Puravive and Cisapride?
Cisapride belongs to more than one drug category, and Puravive 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 Puravive and Cisapride interaction?
We rate it Moderate. This combination may require monitoring, a dose adjustment, or separating the times you take each one. Consult your pharmacist before using them together.

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.