Drug & supplement interaction

Skullcap + Ethambutol

Ethambutol brand names: Myambutol, Etibi.

No Known Interaction
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Skullcap and Ethambutol 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 Ethambutol states a food rule worth keeping to.

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Interaction report

Skullcap and Ethambutol

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 Ethambutol and Skullcap 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.

Skullcap safety at a glance

Skullcap overall Use caution Often used short-term, but evidence is limited and product quality varies, so use with care.
Pregnancy Avoid Not enough safety data, so it is best avoided during pregnancy.
Breastfeeding Avoid Safety is unknown, so avoid while breastfeeding.

Safety guidance is general; always confirm with your pharmacist or doctor for your situation.

Still wondering about combining Ethambutol and Skullcap? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Ethambutol

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Ethambutol is filed under a single classification — oral drugs. Skullcap has documented interactions with 1 drug class — the most serious being cns depressants (moderate) — and none of Ethambutol’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

Skullcap Does Interact With Other Medications

Skullcap has 248 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Ethambutol 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 Skullcap

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

What to actually watch for

What Skullcap Itself Has Been Linked To

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

  • Memory problems Worth acting on Additional detail

    “A single skullcap extract dose of 100 mg does not seem to have adverse CNS effects. However, a higher dose of 200 mg might cause sedation and cognitive impairment. One patient taking skullcap 350 mg three times daily for 2 weeks reported vivid dreams. It is unclear if this event was associated with skullcap.”

    Skullcap · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in cognitive impairment.

    2 sources cited
    1. 12216. Wolfson P, Hoffmann DL. An investigation into the efficacy of Scutellaria lateriflora in healthy volunteers. Altern Ther Health Med 2003;9:74-8.
    2. 91690. Brock C, Whitehouse J, Tewfik I, Towell T. American skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora): a randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study of its effects on mood in healthy volunteers. Phytother Res 2014;28(5):692-8.
  • Vivid dreams or nightmares Additional detail

    Recorded for Skullcap in the same Natural Medicines adverse-effect record shown under Memory problems above.

  • Drowsiness Additional detail

    Recorded for Skullcap in the same Natural Medicines adverse-effect record shown under Memory problems above.

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

How to take them

Some Ethambutol Products Have a Food Rule — Skullcap Should Not Break It

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

Absorption is not significantly altered by administration with food.

From the Dosage and Administration section of the FDA label we read for Ethambutol — where that label names a specific product, the instruction is that product's. See the Ethambutol drug page ›

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.

From our Q&A

Questions About Skullcap or Ethambutol

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

This page covers Skullcap only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Ethambutol 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.

Open the Ethambutol interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 926 real supplement products containing Skullcap, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Skullcap. Even though Skullcap itself has no known interaction with Ethambutol, 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 Skullcap and Ethambutol 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 Skullcap
Top 25%

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

29 days ago today
Medication Ethambutol
Steady interest

#1,989 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 Skullcap reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Skullcap and Ethambutol records this page draws on were last updated July 10, 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 Skullcap

What is Skullcap?

Skullcap
  • Anxiety and stress
  • Trouble sleeping
  • Nervous tension
  • Muscle spasms
  • General relaxation

American skullcap is an herb traditionally used to calm anxiety and promote relaxation, but solid human evidence is very limited. It is generally considered relatively safe for short-term use in healthy adults, though it should be avoided in pregnancy and breastfeeding and used cautiously because of possible liver concerns and product mislabeling.

Scutellaria lateriflora · Lamiaceae · Above-ground parts (leaves, stems, and flowers) · Tea, capsules, tinctures, liquid extracts, dried herb

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

Skullcap: dosing

There is no official, standardized dose for American skullcap. The right amount can vary depending on the product and the form (tea, capsule, or tincture).The safest approach is to follow the directions on the product label and not take more than recommended.

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

Read the full Skullcap monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Ethambutol

What Is Ethambutol Used For?

Brand names: Myambutol, Etibi

Ethambutol hydrochloride tablets are used to treat pulmonary tuberculosis — TB that affects the lungs. It must always be taken with at least one other anti-TB medication, never on its own.

For people being treated for TB for the first time, ethambutol is commonly paired with isoniazid, or with isoniazid and streptomycin. For people who have been treated for TB before, it is combined with other second-line anti-TB drugs chosen based on which medicines the bacteria are still sensitive to.

See full Ethambutol drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Skullcap

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

0Major
248Moderate
0Minor
2,581No known interaction
Moderate

248 interactions

Showing 60 of 248 moderate interactions — see all 248 on the Skullcap page.

No interaction 2,581 drugs checked — show the list
Evidence & sources

Skullcap References

The 3 references that drive our Skullcap 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. Wolfson P, Hoffmann DL. An investigation into the efficacy of Scutellaria lateriflora in healthy volunteers. Altern Ther Health Med 2003;9:74-8.
  2. Awad, R., Arnason, J. T., Trudeau, V., Bergeron, C., Budzinski, J. W., Foster, B. C., and Merali, Z. Phytochemical and biological analysis of skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora L.): a medicinal plant with anxiolytic properties. Phytomedicine. 2003;10(8):6 PubMed
  3. Brock C, Whitehouse J, Tewfik I, Towell T. American skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora): a randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study of its effects on mood in healthy volunteers. Phytother Res 2014;28(5):692-8.

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 Skullcap and Ethambutol Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Skullcap with Ethambutol?
We do not list a known interaction between Skullcap and Ethambutol. 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 Skullcap and Ethambutol at the same time of day?
At least one FDA label for a product containing Ethambutol says to take it with food. If you take Skullcap on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate and take Ethambutol with a meal where the label says to. Food instructions belong to the product rather than the ingredient — two Ethambutol products can differ — so check the directions on your own box. This is about absorption, not an interaction.
How was the Skullcap and Ethambutol combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Ethambutol is filed under 1 classification, and Skullcap has documented interactions with 1 drug class — none of Ethambutol'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 Skullcap interact with any other medications?
Yes. Skullcap has 248 documented drug interactions in our database — Ethambutol 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 Ethambutol interact with any supplements?
Yes. Ethambutol has documented interactions with 17 supplements in our database — Skullcap is not one of them. The Ethambutol 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 Ethambutol and Skullcap?

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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.