Drug & supplement interaction

Stevia + Ambrisentan

Ambrisentan brand names: Letairis, Volibris.

Minor Interaction
The bottom line Minor

Stevia has a minor interaction with Ambrisentan. Theoretically, combining stevia or stevia constituents with antihypertensive agents might increase the risk of hypotension.

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

Stevia and Ambrisentan

Here is the interaction we found between these two, with the evidence behind it.

Minor

ANTIHYPERTENSIVE DRUGS

Why this applies to Ambrisentan

Ambrisentan falls under ANTIHYPERTENSIVE DRUGS — the group Stevia interacts with.

Theoretically, combining stevia or stevia constituents with antihypertensive agents might increase the risk of hypotension.
Stevia extract and stevioside might lower blood pressure in patients with hypertension. However, other clinical research suggests that stevioside does not significantly lower blood pressure in patients with hypertension.
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 stevia and your ambrisentan (Letairis). Ambrisentan relaxes the blood vessels in your lungs to ease pulmonary arterial hypertension. The thought is that stevia, in concentrated supplement form, might nudge blood pressure down a little on its own. Stack that on top of ambrisentan and, in theory, your blood pressure could dip a bit more than expected, leaving you lightheaded, dizzy, or tired.

I'll be honest with you: this is a theoretical concern, and the human studies are mixed, with some showing no real blood pressure effect at all. The pinch of stevia you sprinkle in coffee is very unlikely to matter. If you're taking daily stevia capsules or extracts, just mention it to your pharmacist or doctor so they can keep an eye on things.

References
  1. Chan P, Xu DY, Liu JC, et al. The effect of stevioside on blood pressure and plasma catecholamines in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Life Sci 1998;63:1679-84. PubMed
  2. Melis MS. Chronic administration of aqueous extract of Stevia rebaudiana in rats: renal effects. J Ethnopharmacol 1995;47:129-34. PubMed
  3. Melis MS, Sainati AR. Effect of calcium and verapamil on renal function of rats during treatment with stevioside. J Ethnopharmacol 1991;33:257-622. PubMed
  4. Hsieh MH, Chan P, Sue YM, et al. Efficacy and tolerability of oral stevioside in patients with mild essential hypertension: a two-year, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Clin Ther 2003;25:2797-808. PubMed
  5. Chan P, Tomlinson B, Chen YJ, et al. A double-blind placebo-controlled study of the effectiveness and tolerability of oral stevioside in human hypertension. Br J Clin Pharmacol 2000;50:215-20. PubMed
  6. Ferri LA, Alves-Do-Prado W, Yamada SS, et al. Investigation of the antihypertensive effect of oral crude stevioside in patients with mild essential hypertension. Phytother Res 2006;20:732-6. PubMed

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

Stevia Also Interacts With Other Medications

Stevia has 1 moderate, 257 minor known drug interactions in our database — the Ambrisentan one above is one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Stevia

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

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Ambrisentan

This page covers Stevia only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Ambrisentan page lists 256 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

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

By severity: 9 major · 210 moderate · 37 minor.

Open the Ambrisentan interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 1,899 real supplement products containing Stevia, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Stevia. Your product may carry other ingredients that interact with Ambrisentan too, on top of Stevia — and those would not show on this page. Find your product and we’ll check every ingredient on its label:

How much people look this up

Where Stevia and Ambrisentan 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 Stevia
Top 10%

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

29 days ago today
Medication Ambrisentan
Steady interest

#1,570 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 Stevia

What is Stevia?

  • Sugar substitute / sweetener
  • Blood sugar support in diabetes
  • Weight management
  • Blood pressure support
  • Reducing calorie intake

Stevia is a plant-based, calorie-free sweetener that is widely used as a sugar alternative and is considered safe in normal food amounts by major regulators. Purified stevia extracts have a good safety record, but evidence for medicinal benefits like lowering blood sugar or blood pressure is limited. Talk to your pharmacist or doctor before using stevia supplements for any health condition.

Read the full Stevia monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Ambrisentan

What Is Ambrisentan Used For?

Brand names: Letairis, Volibris

Ambrisentan tablets and Letairis tablets are both used to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH, WHO Group 1) — a condition where the blood pressure in the arteries leading to the lungs is dangerously high. Both are approved to help adults exercise better and slow the worsening of PAH.

Both ambrisentan tablets and Letairis are also approved to be used together with tadalafil (another PAH medicine) to further reduce the risk of disease progression, lower the chance of hospitalization for worsening PAH, and improve exercise ability. Most of the clinical evidence was in patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms and PAH caused by unknown or inherited causes, or PAH linked to connective tissue diseases.

See full Ambrisentan drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Stevia

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

0Major
1Moderate
257Minor
2,571No known interaction
Moderate

1 interaction

Minor

257 interactions

Showing 60 of 257 minor interactions — see all 257 on the Stevia page.

No interaction 2,571 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

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Pharmacist Counseling Corner

Taking Stevia and Ambrisentan Together: Common Questions

Can you take Stevia with Ambrisentan?
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.
How serious is the Stevia and Ambrisentan 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.