Drug & supplement interaction

Stinging Nettle + Levothyroxine

Levothyroxine brand names: Euthyrox, Levothroid, Unithroid, Synthroid, Levoxyl, and others.

No Known Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated July 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 13, 2026
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Stinging Nettle and Levothyroxine 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 Levothyroxine 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.

Know someone taking this? Share
Facebook Post Reddit Email
On this page
Interaction report

Stinging Nettle and Levothyroxine

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 Levothyroxine and Stinging Nettle 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.

Stinging Nettle safety at a glance

Stinging Nettle overall Use caution Generally well tolerated for most adults when used as directed, but evidence and quality vary by product.
Pregnancy Likely Unsafe When used orally due to possible abortifacient and uterine-stimulant effects. Read the full pregnancy detail
Breastfeeding Avoid Safety during breastfeeding has not been established, so avoid until you talk with your doctor.

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 Levothyroxine and Stinging Nettle? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Levothyroxine

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Levothyroxine is filed under 3 classifications — including thyroid hormone, oral drugs. Stinging Nettle has documented interactions with 4 drug classes — the most serious being antidiabetes drugs (moderate), diuretic drugs (moderate) and lithium (moderate) — and none of Levothyroxine’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

Stinging Nettle Does Interact With Other Medications

Stinging Nettle has 164 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Levothyroxine isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 164 No known interaction 2,666 (incl. Levothyroxine)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Stinging Nettle

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

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Stinging Nettle and Levothyroxine 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. One of them is worth acting on rather than waiting out — marked below.

  • Hives Worth acting on Additional detail

    Stinging Nettle

    “Topically, fresh stinging nettle leaves and stalk can cause localized rash, itching, and stinging. Usually, short exposure to stinging nettle results in a transient urticarial reaction and a stinging sensation which may persist for more than 12 hours. In one report, a patient placed a fresh stinging nettle leaf on the tongue to suck out the sap of the leaf.”

    Stinging Nettle · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in common cold.

    6 sources cited
    1. 12490. Randall C, Randall H, Dobbs F, et al. Randomized controlled trial of nettle sting for treatment of base-of-thumb pain. J R Soc Med 2000;93:305-9. PubMed
    2. 76399. Randall, C., Meethan, K., Randall, H., and Dobbs, F. Nettle sting of Urtica dioica for joint pain--an exploratory study of this complementary therapy. Complement Ther Med 1999;7(3):126-131. PubMed
    3. 76412. Randall, C., Dickens, A., White, A., Sanders, H., Fox, M., and Campbell, J. Nettle sting for chronic knee pain: a randomised controlled pilot study. Complement Ther.Med. 2008;16(2):66-72. PubMed
    4. 76414. Rayburn, K., Fleischbein, E., Song, J., Allen, B., Kundert, M., Leiter, C., and Bush, T. Stinging nettle cream for osteoarthritis. Altern.Ther.Health Med. 2009;15(4):60-61.
    5. 76417. Oliver, F., Amon, E. U., Breathnach, A., Francis, D. M., Sarathchandra, P., Black, A. K., and Greaves, M. W. Contact urticaria due to the common stinging nettle (Urtica dioica)-- histological, ultrastructural and pharmacological studies. Clin Exp Dermato PubMed
    6. 76428. Kulze, A. and Greaves, M. Contact urticaria caused by stinging nettles. Br.J Dermatol. 1988;119(2):269-270. PubMed

    Levothyroxine

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

  • Itching / A skin rash Additional detail

    Stinging Nettle

    “Orally, stinging nettle seems to be generally well tolerated.

    Most Common Adverse Effects:

    Orally: Constipation, diarrhea.

    Topically: Contact with the raw plant causes itching, rash, and stinging.”

    Stinging Nettle · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in constipation.

    Levothyroxine

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

  • Stomach pain / Tiredness / Nausea Additional detail

    Stinging Nettle

    “A case of idiosyncratic drug-induced liver disease (DILI) is reported in a 36-year-old female who presented with abdominal pain after 1 month of taking an herbal liver detox tea containing stinging nettle and other ingredients. Remarkable laboratory values included elevated liver enzymes, alkaline phosphatase, and total bilirubin.”

    Stinging Nettle · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in cirrhosis.

    2 sources cited
    1. 112178. Niazi B, Ahmed K, Ahmed M, Ali S, Song K, Elias S. Drug-Induced Liver Injury from Herbal Liver Detoxification Tea. Case Rep Gastroenterol 2022;16(3):612-617. PubMed
    2. 112404. Nnamani I, Tolu-Akinnawo O, Dufera RR, Akintunde A, Maliakkal B. Tinospora cordifolia (Guduchi/Giloy)-Induced Liver Injury: A Case Review. Cureus 2023;15(5):e39793. PubMed

    Levothyroxine

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

  • Diarrhea Additional detail

    Stinging Nettle

    “Orally, stinging nettle root can cause gastrointestinal complaints, including diarrhea and constipation (1,7,11230). Stinging nettle above ground parts may cause mild gastrointestinal discomfort when taken on an empty stomach. Stinging nettle juice may cause diarrhea (1).”

    Stinging Nettle · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in constipation.

    5 sources cited
    1. 1. Monographs on the medicinal uses of plant drugs. Exeter, UK: European Scientific Co-op Phytother, 1997.
    2. 7. Schulz V, Hansel R, Tyler VE. Rational Phytotherapy: A Physician's Guide to Herbal Medicine. Terry C. Telger, transl. 3rd ed. Berlin, GER: Springer, 1998.
    3. 11230. Vontobel HP, Herzog R, Rutishauser G, Kres H. [Results of a double-blind study on the effectiveness of ERU (extractum radicis Urticae) capsules in conservative treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia]. (Abstract). Urologe A 1985;24:49-51.
    4. 7035. Mittman P. Randomized, double-blind study of freeze-dried Urtica dioica in the treatment of allergic rhinitis. Planta Med 1990;56:44-7.
    5. 70230. Krzeski, T., Kazon, M., Borkowski, A., Witeska, A., and Kuczera, J. Combined extracts of Urtica dioica and Pygeum africanum in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia: double-blind comparison of two doses. Clin Ther 1993;15(6):1011-1020.

    Levothyroxine

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

Reported for Stinging Nettle but not commonly for Levothyroxine: stomach upset, liver problems, reduced appetite and constipation.

Effects for Levothyroxine come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Stinging Nettle 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

Stinging Nettle in Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Pregnancy Likely Unsafe

When used orally due to possible abortifacient and uterine-stimulant effects.

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 Levothyroxine Products Have a Food Rule — Stinging Nettle Should Not Break It

At least one FDA label for a product containing Levothyroxine says to take it on an empty stomach. Most supplements — Stinging Nettle included — are taken with a meal, so the easy mistake is swallowing both together at breakfast. Where that rule applies, keep Levothyroxine on its own and move Stinging Nettle to a meal later in the day.

This may not be true of your version. Food instructions belong to the product, not the ingredient: two Levothyroxine 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.

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 Stinging Nettle or Levothyroxine

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

This page covers Stinging Nettle only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Levothyroxine page lists 50 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Tiratricol (major), Acetyl-l-carnitine (moderate), Alpha-lipoic Acid (moderate) and Ascophyllum Nodosum (moderate).

By severity: 2 major · 39 moderate · 9 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Levothyroxine page

“Levothyroxine replaces a hormone your body measures in tiny amounts, so small shifts in its blood level show up in how you feel, and I treat this list with genuine care. Nearly everything on it does one of two things: blocks the pill from being absorbed in the gut, the way everyday minerals like calcium do by binding it into complexes,…”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Levothyroxine interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 3,276 real supplement products containing Stinging Nettle, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Stinging Nettle. Even though Stinging Nettle itself has no known interaction with Levothyroxine, 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 Stinging Nettle and Levothyroxine 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 Stinging Nettle
Top 10%

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

29 days ago today
Medication Levothyroxine
Top 10

#2 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 Stinging Nettle reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 13, 2026. The Stinging Nettle and Levothyroxine 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 Stinging Nettle

What is Stinging Nettle?

Stinging Nettle
  • Enlarged prostate (BPH) symptoms
  • Seasonal allergies
  • Joint pain and arthritis
  • Urinary symptoms / mild diuretic
  • Blood sugar support

Stinging nettle is a common plant used as food and in traditional medicine, most often for prostate symptoms, allergies, and joint pain. The evidence is mixed and mostly preliminary, so it is best thought of as a supportive option rather than a proven treatment. It is generally well tolerated, but pregnant and breastfeeding people should avoid it and everyone should check with a pharmacist or doctor first.

Urtica dioica · Urticaceae · Leaves, roots, and seeds (aerial parts) · Tea, capsules, tablets, tinctures, liquid extracts, dried leaf, topical creams, and cooked greens

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

Stinging Nettle: dosing

There is no single official or proven dose of stinging nettle, and the right amount depends on the part of the plant (leaf, root, or seed) and the form (tea, capsule, tincture, or extract).The best approach is to follow the directions on the product label and not take more than recommended.

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

Read the full Stinging Nettle monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Levothyroxine

What Is Levothyroxine Used For?

Brand names: Euthyrox, Levothroid, Unithroid, Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levo-T, Eltroxin, Estre, Levothyroxine, Novothyrox, Levolet

Levothyroxine replaces or supplements the thyroid hormone your body isn't making enough of. It's used for hypothyroidism — an underactive thyroid — in adults, children, and even newborns, whether the cause is the thyroid gland itself, the pituitary gland, or the hypothalamus in the brain.

It's also used alongside surgery and radioiodine treatment in people with certain types of thyroid cancer, to help suppress the hormone that can stimulate cancer growth. It is not meant for weight loss, treating benign thyroid nodules in people who have enough iodine, or for hypothyroidism during recovery from a temporary condition called subacute thyroiditis.

See full Levothyroxine drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Stinging Nettle

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

0Major
164Moderate
0Minor
2,665No known interaction
164 Moderate 2,665 No interaction
Moderate

164 interactions

Showing 60 of 164 moderate interactions — see all 164 on the Stinging Nettle page.

No interaction 2,665 drugs checked — show the list

We also checked Stinging Nettle against these medications and found no known interaction in our sources. Open any page to confirm.

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,665 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Stinging Nettle list.

See the full Stinging Nettle interactions page
See every supplement checked against Levothyroxine, ranked by severity
Evidence & sources

Stinging Nettle References

The 23 references that drive our Stinging Nettle 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. Monographs on the medicinal uses of plant drugs. Exeter, UK: European Scientific Co-op Phytother, 1997.
  2. Newall CA, Anderson LA, Philpson JD. Herbal Medicine: A Guide for Healthcare Professionals. London, UK: The Pharmaceutical Press, 1996.
  3. The Review of Natural Products by Facts and Comparisons. St. Louis, MO: Wolters Kluwer Co., 1999.
  4. Schulz V, Hansel R, Tyler VE. Rational Phytotherapy: A Physician's Guide to Herbal Medicine. Terry C. Telger, transl. 3rd ed. Berlin, GER: Springer, 1998.
  5. Leung AY, Foster S. Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients Used in Food, Drugs and Cosmetics. 2nd ed. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 1996.
  6. Brinker F. Herb Contraindications and Drug Interactions. 2nd ed. Sandy, OR: Eclectic Medical Publications, 1998.
  7. Mittman P. Randomized, double-blind study of freeze-dried Urtica dioica in the treatment of allergic rhinitis. Planta Med 1990;56:44-7.
  8. Vontobel HP, Herzog R, Rutishauser G, Kres H. [Results of a double-blind study on the effectiveness of ERU (extractum radicis Urticae) capsules in conservative treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia]. (Abstract). Urologe A 1985;24:49-51.
  9. Randall C, Randall H, Dobbs F, et al. Randomized controlled trial of nettle sting for treatment of base-of-thumb pain. J R Soc Med 2000;93:305-9. PubMed
  10. Caliskaner Z, Karaayvaz M, Ozturk S. Misuse of a herb: stinging nettle (Urtica urens) induced severe tongue oedema. Complement Ther Med 2004;12:57-8. PubMed
  11. Krzeski, T., Kazon, M., Borkowski, A., Witeska, A., and Kuczera, J. Combined extracts of Urtica dioica and Pygeum africanum in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia: double-blind comparison of two doses. Clin Ther 1993;15(6):1011-1020.
  12. Randall, C., Meethan, K., Randall, H., and Dobbs, F. Nettle sting of Urtica dioica for joint pain--an exploratory study of this complementary therapy. Complement Ther Med 1999;7(3):126-131. PubMed
  13. Tahri, A., Yamani, S., Legssyer, A., Aziz, M., Mekhfi, H., Bnouham, M., and Ziyyat, A. Acute diuretic, natriuretic and hypotensive effects of a continuous perfusion of aqueous extract of Urtica dioica in the rat. J Ethnopharmacol 2000;73(1-2):95-100. PubMed
  14. Sahin, M., Yilmaz, H., Gursoy, A., Demirel, A. N., Tutuncu, N. B., and Guvener, N. D. Gynaecomastia in a man and hyperoestrogenism in a woman due to ingestion of nettle (Urtica dioica). N.Z.Med.J. 2007;120(1265):U2803.
  15. Randall, C., Dickens, A., White, A., Sanders, H., Fox, M., and Campbell, J. Nettle sting for chronic knee pain: a randomised controlled pilot study. Complement Ther.Med. 2008;16(2):66-72. PubMed

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 Stinging Nettle and Levothyroxine Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Stinging Nettle with Levothyroxine?
We do not list a known interaction between Stinging Nettle and Levothyroxine. 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 Stinging Nettle and Levothyroxine have any of the same side effects?
Yes — our sources link each of them separately to 7 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 Stinging Nettle and Levothyroxine at the same time of day?
At least one FDA label for a product containing Levothyroxine says to take it on an empty stomach, and supplements are usually taken with a meal — so taking them together at breakfast is the easy mistake. Where that applies, keep Levothyroxine on its own and move Stinging Nettle to a meal later in the day. Food instructions belong to the product rather than the ingredient, so check the directions on your own box. This is about absorption, not an interaction.
How was the Stinging Nettle and Levothyroxine combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Levothyroxine is filed under 3 classifications, and Stinging Nettle has documented interactions with 4 drug classes — none of Levothyroxine'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 Stinging Nettle interact with any other medications?
Yes. Stinging Nettle has 164 documented drug interactions in our database — Levothyroxine 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 Levothyroxine interact with any supplements?
Yes. Levothyroxine has documented interactions with 50 supplements in our database — Stinging Nettle is not one of them. The Levothyroxine 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

Stinging Nettle monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Levothyroxine drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Levothyroxine supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Levothyroxine, 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 23 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Levothyroxine and Stinging Nettle?

Our pharmacists answer your medication & supplement questions — free.

Ask a pharmacist

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.