Drug & supplement interaction

Sweet Woodruff + Erythromycin Stearate

Erythromycin Stearate brand names: Erythro-S, Erythrocin, Ethril.

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 Sweet Woodruff and Erythromycin Stearate 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.

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Interaction report

Sweet Woodruff and Erythromycin Stearate

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 Erythromycin Stearate and Sweet Woodruff 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.

Sweet Woodruff safety at a glance

Sweet Woodruff overall Use caution Generally used in small amounts as a flavoring, but its coumarin content can be harmful in larger or long-term doses.
Pregnancy Avoid Not enough safety data and possible coumarin-related risks, so it is best avoided.
Breastfeeding Avoid Safety is unknown, so avoid use while breastfeeding.

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

Still wondering about combining Erythromycin Stearate and Sweet Woodruff? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Erythromycin Stearate

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Erythromycin Stearate is filed under 9 classifications — including macrolide antibiotics, cytochrome p450 1a2 (cyp1a2) inhibitors, qt interval-prolonging drugs. Sweet Woodruff has documented interactions with 1 drug class — the most serious being anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs (moderate) — and none of Erythromycin Stearate’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

Sweet Woodruff Does Interact With Other Medications

Sweet Woodruff has 122 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Erythromycin Stearate isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 122 No known interaction 2,708 (incl. Erythromycin Stearate)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Sweet Woodruff

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

What to actually watch for

What Sweet Woodruff Itself Has Been Linked To

This is not an interaction — nothing below involves Erythromycin Stearate. It is the side-effect record for Sweet Woodruff on its own, from the licensed Natural Medicines monograph. If something new turns up after you add Sweet Woodruff, this list is the first place to look.

  • Dizziness Additional detail

    “Orally, sweet woodruff can cause headache, stupor, or dizziness, especially in larger amounts (12,18,76951).”

    Sweet Woodruff · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in cluster headache.

    3 sources cited
    1. 12. McGuffin M, Hobbs C, Upton R, Goldberg A, eds. American Herbal Products Association's Botanical Safety Handbook. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, LLC 1997.
    2. 18. Gruenwald J, Brendler T, Jaenicke C. PDR for Herbal Medicines. 1st ed. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company, Inc., 1998.
    3. 76951. Stuart, M. The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism. 1979.
  • Headache Additional detail

    “Orally, sweet woodruff is generally well tolerated. However, a thorough evaluation of safety outcomes has not been conducted.

    Most Common Adverse Effects:

    Orally: Headache.

    Serious Adverse Effects (Rare):

    Orally: Liver disease.”

    Sweet Woodruff · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in cirrhosis.

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

Overlapping uses

What Erythromycin Stearate Is Prescribed For, and What Sweet Woodruff Has Been Studied For

These two come up together because they touch the same health topic — not because they do the same job. Erythromycin Stearate is a prescription medicine with approved uses on its FDA label. Sweet Woodruff is a supplement: what follows is what researchers have looked at it for, and how strong that evidence is.

Erythromycin Stearate is prescribed for: Erythromycin treats bacterial infections caused by susceptible organisms. Oral and intravenous forms are used for upper and lower respiratory tract infections, skin and soft-tissue infections, pertussis (whooping cough), Legionnaires' disease, sexually transmitted infections (gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia), listeriosis, and other conditions. Erythrocin Lactobionate IV and erythromycin lactobionate injection are specifically for patients who cannot take oral medication or who need rapid, high blood levels due to severe infection — IV therapy should be switched to oral as soon as appropriate. Erythromycin topical solution 2% and Ery 2% Pads (swabs) are indicated only for the topical treatment of acne vulgaris (acne) and are applied directly to the skin — they are not used for internal infections.

Sweet Woodruff has been studied for:

  • Respiratory tract infections studied, not established Sweet Woodruff has been studied for this. Natural Medicines rates the evidence: Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate Read what the research shows

    Sweet Woodruff for respiratory tract infections

    Although there has been interest in using oral sweet woodruff for respiratory tract infections, there is insufficient reliable information about the clinical effects of sweet woodruff for this purpose.

Effectiveness ratings and the research summaries above are the verbatim record from the Natural Medicines database, which grades evidence from “Effective” down to “Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate”. A rating below the top of that scale means researchers have looked at it — not that it works, and never that it can stand in for a prescribed medicine. Do not stop or replace Erythromycin Stearate on your own; if you are taking Sweet Woodruff for the same health topic, tell your prescriber, especially if the medicine is being adjusted to a target.

From our Q&A

Questions About Sweet Woodruff or Erythromycin Stearate

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

This page covers Sweet Woodruff only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Erythromycin Stearate page lists 204 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: 11 major · 153 moderate · 40 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Erythromycin Stearate page

“Erythromycin stearate (Erythrocin, Ethril) is an antibiotic that asks for real vigilance around supplements. It blocks the body's main drug-clearing enzyme, so the largest share of this list is herbs whose blood levels can climb while you take it.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Erythromycin Stearate interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 27 real supplement products containing Sweet Woodruff, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Sweet Woodruff. Even though Sweet Woodruff itself has no known interaction with Erythromycin Stearate, 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 Sweet Woodruff and Erythromycin Stearate 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 Sweet Woodruff
Steady interest

#1,037 of 1,452 supplements looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today
Medication Erythromycin Stearate
Top half

#962 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 Sweet Woodruff reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 13, 2026. The Sweet Woodruff and Erythromycin Stearate 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 Sweet Woodruff

What is Sweet Woodruff?

Sweet Woodruff
  • Digestive upset
  • Anxiety, restlessness, and sleep
  • Liver and gallbladder complaints
  • Urinary tract problems
  • Respiratory complaints
  • As a flavoring agent

Sweet woodruff is a fragrant European herb traditionally used for digestion, calming, and various other complaints, but solid human evidence for any of these uses is lacking. It contains coumarin, which can be harmful in large amounts, so it should be used only sparingly and avoided during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Talk to your pharmacist or doctor before using it.

Galium odoratum · Rubiaceae · Above-ground parts (leaves, flowering tops, and stems) · Dried herb, tea, tinctures, and traditional flavoring (for example in some wines and beverages)

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

Sweet Woodruff: dosing

There is no well-established, standardized medicinal dose for sweet woodruff, and good clinical research is lacking. Because of its coumarin content, experts generally recommend keeping any use to small amounts and short periods of time.If you choose to use a product that contains sweet woodruff, follow the directions on the label and do not exceed the recommended amount.

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

Read the full Sweet Woodruff monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Erythromycin

What Is Erythromycin Used For?

Brand names: Erythro-S, Erythrocin, Ethril

Erythromycin treats bacterial infections caused by susceptible organisms. Oral and intravenous forms are used for upper and lower respiratory tract infections, skin and soft-tissue infections, pertussis (whooping cough), Legionnaires' disease, sexually transmitted infections (gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia), listeriosis, and other conditions. Erythrocin Lactobionate IV and erythromycin lactobionate injection are specifically for patients who cannot take oral medication or who need rapid, high blood levels due to severe infection — IV therapy should be switched to oral as soon as appropriate.

Erythromycin topical solution 2% and Ery 2% Pads (swabs) are indicated only for the topical treatment of acne vulgaris (acne) and are applied directly to the skin — they are not used for internal infections.

See full Erythromycin drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Sweet Woodruff

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

0Major
122Moderate
0Minor
2,707No known interaction
122 Moderate 2,707 No interaction
Moderate

122 interactions

Showing 60 of 122 moderate interactions — see all 122 on the Sweet Woodruff page.

No interaction 2,707 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,707 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Sweet Woodruff list.

See the full Sweet Woodruff interactions page
See every supplement checked against Erythromycin Stearate, ranked by severity
Evidence & sources

Sweet Woodruff References

The 6 references that drive our Sweet Woodruff 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. McGuffin M, Hobbs C, Upton R, Goldberg A, eds. American Herbal Products Association's Botanical Safety Handbook. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, LLC 1997.
  2. Gruenwald J, Brendler T, Jaenicke C. PDR for Herbal Medicines. 1st ed. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company, Inc., 1998.
  3. Sulma, T. and Wierzchowska, K. [Studies on the content of coumarin in the herbs of the woodruff (Herba Asperulae odoratae) throughout the vegetative period of the plant.]. Acta Pol.Pharm 1963;20:77-82.
  4. Kovac-Besovic, E. E. and Duric, K. Thin layer chromatography-application in qualitative analysis on presence of coumarins and flavonoids in plant material. Bosn.J Basic Med.Sci. 2003;3(3):19-26. PubMed
  5. Stuart, M. The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism. 1979.
  6. Kahkeshani N, Farahanikia B, Mahdaviani P, et al. Antioxidant and burn healing potential of Galium odoratum extracts. Res Pharm Sci 2013;8(3):197-203.

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 Sweet Woodruff and Erythromycin Stearate Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Sweet Woodruff with Erythromycin Stearate?
We do not list a known interaction between Sweet Woodruff and Erythromycin Stearate. 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.
Are Sweet Woodruff and Erythromycin Stearate used for the same thing?
They overlap in purpose, which usually means the real question is whether you need both rather than whether they are safe together. This page lists the shared uses and how strong the evidence is for Sweet Woodruff in each. That is a conversation for your prescriber, especially if Erythromycin Stearate is being adjusted to a target.
How was the Sweet Woodruff and Erythromycin Stearate combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Erythromycin Stearate is filed under 9 classifications, and Sweet Woodruff has documented interactions with 1 drug class — none of Erythromycin Stearate'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 Sweet Woodruff interact with any other medications?
Yes. Sweet Woodruff has 122 documented drug interactions in our database — Erythromycin Stearate 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 Erythromycin Stearate interact with any supplements?
Yes. Erythromycin Stearate has documented interactions with 204 supplements in our database — Sweet Woodruff is not one of them. The Erythromycin Stearate 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

Sweet Woodruff monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Erythromycin drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Erythromycin Stearate supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Erythromycin Stearate, 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 6 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Erythromycin Stearate and Sweet Woodruff?

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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.