Drug & supplement interaction

Sweet Woodruff + Lovastatin

Lovastatin brand names: Mevacor, Altocor.

No Known Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated July 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 20, 2026
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Sweet Woodruff and Lovastatin 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 Lovastatin 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.

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Interaction report

Sweet Woodruff and Lovastatin

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 Lovastatin 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 Lovastatin and Sweet Woodruff? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Lovastatin

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Lovastatin is filed under 8 classifications — including hmg-coa reductase inhibitors ("statins"), organic anion-transporting polypeptide substrates (oatp), cytochrome p450 2c9 (cyp2c9) inhibitors. Sweet Woodruff has documented interactions with 1 drug class — the most serious being anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs (moderate) — and none of Lovastatin’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 — Lovastatin 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. Lovastatin)
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

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Sweet Woodruff and Lovastatin 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.

  • Dizziness reported in 4.5% of FDA reports for Lovastatin Additional detail

    Sweet Woodruff

    “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.

    Lovastatin

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Lovastatin, and in voluntary FDA adverse-event reports. Read the label on DailyMed ›

  • Headache reported in 4.0% of FDA reports for Lovastatin Additional detail

    Sweet Woodruff

    “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.

    Lovastatin

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Lovastatin, and in voluntary FDA adverse-event reports. Read the label on DailyMed ›

Effects for Lovastatin come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Sweet Woodruff come from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, quoted above. Where a percentage is shown, it is the share of 25,528 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Lovastatin that mention that effect — a reporting proportion, not an incidence rate and not evidence the drug caused it. Wording is matched across sources by our own clinical vocabulary, so treat this as a prompt to pay attention, not a diagnosis.

How to take them

Some Lovastatin Products Have a Food Rule — Sweet Woodruff Should Not Break It

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

Lovastatin tablets USP should be given with meals.

From the Dosage and Administration section of the FDA label we read for Lovastatin — where that label names a specific product, the instruction is that product's. Read the label on DailyMed ›

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.

Overlapping uses

What Lovastatin 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. Lovastatin 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.

Lovastatin is prescribed for: Lovastatin is used to lower high LDL ("bad") cholesterol and total cholesterol in people whose levels have not improved enough with diet alone. It is also used to slow the buildup of plaque in the arteries (coronary atherosclerosis) in people who already have coronary heart disease. In adults without existing heart disease but with high cholesterol and low HDL ("good") cholesterol, lovastatin tablets are approved to reduce the risk of heart attack, unstable angina, and the need for procedures to open blocked arteries. Lovastatin tablets are also approved for adolescents aged 10–17 with a specific inherited condition called heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (heFH), when diet changes alone haven't been enough.

Sweet Woodruff has been studied for:

  • Angina 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 angina

    Although there has been interest in using oral sweet woodruff for angina, 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 Lovastatin 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 Lovastatin

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 Lovastatin, 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 Lovastatin

This page covers Sweet Woodruff only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Lovastatin page lists 184 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Apple (major), Beer (major), Grapefruit (major) and Siberian Cocklebur (major).

By severity: 8 major · 140 moderate · 36 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Lovastatin page

“Lovastatin (Mevacor) lowers cholesterol, and the liver clears it through an enzyme called CYP3A4, which is where most of these 184 supplements collide with it. This list deserves careful attention.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Lovastatin 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 Lovastatin, 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 Lovastatin 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
Top half

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

29 days ago today
Medication Lovastatin
Steady interest

#1,468 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 20, 2026. The Sweet Woodruff and Lovastatin 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 Lovastatin

What Is Lovastatin Used For?

Brand names: Mevacor, Altocor

Lovastatin is used to lower high LDL ("bad") cholesterol and total cholesterol in people whose levels have not improved enough with diet alone. It is also used to slow the buildup of plaque in the arteries (coronary atherosclerosis) in people who already have coronary heart disease.

In adults without existing heart disease but with high cholesterol and low HDL ("good") cholesterol, lovastatin tablets are approved to reduce the risk of heart attack, unstable angina, and the need for procedures to open blocked arteries. Lovastatin tablets are also approved for adolescents aged 10–17 with a specific inherited condition called heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (heFH), when diet changes alone haven't been enough.

Most-Reported Side Effects for Lovastatin

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (25,528 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Fatigue 1,535 reports
Nausea 1,401 reports
Diarrhea 1,275 reports
Dyspnea 1,226 reports
Dizziness 1,159 reports
See full Lovastatin 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 Lovastatin, 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 Lovastatin Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Sweet Woodruff with Lovastatin?
We do not list a known interaction between Sweet Woodruff and Lovastatin. 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 Sweet Woodruff and Lovastatin have any of the same side effects?
Yes — our sources link each of them separately to 2 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 Sweet Woodruff and Lovastatin at the same time of day?
At least one FDA label for a product containing Lovastatin says to take it with food. If you take Sweet Woodruff on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate and take Lovastatin with a meal where the label says to. Food instructions belong to the product rather than the ingredient — two Lovastatin products can differ — so check the directions on your own box. This is about absorption, not an interaction.
Are Sweet Woodruff and Lovastatin 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 Lovastatin is being adjusted to a target.
How was the Sweet Woodruff and Lovastatin combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Lovastatin is filed under 8 classifications, and Sweet Woodruff has documented interactions with 1 drug class — none of Lovastatin'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 — Lovastatin 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 Lovastatin interact with any supplements?
Yes. Lovastatin has documented interactions with 184 supplements in our database — Sweet Woodruff is not one of them. The Lovastatin 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 Lovastatin drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Lovastatin supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Lovastatin, 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 Lovastatin 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.