Drug & supplement interaction

Sweet Woodruff + Pirfenidone

Pirfenidone brand name: Esbriet.

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 Pirfenidone 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 Pirfenidone 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 Pirfenidone

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

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Pirfenidone

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Pirfenidone is filed under 4 classifications — including cytochrome p450 1a2 (cyp1a2) substrates, cytochrome p450 1a2 (cyp1a2) substrates, photosensitizing drugs. Sweet Woodruff has documented interactions with 1 drug class — the most serious being anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs (moderate) — and none of Pirfenidone’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 — Pirfenidone 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. Pirfenidone)
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 Pirfenidone 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 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.

    Pirfenidone

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

  • Headache 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.

    Pirfenidone

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

Effects for Pirfenidone 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 40,089 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Pirfenidone 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 Pirfenidone Products Have a Food Rule — Sweet Woodruff Should Not Break It

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

2 DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION Take with food.

From the Dosage and Administration section of the FDA label we read for Pirfenidone — 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.

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Pirfenidone

This page covers Sweet Woodruff only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Pirfenidone page lists 115 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Adrafinil (moderate), African Wild Potato (moderate), Alfalfa (moderate) and Angelica Archangelica (moderate).

By severity: 1 major · 80 moderate · 34 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Pirfenidone page

“Pirfenidone (Esbriet) slows the lung scarring of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and when a drug is doing that kind of work, this is not a list to skim. Most of the 115 ingredients on file touch CYP1A2, the liver enzyme that clears pirfenidone, so they can push its blood level up (more nausea and liver strain) or drag it down and quietl…”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Pirfenidone 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 Pirfenidone, 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 Pirfenidone 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

#1,140 of 1,452 supplements looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today
Medication Pirfenidone
Top 10%

#179 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 Pirfenidone 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 Pirfenidone

What Is Pirfenidone Used For?

Brand name: Esbriet

Pirfenidone — available as capsules and tablets under the brand name Esbriet, as well as generic pirfenidone products — is indicated for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a chronic, progressive disease in which scar tissue builds up in the lungs and makes breathing increasingly difficult.

Esbriet capsules and tablets, pirfenidone capsules, and pirfenidone tablets are each specifically approved for IPF. No other uses are supported by the available product labels.

See full Pirfenidone 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 Pirfenidone, 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 Pirfenidone Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Sweet Woodruff with Pirfenidone?
We do not list a known interaction between Sweet Woodruff and Pirfenidone. 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 Pirfenidone 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 Pirfenidone at the same time of day?
At least one FDA label for a product containing Pirfenidone says to take it with food. If you take Sweet Woodruff on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate and take Pirfenidone with a meal where the label says to. Food instructions belong to the product rather than the ingredient — two Pirfenidone products can differ — so check the directions on your own box. This is about absorption, not an interaction.
How was the Sweet Woodruff and Pirfenidone combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Pirfenidone is filed under 4 classifications, and Sweet Woodruff has documented interactions with 1 drug class — none of Pirfenidone'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 — Pirfenidone 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 Pirfenidone interact with any supplements?
Yes. Pirfenidone has documented interactions with 115 supplements in our database — Sweet Woodruff is not one of them. The Pirfenidone 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 Pirfenidone drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Pirfenidone supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Pirfenidone, 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 Pirfenidone 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.