Drug & supplement interaction

Uzara + Erlotinib

Erlotinib brand name: Tarceva.

No Known Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated July 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 27, 2026
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Uzara and Erlotinib 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 Erlotinib states a food rule worth keeping to.

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Interaction report

Uzara and Erlotinib

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 Erlotinib and Uzara 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.

Uzara safety at a glance

Uzara overall Use caution It contains heart-active compounds and should only be used short-term and with professional guidance.
Pregnancy Avoid Safety is not established, so it is best avoided during pregnancy.
Breastfeeding Avoid There is not enough safety information, so avoid use while breastfeeding.

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

Still wondering about combining Erlotinib and Uzara? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Erlotinib

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Erlotinib is filed under 2 classifications — including oral drugs. Uzara has documented interactions with 6 drug classes — the most serious being digoxin (lanoxin) (major), diuretic drugs (moderate) and macrolide antibiotics (moderate) — and none of Erlotinib’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

Uzara Does Interact With Other Medications

Uzara has 1 major, 132 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Erlotinib isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Major 1 Moderate 132 No known interaction 2,697 (incl. Erlotinib)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Uzara

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

What to actually watch for

What Uzara Itself Has Been Linked To

This is not an interaction — nothing below involves Erlotinib. It is the side-effect record for Uzara on its own, from the licensed Natural Medicines monograph. If something new turns up after you add Uzara, this list is the first place to look. One entry is worth acting on rather than waiting out — marked below.

  • An irregular heartbeat / Raised blood pressure Worth acting on Additional detail

    “Orally, uzara can cause cardiotoxic effects, especially in patients with pre-existing cardiovascular disease. In one case report, a 68-year-old female with diabetes and hypertension was admitted to the emergency room with reduced left-ventricular function, pulmonary edema, and arrhythmia.”

    Uzara · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in arrhythmia.

    1 source cited
    1. 99461. Thürmann PA, Neff A, Fleisch J. Interference of Uzara glycosides in assays of digitalis glycosides. Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2004;42(5):281-4. PubMed
  • Swelling Additional detail

    Recorded for Uzara in the same Natural Medicines adverse-effect record shown under An irregular heartbeat / Raised blood pressure above.

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

How to take them

Some Erlotinib Products Have a Food Rule — Uzara Should Not Break It

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

Recommended Dose – NSCLC The recommended daily dose of erlotinib tablets for NSCLC is 150 mg taken on an empty stomach, i.e., at least one hour before or two hours after the ingestion of food.

From the Dosage and Administration section of the FDA label we read for Erlotinib — where that label names a specific product, the instruction is that product's. See the Erlotinib drug page ›

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 Erlotinib

This page covers Uzara only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Erlotinib page lists 18 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Bilberry (moderate), Coffee Charcoal (moderate), European Mandrake (moderate) and Glucomannan (moderate).

By severity: 1 major · 8 moderate · 9 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Erlotinib page

“Activated charcoal is the entry I would flag first for anyone taking erlotinib (Tarceva), an oral targeted therapy for certain lung cancers. Charcoal can adsorb the drug in the gut and cut how much reaches the bloodstream, and with a cancer pill, less absorbed means less cancer fought.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Erlotinib interaction page

How much people look this up

Where Uzara and Erlotinib 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 Uzara
Steady interest

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

29 days ago today
Medication Erlotinib
Steady interest

#2,520 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 Uzara reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 27, 2026. The Uzara and Erlotinib 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 Uzara

What is Uzara?

  • Diarrhea
  • Stomach cramps
  • Menstrual cramps (dysmenorrhea)
  • Headaches
  • Digestive upset

Uzara is a traditional African root remedy used mainly for diarrhea and stomach cramps. Because it contains cardiac glycosides that can affect the heart, it should be used cautiously and for short periods only. Talk to a pharmacist or doctor before using it, especially if you have heart problems, are pregnant, or take heart medications.

Xysmalobium undulatum · Apocynaceae · Dried root · Liquid extract, tincture, tablets, drops

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

Uzara: dosing

There is no well-established standard dose for Uzara, and products vary in strength. The right amount depends on the specific preparation, such as drops, tincture, or tablets.The safest approach is to follow the directions on the product label and use it only for short periods. Do not exceed the recommended amount, since higher doses raise the risk of heart-related side effects.

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

Read the full Uzara monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Erlotinib

What Is Erlotinib Used For?

Brand name: Tarceva

Erlotinib tablets are used to treat metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients whose tumors carry specific gene changes — EGFR exon 19 deletions or exon 21 (L858R) mutations — confirmed by an FDA-approved test. It can be used as a first-line treatment, as maintenance therapy, or after at least one prior chemotherapy has stopped working.

Erlotinib tablets are also used for the first-line treatment of locally advanced, unresectable, or metastatic pancreatic cancer — but only in combination with another chemotherapy drug called gemcitabine. Erlotinib is not recommended alongside platinum-based chemotherapy regimens.

Most-Reported Side Effects for Erlotinib

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (12,441 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Diarrhea 1,339 reports
Rash 1,317 reports
Malignant neoplasm progression 890 reports
Fatigue 718 reports
Nausea 696 reports
See full Erlotinib drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Uzara

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

1Major
132Moderate
0Minor
2,696No known interaction
1 Major 132 Moderate 2,696 No interaction
Major

1 interaction

Moderate

132 interactions

Showing 60 of 132 moderate interactions — see all 132 on the Uzara page.

No interaction 2,696 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,696 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Uzara list.

See the full Uzara interactions page
See every supplement checked against Erlotinib, ranked by severity
Evidence & sources

Uzara References

The 7 references that drive our Uzara 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. Blumenthal M, ed. The Complete German Commission E Monographs: Therapeutic Guide to Herbal Medicines. Trans. S. Klein. Boston, MA: American Botanical Council, 1998.
  2. Ellenhorn MJ, et al. Ellenhorn's Medical Toxicology: Diagnoses and Treatment of Human Poisoning. 2nd ed. Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins, 1997.
  3. Gruenwald J, Brendler T, Jaenicke C. PDR for Herbal Medicines. 1st ed. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company, Inc., 1998.
  4. Burnham TH, ed. Drug Facts and Comparisons, Updated Monthly. Facts and Comparisons, St. Louis, MO.
  5. Abd-El-Maeboud KH, Kortam MA, Ali MS, Ibrahim MI, Mohamed RM. A preliminary pilot randomized crossover study of uzara (Xysmalobium undulatum) versus ibuprofen in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea. PLoS One. 2014;9(8):e104473. PubMed
  6. Schmiedl S, Ritter A, Szymanski J, et al. Cardiovascular effects, pharmacokinetics and cross-reactivity in digitalis glycoside immunoassays of an antidiarrheal uzara root extract. Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2012;50(10):729-40. PubMed
  7. Thürmann PA, Neff A, Fleisch J. Interference of Uzara glycosides in assays of digitalis glycosides. Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2004;42(5):281-4. 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 Uzara and Erlotinib Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Uzara with Erlotinib?
We do not list a known interaction between Uzara and Erlotinib. 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.
Should I take Uzara and Erlotinib at the same time of day?
At least one FDA label for a product containing Erlotinib 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 Erlotinib on its own and move Uzara 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 Uzara and Erlotinib combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Erlotinib is filed under 2 classifications, and Uzara has documented interactions with 6 drug classes — none of Erlotinib'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 Uzara interact with any other medications?
Yes. Uzara has 133 documented drug interactions in our database — Erlotinib 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 Erlotinib interact with any supplements?
Yes. Erlotinib has documented interactions with 18 supplements in our database — Uzara is not one of them. The Erlotinib 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

Uzara monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Erlotinib drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Erlotinib supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Erlotinib, 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 7 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Erlotinib and Uzara?

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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.