Drug & supplement interaction

Wild Cherry + Mercaptopurine

Mercaptopurine brand name: Purixan.

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 Wild Cherry and Mercaptopurine 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 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

Wild Cherry and Mercaptopurine

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 Mercaptopurine and Wild Cherry 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.

Wild Cherry safety at a glance

Wild Cherry overall Use caution Generally considered safe in small amounts in commercial cough products, but the plant contains cyanide-forming compounds and should not be used in large amount...
Pregnancy Likely Unsafe When used orally because prunasin is potentially teratogenic. Read the full pregnancy detail
Breastfeeding Avoid Safety has not been established, so avoid use while breastfeeding.

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 Mercaptopurine and Wild Cherry? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Mercaptopurine

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Mercaptopurine is filed under 3 classifications — immunosuppressants, hepatotoxic drugs, oral drugs. Wild Cherry has documented interactions with 1 drug class — the most serious being cytochrome p450 3a4 (cyp3a4) substrates (moderate) — and none of Mercaptopurine’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

Wild Cherry Does Interact With Other Medications

Wild Cherry has 643 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Mercaptopurine isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 643 No known interaction 2,187 (incl. Mercaptopurine)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Wild Cherry

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

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Wild Cherry and Mercaptopurine 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.

  • Vomiting / Nausea reported in 4.6% of FDA reports for Mercaptopurine Additional detail

    Wild Cherry

    “Orally, large amounts of wild cherry can lead to cyanide toxicity, which can be fatal (18,41565). A case of accidental poisoning has been reported for a 56-year old women who consumed approximately 300 grams of wild cherries that had been steeped in alcohol the evening before symptom onset.”

    Wild Cherry · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in cluster headache.

    2 sources cited
    1. 18. Gruenwald J, Brendler T, Jaenicke C. PDR for Herbal Medicines. 1st ed. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company, Inc., 1998.
    2. 41565. Pentore, R., Venneri, A., and Nichelli, P. Accidental choke-cherry poisoning: early symptoms and neurological sequelae of an unusual case of cyanide intoxication. Ital.J Neurol.Sci. 1996;17(3):233-235. PubMed

    Mercaptopurine

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

Reported for Wild Cherry but not commonly for Mercaptopurine: a slow heartbeat, confusion, hallucinations and blurred vision.

Effects for Mercaptopurine come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Wild Cherry come from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, quoted above. Where a percentage is shown, it is the share of 17,242 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Mercaptopurine 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.

Special populations

Wild Cherry in Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Pregnancy Likely Unsafe

When used orally because prunasin is potentially teratogenic.

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

From our Q&A

Questions About Wild Cherry or Mercaptopurine

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

This page covers Wild Cherry only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Mercaptopurine page lists 106 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Beer (major), Siberian Cocklebur (major), Wine (major) and Active Hexose Correlated Compound (ahcc) (moderate).

By severity: 4 major · 92 moderate · 10 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Mercaptopurine page

“Mercaptopurine (Purixan) works by deliberately suppressing the immune system, whether for leukemia or inflammatory bowel disease, and the supplement interactions on this page deserve genuine care rather than a quick skim. Two problems dominate.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Mercaptopurine interaction page

One more smart check

Taking Wild Cherry as Part of a Dietary Supplement Product? Check It for Interactions

We hold 439 real supplement products containing Wild Cherry, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Wild Cherry. Even though Wild Cherry itself has no known interaction with Mercaptopurine, 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 Wild Cherry and Mercaptopurine 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 Wild Cherry
Top 25%

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

29 days ago today
Medication Mercaptopurine
Steady interest

#2,575 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 Wild Cherry reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Wild Cherry and Mercaptopurine 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 Wild Cherry

What is Wild Cherry?

Wild Cherry
  • Cough
  • Bronchitis and respiratory irritation
  • Sore throat
  • Digestive upset and diarrhea
  • Flavoring agent

Wild cherry bark is a traditional cough remedy found in many old-fashioned cough syrups and lozenges, but there is little modern scientific evidence proving it works. The bark, leaves, and seeds naturally contain cyanide-producing compounds, so it should be used only in properly prepared products and avoided in large amounts. Talk with a pharmacist or doctor before using it, especially during pregnancy or for children.

Prunus serotina · Rosaceae · Bark (inner and stem bark), and sometimes fruit and leaves · Syrup, cough lozenges, tea, tincture, dried bark extract

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

Wild Cherry: dosing

There is no well-established standardized dose for wild cherry. Amounts vary widely between different syrups, lozenges, teas, and tinctures.The safest approach is to follow the directions on the product label and not to exceed them. Avoid making concentrated homemade preparations from the bark, leaves, or pits.

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

Read the full Wild Cherry monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Mercaptopurine

What Is Mercaptopurine Used For?

Brand name: Purixan

Mercaptopurine — available as a tablet and as an oral suspension — is used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a type of blood cancer. It is given as part of a combination chemotherapy maintenance regimen, meaning it works alongside other cancer medicines to keep leukemia in remission.

Both the tablet form and the oral suspension form carry this indication for adult and pediatric patients. The oral suspension is particularly useful for patients who cannot swallow tablets.

Most-Reported Side Effects for Mercaptopurine

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (17,242 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Febrile neutropenia 1,904 reports
Fever 1,187 reports
Nausea 791 reports
Vomiting 749 reports
Abdominal pain 699 reports
See full Mercaptopurine drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Wild Cherry

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

0Major
643Moderate
0Minor
2,186No known interaction
643 Moderate 2,186 No interaction
Moderate

643 interactions

Showing 60 of 643 moderate interactions — see all 643 on the Wild Cherry page.

No interaction 2,186 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,186 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Wild Cherry list.

See the full Wild Cherry interactions page
See every supplement checked against Mercaptopurine, ranked by severity
Evidence & sources

Wild Cherry References

The 4 references that drive our Wild Cherry 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. Gruenwald J, Brendler T, Jaenicke C. PDR for Herbal Medicines. 1st ed. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company, Inc., 1998.
  2. Brinker F. Herb Contraindications and Drug Interactions. 2nd ed. Sandy, OR: Eclectic Medical Publications, 1998.
  3. Budzinski JW, Foster BC, Vandenhoek S, Arnason JT. An in vitro evaluation of human cytochrome P450 3A4 inhibition by selected commercial herbal extracts and tinctures. Phytomedicine 2000;7:273-82. PubMed
  4. Pentore, R., Venneri, A., and Nichelli, P. Accidental choke-cherry poisoning: early symptoms and neurological sequelae of an unusual case of cyanide intoxication. Ital.J Neurol.Sci. 1996;17(3):233-235. 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 Wild Cherry and Mercaptopurine Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Wild Cherry with Mercaptopurine?
We do not list a known interaction between Wild Cherry and Mercaptopurine. 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 Wild Cherry and Mercaptopurine 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.
How was the Wild Cherry and Mercaptopurine combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Mercaptopurine is filed under 3 classifications, and Wild Cherry has documented interactions with 1 drug class — none of Mercaptopurine'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 Wild Cherry interact with any other medications?
Yes. Wild Cherry has 643 documented drug interactions in our database — Mercaptopurine 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 Mercaptopurine interact with any supplements?
Yes. Mercaptopurine has documented interactions with 106 supplements in our database — Wild Cherry is not one of them. The Mercaptopurine 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

Wild Cherry monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Mercaptopurine drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Mercaptopurine supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Mercaptopurine, 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 4 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Mercaptopurine and Wild Cherry?

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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.