Drug & supplement interaction

Wild Yam + Bromocriptine

Bromocriptine brand name: Parlodel.

No Known Interaction
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Wild Yam and Bromocriptine 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 Bromocriptine 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

Wild Yam and Bromocriptine

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 Bromocriptine and Wild Yam 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 Yam safety at a glance

Wild Yam overall Use caution Likely fine for short-term use in healthy adults, but long-term safety is not well studied.
Pregnancy Avoid Not enough safety data; avoid during pregnancy.
Breastfeeding Avoid Not enough safety data; avoid while breastfeeding.

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

Still wondering about combining Bromocriptine and Wild Yam? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Bromocriptine

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Bromocriptine is filed under 4 classifications — including ergot derivatives, dopamine agonists, cytochrome p450 3a4 (cyp3a4) substrates. Wild Yam has documented interactions with 1 drug class — the most serious being estrogens (moderate) — and none of Bromocriptine’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 Yam Does Interact With Other Medications

Wild Yam has 41 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Bromocriptine isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Wild Yam

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

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Wild Yam and Bromocriptine 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. One of them is worth acting on rather than waiting out — marked below.

  • Blood clots Worth acting on Additional detail

    Wild Yam

    “In one case report, a 55-year-old female with protein S deficiency and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) had temporary vision loss in the left eye from hemiretinal vein thrombosis 3 days after taking a combination phytoestrogen product containing wild yam 276 mg, dong quai 100 mg, red clover 250 mg, and black cohosh 250 mg. It is unclear if wild yam contributed to this event.”

    Wild Yam · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in myasthenia gravis.

    1 source cited
    1. 13155. Cheong JL, Bucknall R. Retinal vein thrombosis associated with a herbal phytoestrogen preparation in a susceptible patient. Postgrad Med J 2005;81:266-7.. PubMed

    Bromocriptine

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

  • Stomach upset / Vomiting Additional detail

    Wild Yam

    “Orally, wild yam can cause upset stomach and vomiting, especially at higher doses (12,86450).”

    Wild Yam · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in nausea and vomiting.

    2 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. 86450. Araghiniknam M, Chung S, Nelson-White T, and et al. Antioxidant activity of Dioscorea and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in older humans. Life Sciences 1996;59:L147-L157.

    Bromocriptine

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

  • Headache Additional detail

    Wild Yam

    “Orally, wild yam can cause headache and fever, especially at higher doses.”

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

    1 source cited
    1. 86450. Araghiniknam M, Chung S, Nelson-White T, and et al. Antioxidant activity of Dioscorea and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in older humans. Life Sciences 1996;59:L147-L157.

    Bromocriptine

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

Reported for Wild Yam but not commonly for Bromocriptine: a severe allergic reaction, loss of vision and fever.

Effects for Bromocriptine come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Wild Yam come from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, quoted above. 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 Bromocriptine Products Have a Food Rule — Wild Yam Should Not Break It

At least one FDA label for a product containing Bromocriptine says to take it with food. If you take Wild Yam on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate — and take Bromocriptine 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 Bromocriptine 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 Taken within two hours after waking in the morning with food ( 2.1 ) Initial dose is one tablet (0.8 mg) daily increased weekly by one tablet until maximal tolerated daily dose of 1.6 to 4.8 mg is achieved.

From the Dosage and Administration section of the FDA label we read for Bromocriptine — 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 Bromocriptine Is Prescribed For, and What Wild Yam Has Been Studied For

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

Bromocriptine is prescribed for: Bromocriptine mesylate tablets and capsules (sold as Parlodel and generics) treat conditions caused by too much prolactin in the blood — including missed periods, unwanted breast milk production, infertility, and hypogonadism (low sex-hormone function). They are also used for prolactin-secreting pituitary tumors (adenomas), acromegaly (excess growth hormone), and the signs and symptoms of Parkinson's disease, often alongside levodopa. Cycloset — a specific bromocriptine tablet formulation — is separately approved as an add-on to diet and exercise to improve blood sugar control in adults with type 2 diabetes. Cycloset should not be used for type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis.

Wild Yam has been studied for:

  • Infertility studied, not established Wild Yam has been studied for this. Natural Medicines rates the evidence: Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate Read what the research shows

    Wild Yam for infertility

    Although there is interest in using oral or topical wild yam for infertility, there is insufficient reliable information about the clinical effects of wild yam for this condition.

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 Bromocriptine on your own; if you are taking Wild Yam for the same health topic, tell your prescriber, especially if the medicine is being adjusted to a target.

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Bromocriptine

This page covers Wild Yam only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Bromocriptine page lists 143 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Grapefruit (major), St. John's Wort (major), Acacia Rigidula (moderate) and Adrafinil (moderate).

By severity: 3 major · 99 moderate · 41 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Bromocriptine page

“Grapefruit is the supplement-aisle item I would flag first for anyone taking bromocriptine (Parlodel). It blocks CYP3A4, the enzyme that clears bromocriptine, so drug levels can climb and side effects with them.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Bromocriptine interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 1,014 real supplement products containing Wild Yam, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Wild Yam. Even though Wild Yam itself has no known interaction with Bromocriptine, 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 Yam and Bromocriptine 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 Yam
Top 25%

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

29 days ago today
Medication Bromocriptine
Top 25%

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

What is Wild Yam?

  • Menopausal symptoms
  • Menstrual cramps
  • Hormone balance (popular belief)
  • Digestive cramps
  • Joint and muscle discomfort

Wild yam is a root traditionally used for menopausal symptoms, cramps, and as a so-called 'natural' hormone supplement, but solid human evidence for these uses is lacking. Despite popular claims, your body cannot convert its compounds into hormones like progesterone, so creams marketed that way usually don't work as advertised. Talk with a pharmacist or doctor before using it.

Dioscorea villosa · Dioscoreaceae · Root and rhizome (underground stem) · Capsules, tablets, dried root, tinctures, topical creams, tea

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

Wild Yam: dosing

There is no well-established standard dose for wild yam. The amount can vary widely between products and forms (capsules, tinctures, teas, or creams).The safest approach is to follow the directions on the product label and not exceed the recommended amount.

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

Read the full Wild Yam monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Bromocriptine

What Is Bromocriptine Used For?

Brand name: Parlodel

Bromocriptine mesylate tablets and capsules (sold as Parlodel and generics) treat conditions caused by too much prolactin in the blood — including missed periods, unwanted breast milk production, infertility, and hypogonadism (low sex-hormone function). They are also used for prolactin-secreting pituitary tumors (adenomas), acromegaly (excess growth hormone), and the signs and symptoms of Parkinson's disease, often alongside levodopa.

Cycloset — a specific bromocriptine tablet formulation — is separately approved as an add-on to diet and exercise to improve blood sugar control in adults with type 2 diabetes. Cycloset should not be used for type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis.

See full Bromocriptine drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Wild Yam

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

0Major
41Moderate
0Minor
2,788No known interaction
Moderate

41 interactions

No interaction 2,788 drugs checked — show the list
Evidence & sources

Wild Yam References

The 7 references that drive our Wild Yam 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. Eagon PK, Elm MS, Hunter DS, et al. Medicinal herbs: modulation of estrogen action. Era of Hope Mtg, Dept Defense; Breast Cancer Res Prog, Atlanta, GA 2000;Jun 8-11.
  3. Cheong JL, Bucknall R. Retinal vein thrombosis associated with a herbal phytoestrogen preparation in a susceptible patient. Postgrad Med J 2005;81:266-7.. PubMed
  4. Rosenberg Zand, R. S., Jenkins, D. J., and Diamandis, E. P. Effects of natural products and nutraceuticals on steroid hormone-regulated gene expression. Clin Chim.Acta 2001;312(1-2):213-219. PubMed
  5. Araghiniknam M, Chung S, Nelson-White T, and et al. Antioxidant activity of Dioscorea and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in older humans. Life Sciences 1996;59:L147-L157.
  6. Zeng M, Zhang L, Li M, et al. Estrogenic effects of the extracts from the Chinese Yam (Dioscorea opposite Thunb.) and its effective compounds in vitro and in vivo. Molecules. 2018 Jan 23;23(2). Pii: E11. PubMed
  7. Lu J, Wong RN, Zhang L, et al. Comparative analysis of proteins with stimulating activity on ovarian estradiol biosynthesis from four different Dioscorea species in vitro using both phenotypic and target-based approaches: implication for treating menopaus

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 Yam and Bromocriptine Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Wild Yam with Bromocriptine?
We do not list a known interaction between Wild Yam and Bromocriptine. 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 Yam and Bromocriptine have any of the same side effects?
Yes — our sources link each of them separately to 4 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 Wild Yam and Bromocriptine at the same time of day?
At least one FDA label for a product containing Bromocriptine says to take it with food. If you take Wild Yam on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate and take Bromocriptine with a meal where the label says to. Food instructions belong to the product rather than the ingredient — two Bromocriptine products can differ — so check the directions on your own box. This is about absorption, not an interaction.
Are Wild Yam and Bromocriptine 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 Wild Yam in each. That is a conversation for your prescriber, especially if Bromocriptine is being adjusted to a target.
How was the Wild Yam and Bromocriptine combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Bromocriptine is filed under 4 classifications, and Wild Yam has documented interactions with 1 drug class — none of Bromocriptine'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 Yam interact with any other medications?
Yes. Wild Yam has 41 documented drug interactions in our database — Bromocriptine 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 Bromocriptine interact with any supplements?
Yes. Bromocriptine has documented interactions with 143 supplements in our database — Wild Yam is not one of them. The Bromocriptine interaction page linked on this page lists every one, ranked by severity.

Written and reviewed by the HelloPharmacist editorial staff. Our editorial policy

Still Have a Question About Bromocriptine and Wild Yam?

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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.