Herb & supplement monograph

Wormwood Drug Interactions, Uses, Effectiveness, Safety & More

Medically reviewed by Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS ·Updated July 2026

What is this page for?

First and foremost: how Wormwood interacts with medications. The heart of this page is the interaction list — every drug Wormwood is known to interact with, and how serious each one is.

But these pages have grown well beyond that into a full monograph — what Wormwood is, what people use it for and how strong the evidence is, its safety and side effects, and answers to the questions we’re asked most — written and reviewed by the clinical staff at HelloPharmacist. It’s educational information from our licensed clinical databases, not medical advice, and we don’t sell or endorse products. Our editorial policy

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Reviewed by licensed pharmacists Sourced from Natural Medicines

On this page

Wormwood Drug Interactions: The Bottom Line

From the HelloPharmacist Editorial Team · Updated July 2026

Based on the available evidence, the overall risk of a clinically significant Wormwood drug interaction appears low for most people, since the concerns identified are theoretical rather than proven in humans. None of the listed interactions are rated major, and the documentation behind them comes from lab-based reasoning rather than human studies.

Interactions deserving the most attention

The combination that deserves the most care involves anticonvulsants, the medications used to control seizures. Wormwood contains a compound called thujone that can trigger seizure activity, so in theory it could work against these drugs. This has not been confirmed in human studies, but because seizure control is a narrow-margin situation where even a small change matters, people taking these medicines should treat wormwood with extra caution.

What the rest of the list means

Although a fairly long list of medications appears here, nearly all of them trace back to this single theoretical concern about thujone. That means the number of listed drugs does not reflect dozens of separate proven problems, and no interaction on this list has been clearly shown to cause harm in people.

Check your medications against Wormwood

Based on HelloPharmacist’s Wormwood interaction data and reviewed under our editorial standards.

Interaction report

Drugs that interact with Wormwood

50 medications have a known interaction with Wormwood, graded by severity. Select any drug for the full evidence-based detail.

Don’t want to scroll the list? Just ask.

Tell us the medications you take and we’ll check each one against Wormwood using our pharmacist-reviewed interaction data.

AI summaries are generated from our Wormwood interaction data for education only — always confirm with your pharmacist. How we use AI

2,830 drugs

Read The List Like a Pharmacist

What Severity, Likelihood & Evidence Mean

Severity — How Serious It Can Be

Major. Clinically significant; generally best avoided, or used only under direct professional supervision.
Moderate. May need monitoring, a dose adjustment, or separating the times you take each one.
Minor. Generally not clinically significant, but still worth noting and mentioning to your pharmacist.
No known interaction. Checked against our sources with nothing documented — not the same as proven safety.

Likelihood — How Well It’s Documented

Likely. Well-controlled human studies have demonstrated the likely existence of this interaction
Probable. Interaction has not been documented in well-controlled studies, however, the interaction has been demonstrated in some small human studies or in controlled animal studies in conjunction with multiple case reports.
Possible. Interaction has been documented in animal or in lab research, or the interaction has been documented in humans but is limited to case reports or conflicting clinical research exists
Unlikely. Interaction has been demonstrated in animal or in lab research but has been shown not to occur in humans.

Where This Data Comes From

Interaction records are evidence-graded and sourced from the Natural Medicines database (TRC Healthcare), the same reference used by pharmacists and hospitals.
Each drug listed above links to the full report for that exact Wormwood combination — clinical detail, likelihood, evidence level, and citations.
Content is reviewed by licensed HelloPharmacist pharmacists — see our data sources and editorial standards.

The big picture

The kinds of drugs Wormwood affects

Every type of medication (drug category) Wormwood is known to interact with. Open any category for the detail — or search your exact drug in the checker above.

All 1 drug category Wormwood interacts with

Anticonvulsants

Theoretically, taking wormwood might interfere with the effects of anticonvulsant drugs.
Thujone, a constituent of wormwood, has convulsant effects.

Likelihood Possible Evidence D

Monograph

Wormwood: Uses, Safety & Side Effects

Medically reviewed by Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS · Reviewed July 2026 ·

The bottom line

Wormwood is a very bitter herb traditionally used to stimulate appetite and ease digestion, and it has early research interest in Crohn's disease. It contains thujone, which can be toxic in large amounts, so it should only be used short-term in controlled doses. Talk to a pharmacist or doctor before using it, and avoid it if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Scientific name: Artemisia absinthium
Family: Asteraceae
Part used: Leaves, flowering tops, and essential oil
Common forms: Tea, tincture, capsules, extracts, essential oil

People commonly use it for

Digestive upset and poor appetite
Intestinal parasites
Crohn's disease symptoms
Bitter tonic for indigestion
Flavoring in absinthe and vermouth

Popular and traditional uses — not proof it works. See “Uses & effectiveness” below for the evidence.

Safety at a glance

OverallUse caution

Short-term use of properly prepared products may be acceptable, but the thujone in wormwood can be toxic in higher amounts.

PregnancyInsufficient reliable information

LIKELY UNSAFE ..when used orally in amounts greater than those found in foods. Some wormwood products contain thujone, a neurotoxin. Theoretically, th...

Read the full pregnancy detail

BreastfeedingInsufficient reliable information

Insufficient reliable information available; avoid using.

Read the full breastfeeding detail

Pregnancy & breastfeeding ratings are from Natural Medicines (Therapeutic Research Center). Safety guidance is general; always confirm with your pharmacist or doctor for your situation.

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Overview

Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) is an aromatic plant in the daisy family that is native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and it now grows in many parts of the world. It is well known for its strong, pungent smell and very bitter taste.

People have used wormwood in traditional medicine for centuries, mainly for digestive complaints and to help get rid of intestinal worms. It is also famous as a flavoring in the alcoholic drink absinthe and in vermouth. Today it is taken as a tea, tincture, capsule, or extract.

How it works

Wormwood contains very bitter compounds called sesquiterpene lactones (such as absinthin), which are thought to trigger taste receptors and increase saliva, stomach acid, and digestive juices. This is the basis for its traditional use as a digestive bitter.

The plant's essential oil contains thujone, a compound that can affect the nervous system and is responsible for much of wormwood's toxicity in large amounts. Wormwood also has antioxidant and possible anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial actions in laboratory studies.

It is important to know that most of these mechanisms come from laboratory and animal research. How well they apply to people taking wormwood products is not fully known.

Effectiveness

Does Wormwood work?

Here’s what the research actually shows for each use — graded by Natural Medicines and reviewed by Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD.

Evidence overview · 8 uses evaluated

8 Insufficient evidence

How to read these evidence grades

Natural Medicines’ 7-point scale. We show each rating’s label word-for-word.

1EffectiveStrong, consistent evidence it works.

2Likely EffectiveGood evidence, though not yet conclusive.

3Possibly EffectiveSome evidence suggests a benefit.

4Possibly IneffectiveSome evidence it may not help.

5Likely IneffectiveFairly strong evidence it doesn’t help.

6IneffectiveStrong evidence it doesn’t work.

7Insufficient Reliable Evidence to RateToo little research to say either way.

For Wormwood, current evidence isn’t strong enough to rate any specific use. The conditions it has been studied for are listed below.

Also studied for 8 conditions — evidence insufficient to rate

Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate Biliary disorders