Is Elderberry Safe To Take With Lipitor?

Hello and thanks for reaching out to us! It's always a good idea to ask about potential drug interactions between your prescription medications and over-the-counter supplements. We're here to help!

Based on what we know about how elderberry works and how our body metabolizes it, there are no known or expected interactions between it and Lipitor (atorvastatin). They are considered safe to take together. I could find no information suggesting that they interfere with one another in any way.

It is always a challenge to definitively say there are no interactions between prescription drugs and dietary supplements due to the lack of large-scale published studies, but elderberry in particular is one of the more well-researched ones. You can feel safe supplementing with elderberry to help with your symptoms.

What Is Elderberry?

Elderberry has a long history of use medically for its purported immune system enhancing effects. It is mostly marketed in over-the-counter supplements to help shorten the duration of colds and the flu. Although there have been relatively few studies testing how well it works in this regard, some small clinical studies have shown it can affect different components of the immune system (e.g. cytokines) and may have positive benefits in healthy adults and children. Other studies have shown no benefit, however. More rigorous studies are needed to better understand exactly the benefits it can have as a supplement.

Regardless, elderberry seems relatively safe to use in amounts that would commonly be found in food. In fact, it is 'generally recognized as safe' (GRAS) by the FDA.

There are no known drug interactions between elderberry and prescription or over-the-counter medications. Based on studies showing that it may have immunostimulating effects, it theoretically could interact with immunosuppressants, but this has not been shown clinically. Regardless, simply due to the lack of studies, it should not be combined with drugs that are supposed to suppress the immune system.

What Is Lipitor?

Lipitor (atorvastatin) is used together with diet, weight loss, and exercise to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke and to decrease the chance that heart surgery will be needed in people who have heart disease or who are at risk of developing heart disease. It is also used to decrease the amount of fatty substances such as low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol ('bad cholesterol') and triglycerides in the blood and to increase the amount of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol ('good cholesterol') in the blood.

Lipitor is in a class of medications called HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins). It works by slowing the production of cholesterol in the body to decrease the amount of cholesterol that may build up on the walls of the arteries and block blood flow to the heart, brain, and other parts of the body.

Final Words

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