Green Tea Drug Interactions

If you take certain medications with green tea, drug interactions could potentially occur. Many of these medicines may increase the level of caffeine (a component of green tea) in your blood, increasing your risk of side effects. Some of the medications that can cause negative drug interactions with green tea products include theophylline, fluvoxamine, warfarin, and other stimulants.

Even though it is a "natural" product, green tea can potentially interact with several medicines. Some of the medicines that may lead to green tea drug interactions include:

Any Other Stimulants
Use caution when combining green tea with any other stimulant. Green tea contains caffeine, which can be dangerous when taken with other stimulants.

Clozapine (Clozaril)
For some people, caffeine (a component of green tea) can make psychotic symptoms worse. Additionally, there is some evidence that caffeine may increase the level of clozapine in your blood, which may lead to dangerous side effects. Check with your healthcare provider before combining green tea with clozapine.

Fluvoxamine (Luvox)

Fluvoxamine is a prescription medicine licensed for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder.Fluvoxamine may increase the level of caffeine in your blood, increasing your risk of green-tea-side-effects.Potentially serious side effects of green tea include rapid heart rate, anxiety, and arrhythmia.Ask your healthcare provider before taking fluvoxamine and green-tea.Available in the form of beverages and supplements, green tea appears to provide many health benefits together.

Mexiletine (Mexitil)

Mexiletine may increase the level of caffeine in the blood, which may increase the risk of side effects. Talk with your healthcare provider before combining mexiletine with green tea.

Theophylline (Uniphyl, Theocron, TheoCap, Theo-24, Elixophyllin)

Green tea contains caffeine. Combining caffeine with Theophylline is a prescription medication licensed to treat airway spasms in people with asthma or COPD.It may lead to problems, so be sure to check with your healthcare provider before taking green tea and theophylline together.

Warfarin (Coumadin, Jantoven)

There has been a report of green tea interacting with Warfarin is a prescription medicine licensed to prevent and treat blood clots due to various causes., decreasing the effectiveness of warfarin. This may be due to the vitamin K content of green tea (since vitamin K makes warfarin less effective). If you take warfarin, check with your healthcare provider before taking green tea.