Hawthorn tea is an herbal, medicinal drink prepared from the Crataegus oxyacantha plant. As a supplement, hawthorn is traditionally used to treat heart-related health problems, including chest pain, elevated blood pressure and congestive heart failure. More research is necessary to support these purported benefits of this herb, however. Talk with your doctor about the potential negative interaction hawthorn tea may have with prescription drugs.
Digoxin
Digoxin is a prescription medication used to resolve heart rate irregularities. Consuming any formulation of hawthorn, including hawthorn tea, in conjunction with digoxin may increase the activity of this medication, which may lead to heart rate problems.
Beta-Blockers and Calcium Channel Blockers
Hawthorn may increase the effects of medications indicated to lower blood pressure or dilate blood vessels, such as beta-blockers and calcium channel blockers. Drinking hawthorn tea with any of these types of medications, including amlodipine, nifedipine, metoprolol and atenolol, may cause hypotension, which can result in dizziness, blurred vision, fainting or headache.
Nitrates
Avoid taking hawthorn tea with nitrates, a type of medication used to improve blood flow to your heart. This treatment combination may cause too much blood to flow to your heart and can increase your risk of experiencing lightheadedness. Examples of nitrates include isosorbide and nitroglycerin.
Erectile Dysfunction Drugs
Erectile dysfunction is a male medical condition characterized by an inability to achieve or maintain an erection during sexual stimulation. Drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction, such as sildenafil and vardenafil, may reduce your blood pressure levels. As hawthorn also has blood-pressure-lowering properties, combining hawthorn tea with an erectile dysfunction drug may cause a significant drop in your blood pressure.
Member Comments