Supplements and Linezolid.
Linezolid, sold under the brand name Zyvox, is classified under "oxazolidinone" in the BNF.
Linezolid (UK brand names Zyvox) sits in the Distil medication database. The BNF classifies it under "oxazolidinone". This means it sits outside the high-volume therapeutic classes (statins, PPIs, ACE inhibitors, SSRIs) where supplement-interaction surfaces are densely studied, and the published evidence base for specific supplement pairs is correspondingly thinner. Where interactions are documented in the Distil database, they are listed below with their clinical-reference citation; where pairs have not been explicitly assessed, the missing-item form at the bottom of the page routes them into our next curation pass. Anyone combining Linezolid with a regular supplement stack benefits from explicit GP or pharmacist awareness rather than assuming no interaction exists by default.
Below are the 7 documented pairs we have explicitly assessed against Linezolid in the Distil database: 6 red and 1 amber. The pairs cluster around 2 mechanisms: Additive serotonergic activity and MAOI pressor (blood-pressure surge). Every call is cited to either a clinical reference (PMID) or the British National Formulary. Anything not on this list is either still to be assessed or beyond our database scope. The checker beneath surfaces assessments by supplement, and the missing-item form at the bottom of the page routes any uncatalogued supplement into our next curation pass.
Documented interactions
Additive serotonergic activity
5-HTP is the precursor your body uses to make serotonin, and linezolid is an antibiotic that also acts as an MAOI, blocking serotonin breakdown. Combining them can drive serotonin to dangerous levels, a reaction called serotonin syndrome. Do not combine.
Tryptophan is the building block your body uses to make serotonin, and linezolid is an antibiotic that also acts as an MAOI, blocking serotonin breakdown. Combining them can drive serotonin to dangerous levels and has caused toxic reactions in published cases. Do not combine.
Rhodiola appears to slow the same enzyme (monoamine oxidase) that linezolid blocks, and adds its own serotonin activity. Stacking the two could push serotonin too high, risking serotonin syndrome. We treat this as a do-not-combine pair without specialist sign-off.
Reviewer-flagged: awaiting clinical-reviewer sign-off.
SAM-e has antidepressant, serotonin-raising activity, and linezolid is an antibiotic that also acts as an MAOI, blocking serotonin breakdown. Stacking the two could push serotonin too high, risking serotonin syndrome. We treat this as a do-not-combine pair without specialist sign-off.
Reviewer-flagged: awaiting clinical-reviewer sign-off.
Saffron has its own antidepressant effect that appears to act on serotonin, and linezolid is an antibiotic that also acts as an MAOI, blocking serotonin breakdown. Stacking the two could push serotonin too high, risking serotonin syndrome. We treat this as a do-not-combine pair without specialist sign-off.
Reviewer-flagged: awaiting clinical-reviewer sign-off.
St John's Wort raises serotonin in the brain, and linezolid is an antibiotic that also acts as an MAOI, blocking serotonin breakdown. Combining them risks serotonin syndrome. This is a strict do-not-combine.
MAOI pressor (blood-pressure surge)
L-Tyrosine is the raw material your body turns into adrenaline and noradrenaline. Linezolid is an antibiotic that also acts as a reversible MAOI, which carries less blood-pressure risk than the older irreversible MAOIs, but adding extra precursor while that pathway is partly slowed could still nudge blood pressure up. Take this combination only with your prescriber's awareness, and not at high tyrosine doses.
Reviewer-flagged: awaiting clinical-reviewer sign-off.
What this list does not say. Pairs not flagged here are not implicitly safe. They are either not yet in our database, or fall outside our inclusion scope (food-supplement interactions only; for drug-drug interactions, the BNF is authoritative). Use the checker below to surface any supplement, and submit a missing item if you take something we have not catalogued.
How we grade severity, choose what's in scope, and what we exclude.
Every call on this page is reasoned. We publish the full rubric for severity tiers, the medication inclusion logic, the evidence grades we accept, and what we deliberately leave out. About three thousand words. Worth reading once if you use this tool more than occasionally.
Read the full methodologyWant this checked across everything you take?
This page checks the pairs you enter. The personalised Distil report goes further:
- the same graded, cited interaction check across your whole stack, not just the pairs you thought to type in
- where your current routine may be leaving you short of your goals
- the evidence-backed compounds worth adding, and the ones worth dropping
It's a paid report: £79, or £49 for the first 25 customers. The interactions check is one section of it, and you can read a real one in full before you buy.
See a real sample reportSomething missing?
If a supplement or medication you take isn't in our autocomplete, tell us. We go through what people flag every week and add what's missing.