Distil ← Back to home
Medication · antihistamine

Supplements and Promethazine hydrochloride.

Not yet catalogued in the Distil interactions database. We surface that distinction explicitly.

Promethazine hydrochloride, sold under the brand names Phenergan, Sominex, Avomine, is an antihistamine.

Promethazine hydrochloride is an antihistamine. The class divides into two generations. Older agents (chlorphenamine, promethazine, diphenhydramine) cross the blood brain barrier and cause sedation. Newer agents (cetirizine, loratadine, fexofenadine) mostly do not. UK community prescribing is mostly the newer agents for allergic rhinitis and urticaria. The supplement surface for them is small, because they have low CYP involvement and minimal additive sedation effect. The older agents stack with anything else sedating (alcohol, benzodiazepines, valerian, kava, magnesium glycinate at higher doses) and with anticholinergic supplements. The latter matters in older patients, given the cognitive decline signal in data on sustained anticholinergic burden. Fexofenadine specifically is a P-glycoprotein substrate and shows reduced absorption with fibre supplements at high intake, and with fruit juices. The BNF flag is real, but the clinical magnitude is small at standard doses.

We have not yet completed an explicit assessment of supplement interactions with Promethazine hydrochloride in the Distil database. That is different from saying nothing exists. We surface this distinction deliberately: the Distil checker tells you when we have explicitly assessed a pair and when we have not, because both are useful information. If you take Promethazine hydrochloride alongside a supplement, the checker below will surface anything already in our database, and the missing-item form at the bottom of the page routes uncatalogued pairs into our next curation pass.

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.

Loading database stats…
For adults over 18. This tool gives evidence-graded information, not medical advice. Always discuss changes with your GP, especially if you take any medication, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have a serious health condition.
Anything we should know? (optional)
Pick any that apply. We adjust the findings where context changes the answer.
Type the supplement name. Click each match to add it.
Brand or generic name works. Click each match to add it.
How we decide

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 methodology
Distil's interactions database is reviewed and updated every quarter. We grade evidence transparently and publish our methodology, including every database change, at /about/methodology. This tool is information, not a substitute for clinical judgement. If you take medication and supplements together, your GP or pharmacist can review your full regimen against your medical history. If you want a full personalised stack reasoned against this same database, the Distil report is the next step up.