Supplements and Rilpivirine.
Rilpivirine, sold under the brand names Edurant, Rekambys, is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI): it binds reverse transcriptase directly at an allosteric site. NNRTIs are CYP3A substrates.
Rilpivirine is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI). The class binds HIV reverse transcriptase directly and forms a backbone of combination antiretroviral therapy. Efavirenz, the most established agent, is itself a CYP3A4 inducer and a CYP2B6 substrate, which is why its own drug interactions run deep. The supplement rules follow the same logic as the protease inhibitor page. Steady antiretroviral levels are what hold the virus suppressed, so anything that shifts them risks toxicity or, more dangerously, treatment failure and resistance. St John's Wort sits on the induction side and is the textbook exclusion. Supplements that inhibit CYP3A4, including curcumin, quercetin, resveratrol, schisandra, berberine, boswellia and bergamot, can raise levels instead. Bergamot is grapefruit-family citrus, the class whose interaction with these drugs is best documented in people. Boswellia is the least settled of them: laboratory work on the gum resin shows CYP3A4 inhibition, one study reports the opposite effect, and a literature search found no study of the combination in people, which is reason enough to keep it out of a regimen that depends on a steady level. Immune-active herbs (echinacea, andrographis, elderberry, cordyceps, astragalus) are excluded as a precaution on antiretroviral therapy regardless of CD4 count. As with all antiretroviral therapy, the HIV team signs off any new supplement rather than community pharmacy.
We have not yet completed an explicit assessment of supplement interactions with Rilpivirine 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 Rilpivirine 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.
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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 methodologyA full supplement review, built around you, not a generic stack.
The free checker answers one interaction question at a time. A Distil report reviews the bigger picture: your goals, diet, medications, current supplements and any blood results you provide, then shows what appears worth keeping, changing, adding or leaving out.
- what your diet already covers, so you are not adding a capsule for something food is already handling
- which evidence-graded compounds are worth considering for your goals, and which were considered but left out
- what to keep, change or stop from what you already take, plus the order to introduce anything new
- how your medications and complete supplement stack fit together, with daily timing and a clear point for reassessment
The interaction check is one section of the full report. You also get the reasoning behind each recommendation and the evidence references used.
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Something 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.