Taking azathioprine with other medicines and herbal supplements

Azathioprine can affect the way some medicines work. Other medicines can also affect the way azathioprine works.

Tell your doctor or a pharmacist if you:

• take allopurinol, a medicine mainly used for gout
• take ciclosporin or tacrolimus, immunosuppressant medicines
• take warfarin, used to prevent blood clots
• are having chemotherapy, used to treat cancer
• are going to have any type of surgery – tell your doctor or anaesthetist that you take azathioprine beforehand
• have recently had or are due to have any vaccinations, especially a live vaccine, such as the BCG vaccine for tuberculosis (TB)

Children taking azathioprine must not have a live children's flu vaccine (this usually applies to children aged 2 to 17 years old). Adults are given an inactivated flu vaccine and this usually causes no problems with azathioprine.

Find out more about vaccinations.

There's not enough information to say that complementary medicines, herbal remedies and supplements are safe to take with azathioprine. They're not tested in the same way as pharmacy and prescription medicines. They're generally not tested for the effect they have on other medicines.

Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you're taking any other medicines, including herbal remedies, vitamins or supplements.