Is Iron Safe with Captopril?
Free · No account · based on published sources including NIH ODS, FDA drug labels, and peer-reviewed literature
Separate iron supplement doses from captopril by at least 2 hours. Take captopril on an empty stomach for optimal absorption. Do not stop either medication without consulting your healthcare provider.
Why this interaction occurs
Captopril's sulfhydryl group can bind to iron ions, forming poorly absorbed chelation complexes that reduce captopril bioavailability. This can lead to subtherapeutic ACE inhibitor levels and inadequate blood pressure or heart failure control. The interaction is structurally more relevant to captopril than to non-sulfhydryl ACE inhibitors.
Evidence
Evidence level: moderate.
Reported safety data
The FDA’s adverse event reporting system (FAERS) has received 10,141 reports mentioning Captopril. This reflects reported cases involving the medication in general — not confirmed causation, and not specific to the Captopril + supplement combination on this page.
FAERS reports are voluntary and cannot prove that a drug caused an event. Do not use report counts to assess the safety of this specific drug-supplement pair.
Frequently asked questions
Related interactions
All Iron interactions → · All Captopril interactions →
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Educational only — not medical advice.
Always confirm with your doctor or pharmacist.