Is Iron Safe with Tenofovir?
Free · No account · based on published sources including NIH ODS, FDA drug labels, and peer-reviewed literature
Separate iron supplement intake from Tenofovir by at least 2 hours. Monitor for any changes in antiretroviral efficacy during routine viral load checks.
Why this interaction occurs
Divalent metal cations like iron can form chelation complexes with certain antiretrovirals. While evidence is weaker for Tenofovir compared to integrase inhibitors, high-dose iron supplementation may modestly reduce gastrointestinal absorption of Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate.
Evidence
Evidence level: limited.
Reported safety data
The FDA’s adverse event reporting system (FAERS) has received 39,320 reports mentioning Tenofovir. This reflects reported cases involving the medication in general — not confirmed causation, and not specific to the Tenofovir + 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 Tenofovir interactions →
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Educational only — not medical advice.
Always confirm with your doctor or pharmacist.