Is Zinc Safe with Hydrocortisone?
Free · No account · based on published sources including NIH ODS, FDA drug labels, and peer-reviewed literature
Consider supplementing with 15–30 mg of zinc daily, preferably zinc gluconate or zinc picolinate. Avoid exceeding 40 mg/day without medical supervision to prevent copper depletion.
Why this interaction occurs
Hydrocortisone increases urinary zinc excretion and reduces zinc-dependent enzymatic activity. Since corticosteroids already suppress immune function, zinc depletion may further impair immune response, wound healing, and antioxidant defense mechanisms.
Evidence
Evidence level: moderate.
Reported safety data
The FDA’s adverse event reporting system (FAERS) has received 82,946 reports mentioning Hydrocortisone. This reflects reported cases involving the medication in general — not confirmed causation, and not specific to the Hydrocortisone + 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 Zinc interactions → · All Hydrocortisone interactions →
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Educational only — not medical advice.
Always confirm with your doctor or pharmacist.