Arginine and blood pressure medicine: which interactions matter?

Not without asking first, because arginine can add to the effect of blood pressure medicine and let your pressure fall too far.

Memorial Sloan Kettering says arginine "may have additive hypotensive effects" with blood pressure medicines (MSK, Arginine). Mayo Clinic says the same: blood pressure may drop too low (Mayo Clinic, L-arginine). In 11 trials with 387 people, arginine at 4 to 24 g a day lowered systolic pressure by about 5 mm Hg compared with placebo (Dong 2011, arginine BP).

Those trials used grams. A MemoHoney capsule holds 400 mg across two arginine rows, so the result cannot be carried over to the capsule. Still, the label does not say how much arginine the "AKG 2:1 extract" holds, and nobody has measured what a capsule does to your pressure on top of your medicine. Do not stop or change a prescribed medicine on your own.

It may: Mayo Clinic says arginine might raise the risk of bleeding with blood thinners and might lower blood sugar in people with diabetes (Mayo Clinic, L-arginine).

That matters most if you already take warfarin, an anticoagulant or insulin, because the doses of those medicines are set carefully. If you do take one, tell your pharmacist about every supplement, even a small one. The NCCIH gives the same advice for all supplements: tell every health care provider what you take (NCCIH using supplements wisely).

MemoHoney contains two arginine rows, 200 mg of L-arginine base and 200 mg of L-arginine AKG 2:1 extract, so every caution above applies to it (MemoHoney label).

The label tells you to consult a physician if you have a known medical condition. It does not list the interactions above, so the label alone will not warn you. Take the question to a pharmacist with your medicine list. The side effects page and the who it's for page cover the rest. Memory problems that are new, getting worse or getting in the way of daily life need a clinician, not a supplement.