What the label lists and what reports show
Castor oil side effects
Castor oil's FDA label lists its adverse reactions in its own words. FAERS holds 189 reports naming it through July 30, 2026; the reaction reported most often, leaving out the conditions it is used for, product-use terms and outcomes, is fatigue (23 reports).
- No generic listed
- Over the counter
Check it at the source: the castor oil FDA label on DailyMed (effective June 15, 2026); the FDA FAERS public dashboard.
What does the label list?
From the label: adverse reactionsADVERSE REACTION DISTRIBUTED BY BETTER LIVING BRANDS LLC PO. BOX 99, PLEASANTON, CA 94566-0009 1-888-723-3929 www.betterlivingbrandsLLC.com
Source: FDA drug label, Better Living Brands, LLC, effective June 15, 2026 (SPL set 4947cf4d-3ebd-4b66-9582-f141407aa300), via openFDA; the full label on DailyMed
What do FAERS reports show?
189 reports list castor oil among the medicines taken, each a report of something that happened, not proof the medicine caused it; 15 are coded as a death and 60 as a hospital stay. Counts follow how widely a medicine is used and watched, and they are not a measure of how risky it is. Of the 19 reactions below, none is named by the same term (in US spelling) in the label's adverse reactions, warnings or patient leaflet; a reaction the label does not name may still be there under another word, and a report does not show that the medicine caused it.
The 25 most reported reactions
Source: FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) via openFDA, reports through July 30, 2026; reactions as MedDRA preferred terms
What next?
- Castor oil: the full record
- label, generics, price, shortages, recalls
- Report a side effect to the FDA
- MedWatch
- Side effects hub
- the most reported medicines and reactions