Search results below include Worst Pills, Best Pills Newsletter Articles where your
selected drug is a primary subject of discussion.
September 2023
Patients taking the oral antidepressant drug desipramine (Norpramin) should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications. Public Citizen’s Health Research Group has designated desipramine, a tricyclic antidepressant, as a Limited Use drug; antidepressants in other drug classes are safer and better tolerated.
June 2023
Patients taking the stomach-acid-suppressing drug rabeprazole (ACIPHEX) should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications. Public Citizen’s Health Research Group has designated rabeprazole, a protein pump inhibitor, as Limited Use.
May 2023
Patients taking the antifungal drug voriconazole (VFEND), which is marketed in both oral and injectable forms, should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications.
April 2023
Patients taking the commonly prescribed calcium channel blocker felodipine should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications as well as the dietary supplement St. John’s wort.
February 2023
Patients taking the frequently prescribed antidepressant nortriptyline (PAMELOR) should be aware that it has clinically important and potentially dangerous interactions with many other prescription and over-the-counter medications.
January 2023
Patients taking the drug sotalol (BETAPACE, BETAPACE AF, SORINE, SOTYLIZE) should be aware that it has clinically important and potentially dangerous interactions with many other prescription medications.
November 2022
Learn about the numerous prescription medications and some over-the-counter drugs that can cause psychotic symptoms, including hallucinations.
September 2022
Patients taking the cholesterol-lowering drug pravastatin should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications.
August 2022
Patients taking the oral combination antiviral drug PAXLOVID (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir), which is used to treat COVID-19, should be aware that it has clinically important and potentially dangerous interactions with many other prescription medications.
June 2022
Patients taking the drug quinidine should be aware that it has clinically important and potentially dangerous interactions with many other prescription medications.
November 2021
Patients taking the oral antifungal drug itraconazole (SPORANOX, TOLSURA) should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications that can affect the safety or effectiveness of itraconazole or the interacting drugs.
August 2021
Patients taking the widely prescribed calcium channel blocker nifedipine (PROCARDIA, PROCARDIA XL) should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications.
July 2021
Patients taking the commonly prescribed abnormal heart rhythm drug amiodarone should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications.
April 2021
Patients taking the commonly prescribed drug atorvastatin, which is a member of the statin family of cholesterol-lowering drugs, should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications.
March 2021
Patients taking the commonly prescribed epilepsy drug carbamazepine (CARBATROL, EPITOL, EQUETRO, TEGRETOL, TERIL) should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with numerous other prescription and over-the-counter medications.
December 2020
Patients taking the widely prescribed calcium channel blocker diltiazem (CARDIZEM, CARTIA XT, TAZTIA XT, TIAZAC) should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications.
August 2020
Patients taking the commonly used blood thinner warfarin (COUMADIN, JANTOVEN) should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with numerous other prescription and over-the-counter medications, as well as some dietary supplements.
June 2020
Patients taking the commonly prescribed cholesterol-lowering drug simvastatin (FLOLIPID, VYTORIN, ZOCOR) should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications.
April 2020
Patients taking the commonly prescribed antibiotic clarithromycin (BIAXIN XL) should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications.
March 2020
Patients taking the widely prescribed calcium channel blocker verapamil — which is used to treat high blood pressure, coronary artery disease and certain abnormal heart rhythms — should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications.
December 2019
Patients taking the commonly prescribed antifungal drug fluconazole (DIFLUCAN) should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications. Some of these interactions can lead to an increased risk of fatal heart rhythm abnormalities.
September 2019
Doctors often prescribe antibiotics to treat acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which are characterized by increased shortness of breath, cough, sputum production and wheezing. But for some patients, the risks of such antibiotic treatment outweigh the benefits.
July 2019
Find out about the many prescription medications that can interact in dangerous ways with the four drugs approved by the FDA for treating erectile dysfunction in men.
May 2019
Read about the many prescription medications that can interact in dangerous ways with colchicine, a commonly used drug for treatment of acute gout attacks.
April 2019
Drugs are the most frequent cause of taste disturbances. In this article, we identify more than 60 commonly used prescription medications that have been linked to problems with taste.
November 2018
Read about the numerous medications that can interact with digoxin, a drug commonly prescribed for heart failure and atrial fibrillation. These interactions can result in either digoxin toxicity or decreased digoxin effectiveness depending on the other drug being used concomitantly.
September 2018
Read about the more than two dozen medications that can have clinically important interactions with aripiprazole, one of the widely used newer atypical antipsychotic drugs that is approved by the FDA for treatment of several disorders including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression.
June 2018
Clarithromycin is an oral antibiotic that is commonly used to treat a wide range of bacterial infections. Learn why patients with heart disease should avoid this antibiotic unless no other suitable antibiotic is available.
November 2014
Serious adverse reactions often occur when different drugs are taken together. Find out which antibiotics diabetic patients taking glipizide (GLUCOTROL, GLUCOTROL XL) or glyburide (DIABETA, GLUCOVANCE, GLYNASE) should avoid because of an increased risk of life-threatening drops in blood sugar levels.
April 2014
Learn about new evidence demonstrating the dangers of combining calcium channel blockers, a widely used class of drugs for treating high blood pressure, with the commonly used macrolide antibiotic clarithromycin and other related antibiotics. Also find out which macrolide antibiotic does not have this dangerous interaction with calcium channel blockers.
August 2012
Learn the details of the large problem of misprescribing antibiotics for sinusitis, symptoms of the condition, limited indications for antibiotic use and alternative treatments for this very common illness.
July 2012
This article updates and expands our earlier list of drugs that can have harmful interactions with grapefruit juice. The list now includes 82 different drugs.
November 2010
This article discusses 36 drugs that, when used by people also using a corticosteroid, can either cause toxic interactions with the steroid or decrease the steroid's effectiveness.
September 2010
The article list 34 other medications that can harmfully interact with sleeping pills, increasing their sedative properties and causing excessive sedation. Excessive sedation at night could increase the risk of falls, should the person get up in the night for some reason. Moreover, excessive sedation causing respiratory depression could be dangerous for people with certain disorders, such as lung disease.
August 2010
The article lists 34 prescription drugs that can have harmful interactions with vincristine. Recognizing signs of toxicity from vincristine early, as described in the article, is urgent because most of the side effects are reversible when the interacting drug is stopped and the patient receives corrective treatment.
May 2010
After explaining the symptoms of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) the article lists 42 prescription drugs that can interact with one or more diabetes drugs to increase the chance of hypoglycemia.
April 2010
The article lists 53 drugs that can interact with the psychiatric drug ABILIFY to either increase the amount in the body, which can lead to toxicity, or decrease the amount rendering the drug less effective.
March 2010
The article lists 35 different interacting drugs that can either increase blood levels of digoxin, leading to the serious problem of digitalis toxicity or decrease blood levels, causing the drug to be less effective.
February 2010
Quetiapine (SEROQUEL) can interact with 26 different drugs, increasing its blood levels and causing dangerous side effects such as slowed breathing, dizziness and fainting. The article also lists 10 other interacting drugs that can result in lower blood levels, rendering the drug less effective.
September 2009
The article lists 24 drugs that can increase the toxicity of oxycodone if taken together with the drug and 11 other drugs that can weaken its effectiveness as a painkiller if they are simutaneously used.
July 2009
The article lists 38 prescription drugs that can harmfully interact with statin drugs. The article also advises that No matter what statin you are taking and regardless of any interacting drugs, you should notify your prescriber immediately if you develop muscle pain, weakness or a darkening of your urine.
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June 2009
Taking alpha-blockers in combination with drugs for erectile dysfunction and with other drugs can cause dizziness and fainting.
In this article we will discuss alfuzosin (UROXATRAL), doxazosin (CARDURA), tamsulosin (FLOMAX) and terazosin (HYTRIN) and drugs with which they can have harmful interactions.
December 2008
This article lists 27 drugs that can have life-threatening interactions with the widely-used gout drug, colchicine, resulting in dangerously elevated levels of colchicine.
Too much colchicine in the body leads to toxicity such as fever, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and muscle pains.
Even worse, it can impair the bone marrow’s ability to make red and white blood cells, causing severe anemia and dangerously low numbers of white blood cells. When the number of white blood cells is reduced, your body may have difficulty fighting infections. Most people who have died from colchicine toxicity have had bone marrow toxicity or had preexisting kidney problems.
Every patient on colchicine — whether on other drugs or not — should be alert for evidence of colchicine toxicity as described above.
February 2008
The article discusses the adverse drug interactions between either of two widely-prescribed macrolide antibiotics, erythromycin (as in ERYTHROCIN) and clarithromycin (BIAXIN)and more than 40 other drugs that are listed in a table in the article. It also describes the nature of the adverse interactions that can occur.
October 2005
Using the antibiotic clarithromycin (BIAXIN, BIAXIN XL) in combination with the gout drug colchicine at the same time increases the risk of death because of colchicine toxicity, a recent study shows. In the 88 patients who received the two drugs together, nine (10.2 percent) died. Only one (3.6 percent) of the 28 patients who received the two drugs sequentially died.
September 2003
DO NOT stop taking any of the drugs listed in the table without first consulting your physician.
You should report any alteration in your sense of taste to your physician if you are taking a drug.
November 2002
This is the second of a two-part series on drug-induced psychiatric symptoms that began in last month’s Worst Pills, Best Pills News. The information is based on the July 8, 2002 issue of The Medical Letter on Drugs and Therapeutics. Article lists drugs and adverse effects.
June 2002
Grapefruit juice can interact with a number of therapeutically important drugs that could lead to the possibility of toxicity. These drugs are listed in the article.