Drug Interactions
The effects of some drugs can change if you take other drugs or herbal products at the same time. This can increase your risk for serious side effects or may cause your medications not to work correctly. These drug interactions are possible, but do not always occur. Your doctor or pharmacist can often prevent or manage interactions by changing how you use your medications or by close monitoring. To help your doctor and pharmacist give you the best care, be sure to tell your doctor and pharmacist about all the products you use (including prescription drugs, nonprescription drugs, and herbal products) before starting treatment with this product. While using this product, do not start, stop, or change the dosage of any other medicines you are using without your doctor's approval. Some products that may interact with this drug include: anti-seizure drugs (e.g., carbamazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin), digoxin, ergot drugs (e.g., dihydroergotamine, ergotamine), ivabradine, live bacterial vaccines (e.g., typhoid or cholera vaccines), metoprolol, rifampin, certain "statin" drugs for high cholesterol (atorvastatin, lovastatin, simvastatin), St John's wort, theophylline, warfarin, drugs removed from your system by certain liver enzymes (CYP 3A4 substrates such as cyclosporine, eplerenone, midazolam, sildenafil, sirolimus, tacrolimus, triazolam). Many drugs besides telithromycin may affect the heart rhythm (QT prolongation), including amiodarone, cisapride, dofetilide, pimozide, procainamide, quinidine, sotalol, macrolide antibiotics (such as erythromycin), among others. Therefore, before using telithromycin, report all medications you are currently using to your doctor or pharmacist. This medication may decrease the effectiveness of certain hormonal birth control products (pill, patch, ring). This effect can result in pregnancy. If you are using a hormonal birth control product, you may need to use an additional form of reliable birth control while using this medication. Consult your doctor or pharmacist for details about your product. This document does not contain all possible drug interactions. Keep a list of all the products you use. Share this list with your doctor and pharmacist to lessen your risk for serious medication problems.