Drug Interactions
Your doctor or pharmacist may already be aware of any possible drug interactions and may be monitoring you for it. Do not start, stop or change the dosage of any medicine before checking with them first. This drug should not be used with the following medications because very serious interactions may occur: eletriptan, eplerenone, ergot alkaloids (e.g., ergotamine, dihydroergotamine), ivabradine, ranolazine. If you are currently using any of these medications, tell your doctor or pharmacist before starting clarithromycin. Many drugs besides clarithromycin may affect the heart rhythm (QT prolongation), including amiodarone, dofetilide, quinidine, sotalol, pimozide, procainamide, moxifloxacin, gatifloxacin, propafenone, thioridazine, macrolide antibiotics (such as erythromycin), among others. Therefore, before using clarithromycin, report all medications you are currently using to your doctor or pharmacist. Before using this medication, tell your doctor or pharmacist of all prescription and nonprescription/herbal products you may use, especially of: drugs affecting liver enzymes that remove clarithromycin from your body (such as rifamycins - including rifabutin and rifampin, and azole antifungals - including itraconazole and fluconazole), certain HIV medications (e.g., zidovudine, delavirdine, protease inhibitors such as atazanavir, ritonavir), certain anti-seizure medications (e.g., carbamazepine, phenytoin, valproate), "blood thinners" (e.g., warfarin), colchicine, digoxin, live bacterial vaccines. This drug can slow down the removal of other drugs from your body by affecting certain liver enzymes. Some examples of these affected drugs include alfentanil, certain benzodiazepines (e.g., alprazolam, midazolam, triazolam), bromocriptine, cilostazol, corticosteroids (e.g., methylprednisolone), cyclosporine, disopyramide, fentanyl, repaglinide, sildenafil, certain statins (atorvastatin, lovastatin, simvastatin), tacrolimus, tolterodine, theophylline. This medication may decrease the effectiveness of combination-type birth control pills. This can result in pregnancy. You may need to use an additional form of reliable birth control while using this medication. Consult your doctor or pharmacist for details. This document does not contain all possible interactions. Therefore, before using this product, tell your doctor or pharmacist of all the products you use. Keep a list of all your medications with you, and share the list with your doctor and pharmacist.