Interaction between drugs is a case which involves some sort of effect that one drug has on the other. For example, there are medications that affect the acidity in the stomach and which may lead to impairment of proper absorption of the other medication. Also, there are cases in which the use of one drug may increase the likelihood of side effects of other medication occurring. There are many different ways in which certain drugs may interact with other drugs and it is always important to inform yourself about any interactions between the drug that you are taking and other medications that you might need to use. In certain cases, these interactions may be quite severe and even life-threatening.
In this article, we are going to cover some of the most common interactions with Ritalin.
The most severe interactions with Ritalin can happen in case you are taking MAO inhibitors, a class of drugs that includes such medications like: selegiline (Emsam, Eldepryl), tranylcypromine (Parnate), rasagiline (Azilect), isocarboxazid (Marplan), furazolidone (Furoxone) and phenelzine (Nardil). The interaction between any of these and Ritalin may be life-threatening. You will need to wait for at least 14 days since the last use of MAOIs and the first dose of Ritalin, as this is the time required for MAOIs to be completely expelled from the body. This also means that you will need to wait for the Ritalin to clear out of your system completely before you start taking MAOIs.
There is a number of other medications that might interact with Ritalin, affecting the way in which your body responds to your Ritalin treatment, or that might be affected by your Ritalin regimen.
These medications include: certain antidepressants like sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine (Paxil), nortiptyline (Pamelor), fluoxetine (Sarafem, Prozac), doxepin (Sinequan), citalopram (Celexa) and others; seizure medications like Phenobarbital (Luminal), phenytoin (Dilantin) and primidone (Mysoline); diet pills and other stimulants; low blood pressure pills as well as high blood pressure pills; allergy and cold medications that contain pheylephrine which is a decongestant; clonidine (Catapres); warfarin (Coumadin) and other blood thinners; sodium acetate, potassium citrate, citric acide, sodium bicarbonate and potassium citrate; isoproterenol (Isuprel), epinephrine (EpiPen) and dobutamine (Dobutrex).Keep in mind that this is in no case a complete list and that there are other medications that might also interact with Ritalin. The best way to avoid any interactions is to talk to your doctor or the pharmacist about any medications, substances, supplements, vitamins, etc. that you intend to combine with Ritalin. They will let you know if this is safe.
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