Medications that Interact with Methadone

One of the major interests of CredibleMeds is the safety of methadone. Many people taking prescribed methadone also take other medications. Consumers may not always be aware that combining methadone with other medications (including prescribed and non-prescribed drugs) can alter the effects of the drugs or result in adverse drug events. Combining methadone and benzodiazepines may be especially dangerous.

Patients taking methadone and any other medicine should talk with their doctor or pharmacist about their medications. Patients should know that not all people will experience adverse events when taking other medications with methadone, and that there may be times when their doctor will need to prescribe other medicines along with methadone.

Methadone should not be combined with any of the drugs with Known Risk of Torsades de pointes or any of the following metabolic inhibitors (clopidogrel, prasugrel, ticlopidine, itraconazole, ketoconazole, fluconazole, voriconazole, thiotepa, darunavir, ritonavir, indinavir, nelfinavir, boceprevir, telaprevir, saquinavir, clarithromycin, erythromycin, telithromycin, nefazadone, grapefruit juice, cimetidine, verapamil, diltiazem, amiodarone, ciprofloxacin, delaviridine, fluvoxamine, mifepristone,) 

Do not take these medicines together with methadone or if they are medically needed, check the patient’s QT before and after the interacting drug are started and consider lowering dose of methadone. 

Medline Plus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, offers more information on drug safety.

FDA Information for Health Professionals