Special Diets

See also How to Use section.

Drug interactions may change how your medications work or increase your risk for serious side effects. This document does not contain all possible drug interactions. Keep a list of all the products you use (including prescription/nonprescription drugs and herbal products) and share it with your doctor and pharmacist. Do not start, stop, or change the dosage of any medicines without your doctor's approval.

Some products that may interact with this drug include: diet pills/appetite suppressants (such as diethylpropion), drugs for attention deficit disorder (such as atomoxetine, methylphenidate), apraclonidine, bupropion, buspirone, carbamazepine, cyclobenzaprine, deutetrabenazine, a certain combination product (dextromethorphan/quinidine), maprotiline, methyldopa, metoclopramide, certain opioid pain relievers (such as fentanyl, meperidine, methadone, tapentadol), certain drugs for Parkinson's disease (such as entacapone, levodopa, tolcapone), certain supplements (such as tryptophan, tyramine), tetrabenazine, tricyclic antidepressants (such as amitriptyline, doxepin), valbenazine.

The risk of serotonin syndrome/toxicity increases if you are also taking other drugs that increase serotonin. Examples include street drugs such as MDMA/"ecstasy," St. John's wort, certain antidepressants (including mirtazapine, SSRIs such as fluoxetine/paroxetine, SNRIs such as duloxetine/venlafaxine), tramadol, certain "triptans" used to treat migraine headaches (such as rizatriptan, sumatriptan, zolmitriptan), among others. The risk of serotonin syndrome/toxicity may be more likely when you start or increase the dose of these drugs.

Some products can interact with linezolid if you take them together, or even if you take them weeks before or after taking linezolid. Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you take anything in the list of products that may interact with this drug, or any of the products that increase serotonin, within 2 weeks before or after taking linezolid. Also tell them if you have taken fluoxetine within 5 weeks before starting linezolid. Ask your doctor how much time to wait between starting or stopping any of these drugs and starting linezolid.

Taking other MAO inhibitors with this medication may cause a serious (possibly fatal) drug interaction. Do not take any other MAO inhibitors (isocarboxazid, metaxalone, methylene blue, moclobemide, phenelzine, procarbazine, rasagiline, safinamide, selegiline, tranylcypromine) during treatment with this medication. Most MAO inhibitors should also not be taken for two weeks before and after treatment with this medication. Ask your doctor when to start or stop taking this medication.

Before using linezolid, report the use of drugs that may increase the risk of extremely high blood pressure (hypertensive crisis) when combined with linezolid, including herbal products (such as ephedra/ma huang), allergy and cold products (including decongestants such as phenylephrine/pseudoephedrine), and stimulants (such as amphetamines, ephedrine, epinephrine). Linezolid should not be used with any of these medications. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist for more details.