Can You Take Tamiflu With Azithromycin?
In our latest question and answer, the pharmacist discusses whether or not it is safe to take azithromycin and Tamiflu together.
Can Tamiflu be taken with azithromycin if in the middle of the 5-day course? My daughter tested positive today and was already taking a ZPak and Mucinex for bronchitis.
Dec 06, 2022- There is no known drug interaction between Tamiflu and azithromycin, so they can be safely taken together.
- Both drugs can cause similar side effects like nausea and diarrhea, so you may notice these effects more if taking them at the same time.
- Tamiflu has very few drug interactions overall, making it generally safe to use with most medications.
Answer
Hello and thank you for using our site!
There is no known drug interaction between Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and azithromycin.
Now, it wouldn't be all that common that these drugs are used together since they treat different things...Tamiflu is an antiviral while azithromycin is an antibiotic.
Nevertheless, there certainly are situations where they may be prescribed closely to one another, like in your case where your daughter (unfortunately) was in the midst of treating bronchitis and then was exposed to the flu virus.
If they happened to be used together, there shouldn't be any issues aside from the possibility that you could see a slightly increased risk of certain side effects that both drugs share (like diarrhea and nausea).
Tamiflu Is Safe To Take With Most Drugs
As it concerns Tamiflu, one of its positive attributes is that it has very few drug interactions.
In fact, the prescribing information for Tamiflu only lists one clinically significant drug interaction, and that is with the flu vaccine.
Some other drugs (like probenecid) can increase concentrations of Tamiflu in the body, but this isn't thought to significantly increase the risk of side effects since it has a margin of safety. The prescribing information states this specifically:
Coadministration of probenecid results in an approximate two-fold increase in exposure to oseltamivir carboxylate due to a decrease in active anionic tubular secretion in the kidney. However, due to the safety margin of oseltamivir carboxylate, no dose adjustments are required when coadministering with probenecid.
Final Words
So, to reiterate, there aren't thought to be any issues taking azithromycin with Tamiflu, except for the fact that they both can cause certain side effects like nausea and diarrhea.
References & sources
Glossary — Terms in This Answer
- Antiviral
- A medication that works against viruses by stopping them from multiplying in the body.
- Antibiotic
- A medication that kills bacteria or stops bacterial growth to treat infections.
- Drug interaction
- A reaction that occurs when two or more medications affect each other's effectiveness or safety when taken together.
- Oseltamivir
- The active chemical ingredient in the antiviral medication Tamiflu.
- Azithromycin
- An antibiotic commonly used to treat bacterial infections like bronchitis.
- Anionic tubular secretion
- A process in the kidneys where certain substances are filtered out and removed from the body.
- Safety margin
- The difference between a dose that works effectively and a dose that would cause harmful effects.
- Coadministration
- Taking two or more medications at the same time or during the same treatment period.
Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD
Doctor of Pharmacy, board certified clinical pharmacist (BCPS), American Herbalist Guild, Medication Therapy Management certified
Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS, is a licensed pharmacist with more than 13 years of experience across retail pharmacy, clinical pharmacy, medication safety, pharmacy program development, and healthcare administration. He is the founder of HelloPharmacist.com, where he helps patients...
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