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Does Verapamil Interact With Clonidine?
Posted on
Fri, 23 Dec 2016
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Fri, 23 Dec 2016
Answered on
Thu, 12 Jan 2017
Last reviewed on
Question : can I take verapamil and clonidine?
If I have been taking clonidine daily, how long do I have to be off it before I can take the verapamil?
If I have been taking clonidine daily, how long do I have to be off it before I can take the verapamil?
Brief Answer:
would need to monitored closely
Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
Verapamil and clonidine would need to be monitored for interactions.
Either increases the effect of the other.
This means that there can be a reduction in heart rate and in some cases, the blood pressure can decrease as well.
These can be monitored very closely to see if these effects occur. You would need to have a blood pressure monitor at home.
The half life of a drug is the time it takes for the amount of drug in the body to decrease by half.
It takes approximately 3 to 5 half lives for a medication to mostly eliminated.
The half life of clonidine is 12 to 16 hours, this means that it would take approximately 36 hours (1 1/2 days) to 80 hours (about 3 days) for it to mostly eliminated but the levels would be declining steadily till this point.
It would be safer to wait 24 to 36 hours at least but this should be discussed with your doctor for confirmation.
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
would need to monitored closely
Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
Verapamil and clonidine would need to be monitored for interactions.
Either increases the effect of the other.
This means that there can be a reduction in heart rate and in some cases, the blood pressure can decrease as well.
These can be monitored very closely to see if these effects occur. You would need to have a blood pressure monitor at home.
The half life of a drug is the time it takes for the amount of drug in the body to decrease by half.
It takes approximately 3 to 5 half lives for a medication to mostly eliminated.
The half life of clonidine is 12 to 16 hours, this means that it would take approximately 36 hours (1 1/2 days) to 80 hours (about 3 days) for it to mostly eliminated but the levels would be declining steadily till this point.
It would be safer to wait 24 to 36 hours at least but this should be discussed with your doctor for confirmation.
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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