albuterol vs digoxin
Side-by-side comparison of albuterol and digoxin. Data from FDA drug databases (Orange Book, NDC Directory, recalls, shortages) covering 20,000+ approved drugs, plus CMS pricing; see our methodology.
minor Known Drug Interaction
( 7.2 ) Digoxin: May decrease serum digoxin levels. Consider monitoring digoxin levels. 7.3 Digoxin Mean decreases of 16% to 22% in serum digoxin levels were demonstrated after single-dose intravenous and oral administration of albuterol, respectively, to normal volunteers who had received digoxin for 10 days.
Recommendation: Your doctor should check your digoxin blood levels regularly to ensure the medicine is still working correctly.
Albuterol is a drug that helps you breathe easier. It opens up your airways when they get too narrow.
Digoxin (Lanoxin) is a medicine that helps your heart pump better. It is used to treat heart failure and control irregular heartbeats.
This medicine treats or prevents bronchospasm in adults and kids 4 years and older who have reversible obstructive airway disease. This means it helps when your airways narrow, making it hard to breathe. It can also prevent bronchospasm caused by exercise in adults and kids 4 years and older.
Digoxin is used to treat mild to moderate heart failure in adults. It helps the heart pump more blood with each beat. Digoxin is also used in children with heart failure to help their heart work better. In adults, it can control a fast and irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation.
Albuterol is a beta-2 agonist. It works by relaxing the muscles in your airways. This allows more air to flow in and out of your lungs.
Digoxin belongs to a class of drugs called cardiac glycosides. It works by making the heart muscle contract more strongly. It also slows down the electrical signals in the heart, which can help control irregular heartbeats.
- • Throat irritation
- • Viral respiratory infections
- • Upper respiratory inflammation
- • Cough
- • Muscle or bone pain
- • Nausea
- • Vomiting
- • Diarrhea
- • Dizziness
- • Headache
- Difficulty breathing 15,966
- Asthma 9,278
- Cough 7,340
- Pneumonia 6,990
- Nausea 6,757
- Shortness of breath 6,062
- Feeling sick to your stomach 4,747
- Feeling lightheaded or unsteady 4,442
- Feeling very tired 4,174
- Irregular heartbeat 3,972
In rare cases, this medicine can make your bronchospasm worse. If this happens, stop using it right away and get medical help. Using too much albuterol can be fatal. If you need more albuterol than usual, your asthma may be getting worse.
Digoxin can cause serious side effects, including dangerous heart rhythms. You are at higher risk if you have certain heart conditions or kidney problems. Tell your doctor right away if you have nausea, vomiting, vision changes, or an irregular heartbeat.
Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if albuterol will harm your unborn baby. Talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of using albuterol while pregnant or breastfeeding.
It is not known if digoxin can harm an unborn baby. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. The medicine passes into breast milk, but it is unlikely to harm the baby.
How to Read This albuterol vs digoxin Comparison
albuterol is classified in the Short-Acting Beta-2 Agonist drug class, while digoxin sits within the Cardiac Glycoside class. Drugs from different classes work through distinct mechanisms, so a head-to-head comparison illustrates trade-offs rather than equivalence. Both drugs are prescription-only, so a licensed provider must authorize use.
Adverse event totals above are pulled from the FDA's Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). For these top-ranked reactions alone, albuterol has 46,331 submissions while digoxin has 23,397. Those figures reflect cumulative reporting volume, not per-patient risk, so older, widely dispensed drugs typically look worse on count alone. These two drugs have a known minor interaction flagged in FDA labeling, attributed to albuterol can lower the amount of digoxin in your blood, which might make the heart medicine less effective.. Serious warnings, pregnancy guidance, and contraindications can differ even when indications overlap.
A table cannot substitute for clinical judgment. Effectiveness, tolerability, drug-drug interactions with your other medications, kidney and liver function, pregnancy status, insurance formulary, and price all feed into a decision that only a licensed prescriber can make responsibly. Data here is sourced from FDA Structured Product Labels (SPL) and FAERS, both of which update as manufacturers and clinicians submit new information. This page is for educational purposes only, is not medical advice, and should not be used to self-switch between albuterol and digoxin - always consult your physician or pharmacist first.
Important: This comparison is for informational purposes only. Drug effects vary between individuals. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist for personalized medical advice.