meperidine vs selegiline
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Side-by-side comparison of meperidine and selegiline. 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
Drug Interactions The occurrence of stupor, muscular rigidity, severe agitation, and elevated temperature has been reported in some patients receiving the combination of selegiline and meperidine. This is typical of the interaction of meperidine and MAOIs.
Demerol
Emsam
Meperidine is a strong pain medicine. It is used to treat severe, acute pain when other pain medicines are not strong enough.
Selegiline is a medicine that can help manage Parkinson's disease. It is used along with levodopa/carbidopa when that medicine is not working as well as it used to.
Meperidine is used to manage acute pain that is severe enough to need an opioid pain medicine. It is for use when other treatments do not work well enough. Meperidine should not be used for chronic, long-lasting pain. Taking meperidine for a long time may increase the risk of seizures.
Selegiline is used to help people with Parkinson's disease. It's for those who are already taking levodopa/carbidopa. Selegiline can help when their response to levodopa/carbidopa starts to weaken. It can reduce 'off' time and improve movement.
Meperidine is an opioid agonist. It works by binding to receptors in the brain and spinal cord. This reduces the feeling of pain.
Selegiline is a selective MAO-B inhibitor. It works by blocking an enzyme in the brain that breaks down dopamine. This helps to increase the amount of dopamine available, which can improve motor control in Parkinson's disease.
- • Lightheadedness
- • Dizziness
- • Sleepiness
- • Nausea
- • Vomiting
- • Nausea
- • Dizziness
- • Light-headedness
- • Fainting
- • Abdominal pain
- Drug Hypersensitivity 3,249
- Pain 1,248
- Nausea 1,132
- Hyperhidrosis 821
- Rash 775
- Insomnia 184
- Application Site Erythema 183
- Dizziness 168
- Hallucination 166
- Fall 137
Meperidine has a boxed warning. This means it has serious risks. These risks include: Medication errors that can cause overdose, addiction, abuse, and misuse, life-threatening respiratory depression, accidental ingestion (especially by children) can cause a fatal overdose, dangerous effects when taken with benzodiazepines or other CNS depressants, and neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome. Make sure you read the Medication Guide.
Taking selegiline with meperidine (Demerol) is dangerous and can cause serious reactions. Also, use caution when taking selegiline with tricyclic antidepressants or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) due to the risk of severe toxicity. One patient had a hypertensive crisis when taking selegiline with a sympathomimetic medicine (ephedrine).
Taking meperidine for a long time during pregnancy can cause withdrawal symptoms in the newborn. Meperidine is not recommended during or right before labor because it can cause breathing problems in the baby.
It is not known if selegiline can harm an unborn baby. Talk to your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is also not known if selegiline passes into breast milk, so talk to your doctor if you are breastfeeding.
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How to Read This meperidine vs selegiline Comparison
meperidine is classified in the Opioid Analgesic drug class, while selegiline sits within the Selective MAO-B Inhibitor 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, meperidine has 7,225 submissions while selegiline has 838. 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 combining these drugs can cause a severe and dangerous reaction that affects your muscles, temperature, and brain function.. Serious warnings, pregnancy guidance, and contraindications can differ even when indications overlap.
A table cannot represent individual circumstances. Data here is sourced from FDA Structured Product Labels (SPL) and FAERS, both of which update as manufacturers and clinicians submit new information. This registry does not provide medical, treatment, substitution, or medication-change directions for meperidine or selegiline.
Registry boundary: This comparison displays source-record fields and does not provide individualized medical direction.