Clarithromycin and Triazolam Interaction
Drug interaction information between Clarithromycin and Triazolam.
Clarithromycin and Triazolam have a documented moderate interaction in FDA labeling.
FDA drug labeling documents a moderate-severity interaction between Clarithromycin and Triazolam. Major interactions are generally avoided, moderate ones may need monitoring or a dose adjustment, and minor ones are usually low-risk. This page shows the documented mechanism and guidance. Label-documented interactions are not a complete safety review, so always confirm your own medications with a pharmacist or doctor. Educational information, not medical advice.
How They Interact
Clarithromycin prevents your body from clearing triazolam quickly, which can make you feel much more sleepy or confused than usual.
What To Do
Your doctor may need to lower your dose of triazolam while you are taking clarithromycin.
FDA Label Information
Alprazolam Triazolam Triazolam, Alprazolam: Caution and appropriate dose adjustments should be considered when triazolam or alprazolam is co-administered with clarithromycin. There have been postmarketing reports of drug interactions and central nervous system (CNS) effects (e.g., somnolence and confusion) with the concomitant use of clarithromycin and triazolam. In postmarketing experience, erythromycin has been reported to decrease the clearance of triazolam and midazolam, and thus, may increase the pharmacologic effect of these benzodiazepines.
Clarithromycin Also Interacts With
- Quetiapine major
- Pioglitazone major
- Fluconazole major
- Cyclosporine major
- Lurasidone major
Triazolam Also Interacts With
- Darunavir major
- Itraconazole major
- Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir major
- Aprepitant moderate
- Diltiazem minor
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take Clarithromycin and Triazolam together?
This is a moderate interaction. Your doctor may need to lower your dose of triazolam while you are taking clarithromycin.
How serious is the interaction between Clarithromycin and Triazolam?
This interaction is classified as "moderate" severity by the FDA. Moderate interactions may worsen your condition or change how your medications work.
Why do Clarithromycin and Triazolam interact?
Clarithromycin prevents your body from clearing triazolam quickly, which can make you feel much more sleepy or confused than usual.
Understanding the Clarithromycin and Triazolam Interaction
FDA-approved prescribing information for these two drugs flags their combination as a moderate-severity interaction. Clarithromycin belongs to the Macrolide Antibiotic class and Triazolam belongs to the Benzodiazepine (Hypnotic) class - two categories that can collide when co-prescribed. The mechanism described in FDA labeling is: Clarithromycin prevents your body from clearing triazolam quickly, which can make you feel much more sleepy or confused than usual. Severity tiers matter: major flags generally advise avoidance, moderate flags often require monitoring or dose adjustment, and minor flags may only call for awareness.
Context around a specific patient determines real-world impact. Clarithromycin has 81 total documented interactions on file in this dataset, and Triazolam has 10. Each additional medication compounds the interaction surface, which is why pharmacists run full-profile checks rather than evaluating one pair at a time. FDA-derived guidance for this pair is: Your doctor may need to lower your dose of triazolam while you are taking clarithromycin. Timing of doses, renal and hepatic function, age, and other concurrent prescriptions all shape whether a labeled interaction matters clinically.
An interaction flag is not a verdict. A large share of labeled interactions are managed routinely in clinical practice, the fix may be as simple as spacing doses or adding a monitoring test. Others require the prescriber to choose a different medication entirely. This page surfaces FDA-sourced labeling and openFDA data for educational purposes only; it is not medical advice and cannot account for your full clinical picture. Never start, stop, or adjust either Clarithromycin or Triazolam based on a web page, speak with your prescriber or pharmacist before making any change.
Sources: FDA Drug Labels (SPL) via openFDA (2026). This is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider about drug interactions.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.