Clonidine and Amitriptyline Interaction
Drug interaction information between Clonidine and Amitriptyline.
Clonidine and Amitriptyline have a documented minor interaction in FDA labeling.
FDA drug labeling documents a minor-severity interaction between Clonidine and Amitriptyline. 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
These drugs may work together to cause damage to the clear front part of the eye.
What To Do
Tell your doctor if you notice any eye pain or changes in your vision while taking these medicines.
FDA Label Information
Amitriptyline in combination with clonidine enhances the manifestation of corneal lesions in rats (see Toxicology ). In combination with amitriptyline, clonidine hydrochloride administration led to the development of corneal lesions in rats within 5 days.
Clonidine Also Interacts With
- Carvedilol moderate
- Metoprolol moderate
- Repaglinide moderate
- Sotalol moderate
- Diltiazem minor
Amitriptyline Also Interacts With
- Risperidone major
- Sertraline minor
- Fluoxetine minor
- Paroxetine minor
- Disulfiram minor
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take Clonidine and Amitriptyline together?
This is a minor interaction. Tell your doctor if you notice any eye pain or changes in your vision while taking these medicines.
How serious is the interaction between Clonidine and Amitriptyline?
This interaction is classified as "minor" severity by the FDA. Minor interactions are unlikely to cause significant problems but should still be mentioned to your healthcare provider.
Why do Clonidine and Amitriptyline interact?
These drugs may work together to cause damage to the clear front part of the eye.
Understanding the Clonidine and Amitriptyline Interaction
FDA-approved prescribing information for these two drugs flags their combination as a minor-severity interaction. Clonidine belongs to the Central Alpha-2 Agonist class and Amitriptyline belongs to the Tricyclic Antidepressant (TCA) class - two categories that can collide when co-prescribed. The mechanism described in FDA labeling is: These drugs may work together to cause damage to the clear front part of the eye. 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. Clonidine has 29 total documented interactions on file in this dataset, and Amitriptyline has 21. 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: Tell your doctor if you notice any eye pain or changes in your vision while taking these medicines. 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 Clonidine or Amitriptyline 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.